Musée Rath

Geneva, Switzerland

The Musée Rath is an art museum in Geneva, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. It is the oldest purpose-built art museum in Switzerland.

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 muses, inspired by Ancient Greek temples.

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'Histoirein 1910, the Musée Rath has been devoted to temporary exhibitions of Swiss and international art, and archaeology.

References:

Comments

Your name

Website (optional)


Address

Rue de la Corraterie 28, Geneva, Switzerland
See all sites in Geneva

Details

Founded: 1824
Category: Museums in Switzerland

More Information

institutions.ville-geneve.ch
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Calvin Auditory (0,4 km)
St. Peter's Cathedral (0,4 km)
Reformation Wall (0,3 km)
Patek Philippe Museum (0,6 km)
Brunswick Monument (0,9 km)
Basilica of Our Lady of Geneva (0,8 km)
Museum of Art and History (0,7 km)
Palace of Nations (2,8 km)
Musée Ariana (2,7 km)


Palais de Rumine (51,9 km)
Lausanne Historical Museum (51,9 km)
Lausanne Cathedral (51,9 km)
Château d'Yvoire (23,5 km)
Yvoire Medieval Town (23,4 km)
Morges Castle (43,4 km)
Olympic Museum (50,8 km)
Saint-Maire Castle (52,1 km)
Nyon Castle (21,4 km)

User Reviews

Balogun Sheindemi (6 months ago)
Lovely place
Maheshi KY (7 months ago)
An old castle like building with preserved glass paintings, glass art and porcelain work.
ATEF HASSEN (12 months ago)
Beautiful museum, a must see place.
Dario Brander (13 months ago)
A very nice museum with changing exhibits. It has been renovated a few years back and is quite modern on the inside. It’s conveniently sized and not overwhelming. Typically they do exhibits about one particular artist (eg. Hodler) or topic. There are free ipod audioguides in several languages and you can also download the app on your own phone. They also do descriptive and tactile tours for blind people. Which is nice... if you’re blind. Why not 5 stars? Well, it really depends on the exhibit that they have on!
Penny Portner (14 months ago)
Exhibit was fabulous! Definitely do the audio tour! Made it so much more worthwhile!
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Must-see historic sighs in Luxembourg
Photo from Flickr, copyright RoyP

Historic Site of the week

Steinvikholm Castle

Steinvikholm Castle is an island fortress built between 1525 to 1532 by Norway's last Catholic archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson. Steinvikholm castle became the most powerful fortification by the time it was built, and it is the largest construction raised in the Norwegian Middle Ages.

The castle occupies about half of the land on the rocky island. The absence of a spring meant that fresh water had to be brought from the mainland. A wooden bridge served as the only way to the island other than boat. Although the castle design was common across Europe in 1525, its medieval design was becoming obsolete because of the improved siege firepower offered by gunpowder and cannons.

The castle was constructed after Olav Engelbrektsson returned from a meeting with the Pope in Rome, presumably in anticipation of impending military-religious conflict. As Archbishop Engelbrektsson's resistance to the encroachment of Danish rule escalated, first with Frederick I of Denmark and his successor Christian III of Denmark, Steinvikholm Castle and Nidarholm Abbey became the Catholic Church's military strongholds in Norway. In April 1537, the Danish-Norwegian Reformation succeeded in driving the archbishop from the castle into exile in Lier in the Netherlands (now in Belgium), where he died on 7 February 1538. At the castle the archbishop left behind St. Olav's shrine and other treasures from Nidaros Cathedral (Trondheim). The original coffin containing St. Olav's body remained at Steinvikholm until it was returned to Nidaros Cathedral in 1564. Since 1568 St. Olav's grave in Nidaros has been unknown.

From the 17th to 19th century, the island was used as a quarry and some of its masonry was sold and removed from the site. This activity was condoned by the Danish-Norwegian authorities as a way of eliminating a monument to the opposition of the Danish–Norwegian Union.

Steinvikholm fort is owned and operated today by The society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments. The island has been the site of the midnight opera which details the life and struggles of the archbishop. The opera is held in August annually. The opera is organized by Steinvikholm Musikkteater since the beginning in 1993.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2019 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.