Chrismate: MUSÉE DÉPARTEMENTAL DE L'ARLES ANTIQUE

Saturday, July 15, 2017

MUSÉE DÉPARTEMENTAL DE L'ARLES ANTIQUE – A return visit.

Arles, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the oldest cities in France. Amazingly, some of its exceptional treasures have only been found recently.

In 1995, the architect, Henri Ciriani (b.1936), designed a new building to serve as Arles Museum of Antiquity. Built on the left bank of the Rhône River, near what used to be the Roman Circus, it was soon nicknamed 'Le Musée Bleu' (The Blue Museum). Although rather small in size, it displays some remarkable artifacts mostly dating from the Roman period. It also holds temporary exhibitions, which attract a large audience. The building also serves as an archaeological center specializing in restoring newly-found artifacts.

Until recently, some of the most famous pieces of museum collection were:

the 'Vénus d'Arles', a copy of the original, which is now at the Louvre Museum, [Venus of Arles]
a giant marble statue of Augustus (3.10m high), [Statue of Augustus]
a marble bust of Aphrodite, known as 'Tête d'Arles' [Head of Arles]

Copy of the Venus of Arles

Statue of Augustus.

In 2007, a team of archaeologists discovered a bust of Caesar on the river bank near the museum. It features a fine portrait of the Roman emperor – the oldest-known portrait of Julius Caesar. [The Guardian]

Bust of Julius Caesar

In 2004, an entire Roman barge was found buried underwater in the Rhône River. It took a few years for the archaeologists to figure how to pull it out safely and then how to restore it entirely in its initial form. Measuring 31m in length, they also had to extend the museum by building a new aisle in order to be able to exhibit it. [National Geographic]