The museum has three sections (Archaeology, Fine Arts and Natural History) with sculptures, paintings and a collection of ethnographic objects.
The permanent exhibition has two fine arts sections. The first is devoted to French sculpture of the 18th and 19th centuries, focusing mainly on the work of the Jura academic artist Jean-Joseph Perraud, and that of his contemporaries, masters, pupils and friends. The second exhibits paintings from the Nordic, Italian and French schools from the 16th to the 20th centuries, including works by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Pietro Negri and Gustave Courbet.
The natural history collections include rock and mineral samples, fossils from all over the Jura Massif, including the oldest dinosaur currently known in France (Plateosaurus), as well as botany and conchyliology.
The archaeological collections illustrate human occupation of the Jura department from the Palaeolithic period to the early 20th century. These include major Neolithic sites such as Chalain and Clairvaux, which are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List ; Bronze Age sites such as Évans ; Iron Age sites such as Chavéria ; Gallo-Roman sites such as Villards-d’Héria ; and medieval sites such as Pymont.
The natural science and archaeology collections are not on permanent display, but are featured in temporary exhibitions that showcase the rich diversity of the museum’s collections.
