The Musée dauphinois (Dauphinois Museum), located in Grenoble (France), is dedicated to the ethnography, archaeology, history and society of the former province of Dauphiné, encompassing the current departments of Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes. Situated above the neighbourhood of Saint-Laurent in the listed historic monument of Sainte-Marie d’en-Haut, the Musée dauphinois is an accredited “Musée de France“ (Museum of France) and takes part in the Long Night of Museums.
Founded in 1906, the Musée dauphinois was the third museum in Grenoble, after the Musée-bibliotèque and the Musée d’histoire naturelle. The museum has occupied two different historical 17th century buildings: the former chapel of Sainte-Marie d’en-Bas from 1906 to 1968, and the present site of the former convent of Sainte-Marie d’en-Haut. It is one of the first museums in France dedicated to regional cultural heritage (following the Museon Arlaten, founded by Frédéric Mistral).
Each year, its temporary exhibition spaces showcase diverse displays, creating an important centre for regional culture in Grenoble. In 2004, a temporary exhibition exploring the treasures of Ancient Egypt helped the museum surpass over 100,000 annual visitors.
History
Founding & Early Development On 13 October 1905, the regional newspaper, La Dépêche dauphinoise, reported that a commission had met to study the creation of a history museum in Grenoble. On 27 January 1906, a report authored by the municipal architect was sent to the mayor of Grenoble, Charles Rivail, proposing the construction of an ethnographic museum in the former chapel of Sainte-Marie d’en-Bas. Later that year, on 14 December, the aforementioned advisory commission elected the celebrated ethnographer Hippolyte Müller as the first curator of the museum. The name Musée dauphinois, suggested by fellow commission member and archivist Auguste Prudhomme, was finalized by on 25 March 1907. The commission would additionally oversee decisions concerning the functioning, organisation, and pricing of the museum. Following the deliberation of Grenoble's municipal council on 13 April 1908, a presidential decree was signed by Armand Fallières on 6 April 1910, offering a provisional loan of 4,800 francs to the city to pay for the museum's installation costs.Archives municipales de Grenoble, cotes 4M348 et 4M349.
The museum was first located in the chapel of Sainte-Marie d’en-Bas, Rue Très-Cloîtres, which originally belonged to the sisters of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. However, in 1647, the sisters constructed a new, more spacious convent and chapel on the left bank of the Isère River, retaining the original name of Sainte-Marie d’en-Bas.
The original chapel was entirely rebuilt in 1786, but fell into disuse after the passage of the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State. It was in this chapel—engraved in 1907 with the inscription Musée dauphinois—that Müller gathered objects and documents depicting the daily life of the inhabitants in the Alps. These cultural artifacts were compiled from his own various excavations, most notably in the Queyras Valley of Dauphiné. The artifacts included prehistorical items, decorative arts dating from the Gallo-Roman period through the 19th century, and objects depicting the region's industrial history. In the summer of 1921, Müller and his counterpart at the Musée de Grenoble (Museum of Grenoble), Andry-Farcy, agreed to divide these objects between the two museums.Le petit dauphinois du 28 janvier 1922, page 2, colonne 1. In 1921, all small objects of archaeological interest were transferred to the Musée dauphinois, with larger items such as Gallo-Roman gravestones arriving the following year. These gravestones were displayed on a closed-off terrace, which is now a wide staircase.Bulletin de la Société dauphinoise d'ethnologie et d'anthropologie, N°1–4, 1924. An expert on local heritage, Müller helped construct a life-sized replica of the alpine village Saint-Véran in 1925, during the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism in Grenoble.
Relocation & Expansion
However, faced with a growing collection of artifacts, the lack of space in the museum soon became evident and by the end of the 1940s, the museum had started to consider finding larger premises. The director of the “Musées de France” (Museums of France) appealed to the then mayor, Léon Martin, to find a “more dignified [space] for a city of great tourism like Grenoble.” In 1949, the site of the disused Convent of Sainte-Marie-d'en-Haut on the right bank of the river was suggested as a possible location; however, the relocation project would take almost two decades to complete.
Encouraged by favourable economic conditions and the upcoming 10th Winter Olympic Games, the new town council, led by then city mayor Hubert Dubedout and deputy mayor Bernard Gilman, decided to relocate the museum to the much larger site of Sainte-Marie d’en-Haut in 1965. Gilman would later name Marcel Boulin as the museum's curator. Following the death of Müller in 1933, leadership of the museum passed to his son-in-law Joseph Colomb and afterwards, gallery owner and antique dealer, Joseph Laforge.
On 3 February 1968, the museum, now in the partially restored former convent, was unveiled by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux. The next day, Dubedout presented the location of the museum to General Charles de Gaulle using a giant model of the city. Gilman, however, was displeased with the expositions organized for the grand opening, and would personally recruit a new curator for the museum: Jean-Pierre Laurent, then employed at the Musée-château d'Annecy. Formally assuming his position in 1971, he sought to redesign the museum's presentation, seeking to showcase the lives of the region's inhabitants. Guided by the principle of "Man Finds Himself," Laurent designed novel exhibitions such as "Axe and Cabinetmakers in Grenoble," "The Glovemaker's Hand," "Children of the Mountains," "The Story of the People of Grenoble" and "The Chartreux, the Desert, and the World." These exhibitions, commemorating the region's rich artisanal history, placed local residents at the "heart" of the museum's curatorial process. Laurent was supported by Charles Joisten, the founder of Le Monde alpin et rhodanien, a local ethnological journal.
After its first exhibition, which welcomed 36,000 visitors, the museum was closed for several months in order to finish the restoration of the building. Finally, on 27 June 1970, and with the convent fully restored, the museum opened for a second time. Visitors to the museum discovered an exhibition space that was designed personally by the Laurent.actumontagne.com du 30 juillet 2015, Décès de Jean-Pierre Laurent, conservateur emblématique du Musée dauphinois. In 1981, Jean Guibal and Jean-Claude Duclos were named as the museum's successors, charged with following Laurent's footsteps and realizing his vision.
Institutional Development & Cultural Preservation Efforts In 1989, the museum acquired a new 2,000m2 building along the quay of the Isère River, providing a new workshop and storeroom close to the museum's grounds. In 1992, responsibility for the Musée dauphinois passed from the city of Grenoble to the departmental council of the Isère, where it became a service of the Direction of Culture and Heritage. Already supporting various local museums, the council administered the safekeeping of specially reserved collections as well as the renovation or creation of establishments in over a dozen different municipalities, notably La Mure, Mens, Aoste, Bressieux, Charavines, Allevard, Saint-Chef, and Hières-sur-Amby. Adopting an ecomuseological framework (see: Ecomuseum), the Musée dauphinois became a hub for public service, initially serving municipalities and their elected officials, but later extending its support to cultural organizations in the region. Collaborating with a team of architects and archeologists from the Centre d'archéologie historique des musées de Grenoble et de l'Isère (CAHMGI), the Musée dauphinois launched systematic inventories to document the heritage of certain territories. In 1998, the Musée de l'Ancien Évêché was founded to present these projects to the public. The Musée Dauphinois would later become the headquarters for an even more ambitious mission: preserving and showcasing the cultural heritage of the entire Isère region. The success of this endeavor would eventually lead to the implementation of new protocol by the French Ministry of Culture and the Department of Isère's cultural service, the CPI. Seeking to decentralize cultural preservation efforts and work more closely with local communities, the CPI would oversee regional projects for the next twelve years. However, the departmental council of Isère would later discontinue this service, entrusting its responsibilities with local museums instead.
In 2004, the museum set a record for its highest number of annual visitors with 107,398 museum goers, largely thanks to an exhibition on the treasures of Ancient Egypt that coincided with the 9th International Congress of Egyptologists in Grenoble. In 2012, the museum welcomed 92,997 visitors. In 2016, the museum housed 76,413 visitors,pro.isere-tourisme.com 2016 but typically averages around 60,000 per year.
In 2017, the Musée dauphinois, with the collaboration of the Musée de la Révolution française and the Musée de l'Ancien Évêché, took part in L’année Lesdiguières (the Year of Lesdiguières), a retrospective about the Lesdiguières dynasty—a family of politically influential men from the Dauphiné region during the 11th and 12th century. This exposition was concluded by a conference from 25 to 27 October.
On 6 February 2018, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, the museum welcomed reputed athletes from the era such as Jean-Claude Killy, Marielle Goitschel, Alain Calmat, Léo Lacroix, Patrick Péra, Guy Périllat and Franco Nones.isere.fr du 9 février 2018, Grenoble 1968, les JO qui ont changé l'Isère. In October 2019, Jean-Pierre Barbier, the president of the Department of Isère, unveiled plans to redevelop the museum's gardens ahead of the 400th anniversary of the Convent of Sainte-Marie d'en-Haut.
Present The Musée dauphinois is currently directed by Olivier Cogne, a historian and archivist by trade. He has previously served as the director of the Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l'Isère. Through expositions such as Égyptomania, Rose Valland, Nunavik, and L'ivresse des sommets: eaux de vie et liqueurs des Alpes, the museum continues to explore the connection between contemporary history and cultural heritage. In 2023, the Direction of Culture and Heritage, associated with the Department of Isère, spearheaded a collaboration between twelve regional museums—including the Musée dauphinois—organizing a communal storage space for their collections. This endeavour included a joint construction effort as well as the restoration and digitization of certain documents.
History of Sainte-Marie d’en-Haut Origins The Convent of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary was founded during the Counter-Reformation of the 17th century. The congregation, reserved for women, was created in 1610 by Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, who established the order's fourth house in Grenoble, naming it the convent of Sainte-Marie d’en-Haut.