10-22-2006, 02:38 PM
Last Saturday, I visited the exposition on the Celts in the Musée de Mariemont in Morlanweltz, which is east of Charleroi in Belgium (your Viamichelin link is here).
The exposition deals with the ethnogenesis of the Celts in Bohemia, and also deals with the way in which many of them later settled in northern France. There are many objects from museums in Central Europe, some of them really beautiful. The displays are fine and the people of the museum have had the great idea to give the visitors leaflets, so that it is not necessary that all visitors gaze at the same little explanatory sign somewhere on a wall.
Still, I was a bit dissatisfied. For one reason or another, I was not really swept away, impressed. Possibly, this was because I was already tired from seeing the rest of the museum; or perhaps it was because there was a very large group of rather noisy elderly people, who made it impossible to look at the objects at one's leisure (and made it impossible to visit the restaurant, which they had more or less occupied).
This being said, the museum itself is SPLENDID. The collection of local Roman objects in the basement covers the entire province of Hainaut, which is more or less the area of the ancient Nervians. Because this tribe also lived in France, objects from across the border are included (e.g., from Bavay). Especially the Frankish warrior tombs were great, and I hope to post a photo of a statuette of a very cute Venus (the "Venus of Kortrijk"). To be honest (or sexist): it is the second time that I found an ancient representation of a naked woman really attractive (the other one being the Esquiline Venus).
On the first floor, you will find many delightful objects from Greece (some of the from the Franz Cumont legacy), Rome, and Egypt. There is also a collection of Chinese art and you will find a couple of cuneiform tablets. The Egyptian-Hellenistic part (the collection of the Mr. Raoul Warocqué) is the best, but the most beautiful object is a room with ancient fresco's. I was also impressed by a well-preserved statue of Artemis.
The museum also has a collection of porcelain, which I did not visit. The museum is situated in a delightful park. The town of Morlanweltz is situated on the ancient road that, as a straight line through the landscape, connected Cambrai, Bavay, Binche, Tongeren, and Maastricht. We drove down to Bavay, which was worth the detour. All in all, a museum I can recommend.
The exposition deals with the ethnogenesis of the Celts in Bohemia, and also deals with the way in which many of them later settled in northern France. There are many objects from museums in Central Europe, some of them really beautiful. The displays are fine and the people of the museum have had the great idea to give the visitors leaflets, so that it is not necessary that all visitors gaze at the same little explanatory sign somewhere on a wall.
Still, I was a bit dissatisfied. For one reason or another, I was not really swept away, impressed. Possibly, this was because I was already tired from seeing the rest of the museum; or perhaps it was because there was a very large group of rather noisy elderly people, who made it impossible to look at the objects at one's leisure (and made it impossible to visit the restaurant, which they had more or less occupied).
This being said, the museum itself is SPLENDID. The collection of local Roman objects in the basement covers the entire province of Hainaut, which is more or less the area of the ancient Nervians. Because this tribe also lived in France, objects from across the border are included (e.g., from Bavay). Especially the Frankish warrior tombs were great, and I hope to post a photo of a statuette of a very cute Venus (the "Venus of Kortrijk"). To be honest (or sexist): it is the second time that I found an ancient representation of a naked woman really attractive (the other one being the Esquiline Venus).
On the first floor, you will find many delightful objects from Greece (some of the from the Franz Cumont legacy), Rome, and Egypt. There is also a collection of Chinese art and you will find a couple of cuneiform tablets. The Egyptian-Hellenistic part (the collection of the Mr. Raoul Warocqué) is the best, but the most beautiful object is a room with ancient fresco's. I was also impressed by a well-preserved statue of Artemis.
The museum also has a collection of porcelain, which I did not visit. The museum is situated in a delightful park. The town of Morlanweltz is situated on the ancient road that, as a straight line through the landscape, connected Cambrai, Bavay, Binche, Tongeren, and Maastricht. We drove down to Bavay, which was worth the detour. All in all, a museum I can recommend.
![[Image: mus_mariemont.jpg]](http://rambambashi.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/mus_mariemont.jpg)
