Le jeudi 21 novembre nous sommes allés avec notre classe d'anglais euro au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, situé à proximité de l'Hôtel de ville de Lyon, sur la place des Terreaux. Ouvert depuis 1801, il accueille environ 300000 visiteurs par an. Il contient plus de 70000 œuvres : des antiquités égyptiennes, grecques et romaines, des peintures médiévales, mais aussi datant des époques modernes et contemporaines, avec notamment des œuvres de Rubens, Monet ou encore Picasso, mais aussi des sculptures, des pièces et des médailles... 

The museum of Beaux Arts is located in the centre of Lyon. After the French Revolution, the city council designated the building as a conservation place for artworks. Our visit was led by a guide, in English, and we discovered the antic rooms : firstly the Egyptian rooms, then the Greek and the Roman ones, followed by the Middle Ages area, and then the rooms dedicated to the Renaissance and the Modern period.

Nous avons débuté par la visite de la partie antique du musée car c'était en lien avec le thème étudié en classe : la conservation des oeuvres antiques. Nous nous sommes penché-es en classe sur l'histoire de la frise du Parthénon, un temple athénien dédié à la déesse Athéna. Cette frise se trouve en grande partie au British Museum, à Londres, tandis que d'autres parties se trouvent dans divers musées européens, et notamment au Musée de l'Acropole, à Athènes, à proximité de son lieu d'origine.

We discovered a beautiful artwork from the Acropolis in the Antiquity room : the korê. It means “young girl”. This sculpture was created circa 540 B.-C.. It is made of marble, and today this artwork is white, but during the Antiquity, it was painted, and colorful. Indeed, we can distinguish red pigments on the hair of the girl , and blue pigments on the dress. The museum has the upper part of the sculpture, and the Acropolis museum owns the other part . It evokes the story and the struggle of the Parthenon frieze, because this masterpiece is separated in two parts, and exhibited in two museums. Like the Parthenon frieze, the Korê comes from the Acropolis, and the Acropolis Museum is trying to present these artefacts in their original context, and is asking for the return of the missing parts.

But according to us, another artwork made an impression : it is called “The Annunciation”. These artefacts are two wooden articulated sculptures, used as puppets. They were created during the 14^th century in Tuscany, in Italy, and probably helped to tell the biblical story of Gabriel, announcing to Maria that she was expecting Jesus. The guide assumed they were exhibited in a church. 

We asked our classmates to share their impressions and feelings about their visit :

“I liked the distribution of the artworks. They are displayed by period and styles.” (Kaïs)

“The artworks are very diversified and come from different countries such as Italy, Greece, Egypt... (Lucie)

“ I really enjoyed the antic part and especially the Egyptian sarcophagi. The guide explained their history very well.” (Ismaïl)

“We didn't have enough time!” (Marie)

Article rédigé par les élèves du groupe d'Anglais euro (histoire-géographie), et leurs enseignant-es, Mr Holard et Mme Vienot