Expanded and renovated in 2015, the Unterlinden Museum is the second most-visited fine-arts museum in France (outside of Paris). People come from all over the world to see its treasures, including the famous piece by Grünewald, the Isenheim altarpiece.
Located in a former 13th Century sisters' convent in the city centre of Colmar, the Unterlinden Museum displays a remarkable collection of paintings and sculptures from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance period.
Take a walk through the medieval cloister (see photos) to discover collections of:
- paintings,
- sculptures,
- artefacts from the 12th to the 16th Century,
- decorative arts and popular art traditions,
- modern and archaeological art.
Silver & Goldsmith’s, hunting and military weapons
The Unterlinden Museum houses a masterpiece of Western art: the Isenheim Altarpiece, sculpted between 1512 and 1516 by Nicolas de Haguenau and Grünewald.
The museum’s collection of decorative art objects includes silver and gold smithing as well as an exceptional group of hunting and military weapons.
Its archaeology section offers a nearly complete overview of the early development of human society, with objects from everyday life (Bergheim mosaic, 3rd Century) or funerary contexts (gold jewellery from a princely sepulchre).
The museum’s modern art collection includes works by major artists, such as Monet, Guillaumin, Bonnard and Delaunay. Although it is especially strong in artists representing movements in abstract art after the Second World War (Magnelli, Poliakoff, Soulages, Bram van Velde, Vieira da Silva), the collection also features figurative works by artists such as Dubuffet and Picasso.
The 2015 Expansion
Since late 2015, there’s been a change of scenery!
The Unterlinden Museum now has a new layout to better present its collections, making use of innovative museology and larger exhibition spaces.
The former convent and municipal baths were refurbished and are now dedicated to ancient art, as well as one-off events.
The new wing, brick walls topped with a copper roof, hosts modern and contemporary collections across two floors; the temporary exhibitions take place on the 3rd floor.
Last but not least, a panorama consisting of 19th to early 20th Century art is exhibited in the underground gallery linking the convent to modern building.
Address
Musée Unterlinden
1, rue d'Unterlinden
68000 Colmar