Vivant Denon Museum (Musée Vivant Denon)
Chalon's museum of art and archaeology, named after the first director of the Louvre.
- Museum
- 35 min from Beaune
- Allow 1 to 1.5 hours
- Chalon-sur-Saône
€125one way from Beaune with a private driver
At a glance
- Official website
- museedenon.com
Getting there
Private driver from Beaune: 35 min by road (35 km), €125 one way for the whole car.
Or add it to our half-day wine tour plus one hour, €360.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
About the place
The Musée Vivant Denon occupies a neoclassical building in the centre of Chalon. Its collections span some 100,000 years, from flint tools and finds from the Saône to European paintings and drawings. It is named after Dominique Vivant Denon, born in Chalon, who became the first director of what is now the Louvre.
What you will see
Start with the archaeology rooms, where the Saône is the thread: flint tools, bronze weapons and Gallo-Roman sculpture, including a lion bringing down a barbarian gladiator. Look for the stele dedicated to Souconna, goddess of the Saône. The fine arts rooms show French, Italian, Flemish and Dutch painting from the 16th to the 19th century, and a graphic arts room is devoted to Vivant Denon himself.
History
The building was first a free drawing school, founded by Jacques-François Carbillet to train craftsmen, and was put up around 1820 in a neoclassical style. The museum opened in 1866, run with the help of two learned societies. In 1908, under its second director, it took the name of Vivant Denon, the artist, diplomat and administrator regarded as a pioneer of the modern museum.
The collections grew through gifts and local discoveries. Much of the archaeology comes from the bed of the Saône, which preserved objects from the Bronze and Iron Ages, and the museum developed methods of underwater excavation in the river. Today it holds more than 36,000 works and objects, including some 25,000 archaeological pieces. The building has been protected as a historic monument since 2004.
Planning your visit
Tips for your visit
The museum is in the pedestrian centre, a few minutes' walk from Place Saint-Vincent and the Musée Nicéphore Niépce, so the three combine easily in a morning. Allow an hour or more. Temporary exhibitions, talks and family activities run through the year; check the official website for opening times.
Around here
What to combine with Vivant Denon Museum on the same day, nearest first.
Questions
Vivant Denon Museum is about 35 min from Beaune by road (35 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €125 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? Among the treasures are flint blades shaped like laurel leaves, found at Volgu in 1873. Specialists consider them some of the finest examples of flint knapping ever found.
Sources
Vivant Denon Museum with a private driver
€125 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests