After a four-year closing to carry out renovation work, the Besançon Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology has reopened its doors in the heart of the city.
The expanded spaces, new showcasing of two existing architectures (Pierre Marnotte, 1842 and Louis Miquel, 1970) and importance given to incoming daylight by the firm Architectures A. Scaranello, offer visitors the opportunity to truly rediscover the site and its collections. Most striking upon entering the museum is the unique architecture, which combines a granary built in the nineteenth century with a crude concrete structure, evocative of the "museum of unlimited growth" concept invented by Le Corbusier. The two architectures interact, echoing the archaeology and fine arts collections, respectively.
Part of the French and international cultural landscape, the oldest public collection in France, born in 1694, can take pride in the breadth and depth of its collections. In addition to the international renown of its European graphic arts collection (more than 6,000 drawings), it also boasts significant archaeological holdings (Egyptian, Mediterranean and regional collections), numerous sculptures, ceramics, goldsmiths’ pieces and an exceptional collection of paintings representative of the main currents of Western art history from the end of the 15th to the 20th century.
Concurrent to this, a contemporary art route, highlighting a form less present in the museum’s collections, elicits thoughts about fine arts and archaeology.
“Let yourself be surprised by the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology in Besançon, one of the most unusual museums in France.”