The Musée Rath is an
art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...
in
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. Its building is the oldest purpose-built art museum in
Switzerland, and the original home of
Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire.
It is located on Place Neuve, in front of the old city walls, next to the
Grand Théâtre and near the
Conservatoire de Musique.
History
The museum was built between 1824 and 1826 by the architect Samuel Vaucher on behalf of the ''Société des arts''. It was partly paid for with funds that General Simon Rath (1766–1819) had bequeathed to his sisters, Jeanne-Françoise and Henriette Rath, for such a purpose; the remainder was paid by the state of Geneva. Vaucher designed the building as a temple of the
muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
s, inspired by Ancient Greek temples.
From 1826 to 1872, the school
École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Genève was located in the basement of the Musée Rath.
At first the museum was used for both permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as art teaching and as a cultural meeting place. By 1880 it had become too small for its collections. Since the opening of the larger
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in 1910, the Musée Rath has been devoted to temporary exhibitions of Swiss and international art, and archaeology.
Between 1916 and 1919 the museum was closed and the building was used for the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
's
International Prisoners-of-War Agency.
The museum has been owned by the city of Geneva since 1851. The building has been under
cultural heritage management since 1921.
References
Le Musée Rath, "temple des muses"In: ''Feuille d'Avis Officielle de la République et du Canton de Genève'', 254th year, no. 92., 11 August 2006, p. 1. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
External links
Home page(partly available in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee Rath
Cultural infrastructure completed in 1826
Art museums established in 1826
Museums in Geneva
Art museums and galleries in Switzerland
1826 establishments in Switzerland
19th-century architecture in Switzerland