This national museum was established in 1843, with the merging of the Thermes gallo-romains and the Hôtel des abbés de Cluny. The « thermes » (baths) date from ... the 1^st to the 3^rd century and are one of the few remains of Gallo-Roman civilisation in the capital. Free and municipal and the mecca of daily life at the time, these baths were of course open to the public and among the different places still visible today, the frigidarium (cold room) and the caldarium (hot room) are still easily identifiable.
The abbé Jacques d’Amboise was at the origin of the construction of the hôtel de Cluny, at the end of the 15^th century : today, it is one of the oldest examples of a private mansion house set between a courtyard and a garden.
The museum has a rich collection or medieval art objects – gold and silverware, tapestries, sculptures, paintings, illuminated manuscripts – amassed by an enthusiastic antique collector named Alexandre du Sommerard. The collection represents a valuable testimony of the life, art and daily activities of the Middle Ages.
Among the major pieces on show in the museum, the most well-known is without doubt the series of 6 « Lady with the Unicorn » tapestries on the theme of plant and animal life, of which 5 also focus on the 5 senses.

E.D.

photo D.R.