1825-2025: 200 years of Orléans museums

Did the Comte de Bizemont imagine, when he convinced Mayor Louis Drouin de Rocheplatte to found a museum, that the institution would become not only one of the largest in France, but also one of the most committed to the future of museums? On November 4, 1825, the Museum opened its doors in the Hôtel des Créneaux. The project was not funded by the State: it was the people of Orléans, from the merchant bourgeoisie, local entrepreneurs and old families, who donated their collections to participate as one in this great collective adventure. These resounding beginnings, which for the first time saw the community unite to endow the city with a major museum, were destined to continue with each successive directorate. Following in Bizemont's footsteps, Demadières-Miron and then Eudoxe Marcille worked to enrich the collections, making the Musée d'Orléans one of France's most homogeneous and extensive collections, from Antiquity to contemporary times, from painting to sculpture, including drawings and engravings, antiques and ethnological objects.

The construction of four other museums was necessary to relieve the cramped spaces of the Hôtel des Créneaux: firstly, the Hôtel Cabu for the archaeological collections, the Musée Jeanne d'Arc, the Musée Paul Fourché (the latter two burnt down in 1940) and the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle. The construction of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, opened in 1984, offered a solution for displaying the rich collections. To mark their 200th anniversary, Orléans' museums are turning a new page, looking to the future more than ever. After the renovation of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the restructuring that will accompany its upgrading will make it, with the same determination as in 1984 but with a more lasting success: a model museum for the decades to come!