Museum of Art and Archaeology

Beschrijving

Awarded the “Musée de France” designation in 2001 for the quality of its collections, the Museum of Art and Archaeology is located in the city center, in the buildings of the former national stud farms.

The Museum of Art and Archaeology offers a journey through the history of the people and the region.

The ethnographic collections highlight regional folk and industrial traditions, such as umbrella-making—an ancient craft for which the city is renowned. The current exhibition focuses on a collection of umbrellas gathered in the 1980s, a period when these fashion accessories also became vehicles for communication.

The extensive archaeological collections trace life and settlement in the Cantal region from its earliest origins through the medieval period. Paleolithic bifaces, tools, and artifacts from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic periods precede the display of local Gallo-Roman and medieval sites. The archaeological exhibition is complemented by a display of artifacts from the Abbey of Saint-Géraud in Aurillac.

The top level, dedicated to the collections of paintings and sculptures, offers a journey through the major trends in art history from the 15th to the 20th century. The exhibition layout sheds light on various stylistic movements illustrated by religious and historical paintings, portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes. It concludes with a selection of contemporary artworks (sculptures, paintings, and graphic arts) from the collection of Aurillac-based collector Jean-Claude Sergues.

Dotted throughout the exhibition, display cases showcase some of the rich collections of the Muséum des Volcans (currently closed), offering a cross-disciplinary perspective between the arts and the sciences.