In memory of Georges Cain (1853-1919), refounder of the musée Carnavalet Layout in the permanent collections • Free admission
75003 Paris
33 +1 44 59 58 58
Le musée est ouvert du mardi au dimanche de 10h à 17h45.
Parcours permanent : gratuit, en accès libre.
Le musée est fermé les 1er janvier, 1er mai, et 25 décembre.
As this year marks the anniversary of the founding of the Musée Carnavalet in 1866, a tribute is paid to Georges Cain, refounder of the museum at the turn of the 20th century.
A prominent figure of the Paris smart set, Georges Cain was appointed curator of the musée Carnavalet in 1897. His task was to reinvent the museum. As the historical library had been recently moved, it allowed him to reclaim some rooms, which he had decorated with antique woodwork salvaged from demolition sites, creating what could be called "a genuine history of Parisian ornamentation in the 17th and 18th centuries. »
Cain then became a curator-builder. Between 1906 and 1911, he expanded the museum through the purchase of the adjacent plot of land. Architect Roger Foucault (1852-1929) constructed new galleries there. In 1911, the decorative elements from the Hôtel de Luynes’s staircase, also saved from demolition, were reinstalled. The galerie des enseignes (shop signs gallery) was inaugurated in 1914. Meanwhile, Cain significantly increased the museum’s collections through acquisitions and donations.
