Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie

Chalon-sur-Saône, on the river Saône in southern Burgundy, has a fine arts and archaeology museum that is generally known as the Musée Denon, after the most famous man born in the town, Dominique Vivant Denon. Born in Chalon in 1747, Denon was a diplomat, engraver, writer and courtier who became the adviser of Napoleon, took part in the Egyptian campaign of 1798 and brought back drawings that shaped European taste, and was appointed the first director of the Louvre, which was renamed the Musée Napoléon during the Empire. The museum of his home town, which draws on the same spirit of curiosity and collecting, holds encyclopedic collections that span some five thousand years.

The archaeology section is the core of the collection, and it has a special character because of the river. For centuries the Saône has been a main route for trade, and dredging and excavation in the riverbed have brought up an exceptional series of objects, from prehistoric tools and Bronze Age weapons to Roman statues, coins and pottery and the remains of boats. These finds show that the river was used as a highway and as a place for offerings from the earliest times. Other galleries show finds from the surrounding region, among them objects from Gallic and Roman Cabillonum, as Chalon was known, which was an important river port on the road between Lyon and the north.

The fine arts section includes paintings, sculpture and decorative arts. The paintings are mainly French and European works from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, with portraits, landscapes and religious scenes, and the collection also includes a number of works by local artists. Other rooms hold furniture, ceramics, glass and coins, and the temporary exhibitions bring in loans and themes from the wider art world. The aim is to show the history of art and craft in the region in a clear and varied way.

The museum is open every day except Tuesdays and public holidays, usually from ten in the morning to six in the evening, with a later opening on Fridays. There is a fee for the permanent collections, with a higher rate for temporary exhibitions and reductions for young people and others, so check the details before you go. A visit takes one to two hours.

The museum is in the old centre, within walking distance of the Cathédrale Saint-Vincent and its cloister, the Collégiale Notre-Dame, the town hall and the quays of the Saône. Chalon is also the birthplace of Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of photography, and a museum devoted to him is in the town. The Marché de Chalon is held on several mornings a week. The museum suits those interested in archaeology, art and the history of Burgundy.