Musée Rolin

The Musée Rolin is an art museum in Autun, Burgundy, France, classified as a Museum of France. Created in 1878 on the initiative of the Société éduenne des lettres, sciences et arts, it occupies the former home of Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, the powerful 15th-century statesman who served the Burgundian dukes. The museum's collections span from Gallo-Roman archaeology to 20th-century painting, distributed across more than twenty rooms. It remains the headquarters of the Société éduenne and serves as a municipal museum for archaeology, art, and cultural history in the department of Saône-et-Loire.

The museum's origins trace to the rescue of the Hôtel Rolin from destruction by the Société éduenne and its president Jacques-Gabriel Bulliot. The northern courtyard buildings, linked to remains of the Porte des Bancs, were classified as a historic monument in 1877, acquired in January 1878, and restored. On 3 September 1880, the Société éduenne established its headquarters, library, and museum there. In 1955, the Société donated its buildings and collections to the city of Autun, which in return guaranteed perpetual use of the library and its holdings and committed to creating a curator position. The Maison Lacomme on the south side of Place Saint-Louis was subsequently purchased to consolidate the collections previously housed in the Town Hall.

The collections are organized into four departments: archaeology, medieval art, regional history, and fine arts from the 17th to the 20th century. The archaeological holdings focus on Gallo-Roman Autun, founded in the 1st century by Emperor Augustus, with finds from the Temple of Janus and the tomb of Couhard. The medieval department encompasses Romanesque sculpture from Autun Cathedral and late Gothic Burgundian works. Regional history covers documents from the 15th to the 19th century. The fine arts section gathers paintings from the 17th through the 20th centuries, including a significant group of works by Maurice Denis. Additionally, the André and Monique Frénaud donation comprises ninety-four works by contemporary artists.

The museum's most celebrated medieval work is the 12th-century Temptation of Eve, a high relief attributed to Gislebertus, formerly on a lateral portal lintel of Autun Cathedral. The Tomb of Saint Lazarus, signed by the monk Martin around 1170, is partially reconstructed with preserved statues including Saint Andrew, Martha, and Mary Magdalene; this six-meter reliquary in the form of a miniature church stood behind the cathedral choir until its destruction in 1766. The polychrome limestone Virgin of Autun and late Gothic Burgundian sculptures from the circle of Claus Sluter are also significant. The Head of Christ known as Saint Odon, a 12th-century statue from Saint-Pantaléon-lès-Autun, was transferred to the museum in 1966. In painting, the Nativity with Portrait of Cardinal Jean Rolin by the Master of Moulins, dated 1480, is the most renowned work. Other notable paintings include The Last Supper by Pieter Coecke van Aelst, a 16th-century triptych The Adoration of the Magi by the Master of the Utrecht Adoration, and the Triptych of the Eucharist from 1515. Horace Vernet's The Taking of the Malakoff Tower, commissioned by Autun to honor Marshal de Mac Mahon, is also held.

The archaeological collection includes the Autun cup, a rare diatretic vase discovered in November 2020 in a necropolis of 230 tombs from Roman Augustodunum. Measuring 12.6 cm in height and 15 cm in diameter, it bears the inscription VIVAS FELICITER and contains residue of oils, plants, flowers, and ambergris, constituting the oldest archaeological evidence of this aromatic substance. Other Gallo-Roman finds include a Group of Two Gladiators in the round, parade helmets, funerary stelae, and the Bellerophon mosaic.

The Frénaud donation features Jean Dubuffet's L'Homme à la pochette (1945), Maurice Estève's Hommage à Jean Fouquet (1952), Raoul Ubac's Corps étendu (1949) and Nature morte jaune (1950), Jacques Villon's L'Oiseleur (1931), and sculptures by André Beaudin. The museum also holds sixty paintings, drawings, and prints by Maurice Denis and ten oil paintings by the Autun painter Albert Montmerot.

The museum is named after and located on the site of the former hôtel particulier of Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, who had this splendid residence built opposite Autun Cathedral in his native city. The building is organized around an interior courtyard and displays late Gothic architectural forms, though the arcades of the courtyard already anticipate the approaching Renaissance. The structure was nationalized in the 19th century and subsequently converted into a museum. The complex incorporates both the original Rolin buildings and the adjacent Maison Lacomme on Place Saint-Louis, acquired to unite the municipal collections in a single location.

The Musée Rolin is located in Autun, a city in the French department of Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy. The museum is owned by the municipality of Autun, following the 1955 donation by the Société éduenne. It is classified as a Museum of France and continues to serve as the social headquarters of the Société éduenne. The collections are displayed across more than twenty rooms. Information about current visiting hours and access is available through the museum's website at https://www.museerolin.fr/.