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| Richelieu Reading Room |
There are not many museums open on Monday, as Deb has alluded to in the past, so today I wanted to visit a museum. But being Monday my choices were limited, so I found a little known museum called the Cabinet de Medailles which is open in the afternoon every day of the week.
It's a department of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and is located in their main library in the heart of Paris on Rue de Vivienne directly behind the Palais Royale downtown.
It focuses on collections of French nobility beginning in the reign of Charles V in the 1400's all the way up through Louis XIV passing from king to king, and into the 19th century when it became part of the French National Heritage. It is not very large at all comprising about 4 rooms, but most of the objects are small, small enough to fit into a series of vitrines.
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| Largest Cameo |
One of the really impressive things to be seen is what is reputed to be the largest cameo in the world, 24 figures fully modeled and done at the time of Tiberius in Rome.
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| Papal Lineup |
Another were two trays of papal portraits done in miniature with micro mosaic using pearls, diamonds, gems, etc. from St. Peter forward there must have been 80 portraits.
A side note, Deb is back on Thursday the 26th, not the 23rd I probably said earlier. Everyday is Tuesday in Paris.
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Caesar Augustus
life portrait |
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| Ivory chess set |
So coins, medals, precious stones, carved seals, small vessels in silver and gold make up the largest part shown but there are also bronzes and stone sculpture to be seen as well. It is a charming little museum. There is currently a temporary exhibit that focuses on red and black Greek pottery dating back to the 6th to 4th century B.C. from the duc de Luynes' collection put together in the early 1800s.
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| Ivory Knight |
It's a department of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and is located in their main library in the heart of Paris on Rue de Vivienne directly behind the Palais Royale downtown.
So coins, medals, precious stones, carved seals, small vessels in silver and gold make up the largest part shown but there are also bronzes and stone sculpture to be seen as well. It is a charming little museum. There is currently a temporary exhibit that focuses on red and black Greek pottery dating back to the 6th to 4th century B.C. from the duc de Luynes' collection put together in the early 1800s.
That reading room looks delightful!
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