Musée d'art et d'histoire de Narbonne

The Musée d'art et d'histoire de Narbonne is the principal fine and decorative arts museum of Narbonne, a city in the Aude department of southern France. Founded in 1833, it occupies the former apartments of the archbishops within the Palais des Archevêques de Narbonne, the second largest ecclesiastical palace complex in France after the Palais des Papes in Avignon. The museum is particularly celebrated for its ancient faïence collection and its remarkable holdings of orientalist paintings, which constitute the first permanent public collection of orientalist art in France. Together with the Musée archéologique de Narbonne, it forms one of the city's two main museums.

The museum was established through the initiative of Paul Tournal (1805-1872), a local scholar, and was created by decree on 21 October 1833 of the Commission archéologique et littéraire de Narbonne, whose mission was to research, conserve, and classify in a public repository all antiquities relating to the history of the region. The idea of a public museum in the Palace of the Archbishops had first emerged during the Revolution, when in 1792 the painter Jacques Gamelin proposed creating a museum to receive artworks dispersed during the confiscation of national property. Unlike many museums that grew from pre-existing collections, the Narbonne collections were assembled from 1833 onwards through purchases, gifts, bequests, and deposits. Significant early donations included the Peyre bequest of 1859 (paintings and objets d'art), the Barathier bequest of 1867 (books, drawings, paintings, and objets d'art), the Bonnel bequest of 1889, and later the Tiffy bequest of 1977 (objets d'art and Asian arts). Originally the museum also housed prehistoric and classical archaeology collections, but these were transferred to the Musée archéologique de Narbonne, which occupies most of the Palais-Vieux and was moved to the new Musée régional de la Narbonne antique (MuRéNa) in 2019. The museum's archaeological holdings had been enriched by discoveries from the Clos de la Lombarde site, under excavation since 1974. Two rooms were restored in 2004 and dedicated to the orientalist collection.

The museum presents a panorama of European painting from the 16th to the 19th centuries across the French, Italian, Spanish, and Flemish schools. Its decorative arts holdings encompass ceramics, furniture, miniature paintings, and Limoges enamels. The faïence collections are especially rich, comprising pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries produced in Nevers, Moustiers, Marseille, and Rouen, as well as fine English faïences, oriental faïences, and Hispano-Moresque wares. The orientalist painting collection, unique in France, numbers 125 works and includes artists such as Dinet, Fromentin, Majorelle, Benjamin-Constant, Théodore Frère, Berchère, Lazerges, and the Abd-el-Tif school. The museum also features works by painters from the Languedoc region including Vien, Bourdon, and Rigaud.

Among the museum's significant works are Saint Joseph carrying the Infant Jesus (1632) by Vicente Carducho, an Italian painter to the Spanish kings Philip III and Philip IV, displayed in the Salle des audiences above the fireplace. This room also contains four large group portraits of the Consuls of Narbonne from 1596, 1600, 1603, and 1607, a marble bust of Louis XIV by Antoine Coysevox, an equestrian portrait of Louis XIV at the siege of Maastricht after Pierre Mignard, and Diane and Endymion by René-Antoine Houasse. The Chambre du Roi houses L'Adoration des bergers by Philippe de Champaigne, Zorobabel before Darius by Nicolaes Knupfer, another Adoration des bergers by Francesco Solimena, The Family of Darius before Alexander attributed to Jacob Jordaens, and a portrait of a consul of Narbonne from 1662. The Grande galerie contains 180 pharmacy jars from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, classified as historical monuments on deposit from the Bureau de bienfaisance and the Hôtel-Dieu of Narbonne, displaying names of medicinal plants. The Great Staircase features the coat of arms of Pierre de Bonzi, a bust of the Venetian historian Andrea Morosini, and the coat of arms of Claude de Rebé.

The museum is housed in the Palais Neuf section of the Palais des Arcevêques de Narbonne, specifically in the former archbishops' apartments dating from the 17th century. Several rooms retain their original decoration and architectural character, illustrating the building's evolution from the 17th century through the major restorations of the 19th century. Notable preserved spaces include the 12th-century Chapelle de la Madeleine, the salle du consistoire, the Chapelle Saint Martial, the 14th-century Salle des Synodes et des États du Languedoc, the salle d'audience des archevêques, and the Chambre du Roi from the 17th century. The Chambre du Roi was decorated to receive Louis XIII during the Roussillon campaign and features a ceiling of forty-nine painted coffers dedicated to the nine Muses, executed in 1633 by the three Rodière brothers, Narbonne painters and gilders, with polychrome and gilded wood paneling and mural paintings. A Gallo-Roman mosaic with a labyrinth pattern, discovered in 1857 at the foot of the city fortifications, is set into the floor. The Salle des gardes possesses a monumental fireplace and a ceremonial grisaille ceiling. The salle à manger des archevêques conserves its original 18th-century stucco decoration. The Grande galerie features neo-Gothic painted ceilings with geometric motifs and escutcheons executed in the 1850s by Alexandre Denuelle after designs by Viollet-le-Duc, with a troubadour-style frieze bearing the coats of arms of the city and surrounding communes of the diocese of Narbonne.

The museum is located in the Palais des Archevêques de Narbonne in the city of Narbonne, France. It is owned and operated by the Ville de Narbonne, Service Culture Ville d'Art. During the low season (1 October to 31 May), it is open every day except Tuesday from 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00. During the high season (1 June to 30 September), it is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00. Annual closures are 1 January, 1 May, 1 November, 11 November, and 25 December. Guided visits are available by appointment, with general, thematic, and foreign-language tours offered. The museum hosts two temporary exhibitions per year and provides educational programming for schools including visits, twinning programs, and cultural classes. The museum is accessible by public transport but is not wheelchair accessible. The Monumentale Narbonne Pass, valid for one year, provides entry. The Friends of the Museum association supports the institution.