I'm definitely not a hunter... I hesitated a lot before visiting, for the first time, the "Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature" (Museum of Hunting and Nature), which you can find in the Marais area. It was a nice surprise!
The museum is housed in two 17th century buildings, "hôtels particuliers" - one of them designed by François Mansart, the architect of a number of famous castles, churches and other buildings - and was created in 1964, on a private initiative. It's now operated by a foundation.
The restoration of the buildings has given room to the traditional, the original, as well as to modern design.
As you can expect, you will find a lot of trophies and taxidermined animals and also the weapons to kill them..., but what I especially appreciated...
A lot of room has been given to works by contemporary artists, who have had the possibility to create their own animal versions. Here are some examples - see also the top picture. (On the walls there are also some 16th century tapestries, some classical paintings by Paul Peter Rubens, Lucas Cranach the Elder...)
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3 comments:
Went here last May with my daughter — we loved this museum!
I can't say I'm into the dead deerheads (we see too many of those in Michigan as is, and I'm fond of deer!) But I do love the art. A nice find, Peter!
I thoroughly enjoyed this museum, much to my surprise. It was interesting to learn about the domestication of dogs and fun to visit the unicorn room. Since I love sanglier (culinarily speaking), I enjoyed reading about the stratification of the hunt - who hunted wild pigs and who hunted deer - and the many other cultural and religious aspects of la chasse.
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