Paris Muse :: Tours at Musée Cluny

Musée de Cluny
This museum offers a fascinating glimpse of medieval Paris.

Open every day, except on Tuesdays, from 9:15am to 5:45pm

6, place Paul Painlevé, 75005
Métro: St Michel (4) or Cluny la Sorbonne (10)

Download the May 2005 issue of Paris Notes featuring "Middle Ageless" an article by Paris Muse director Ellen McBreen

Tours at Musée Cluny

The Lady, the Unicorn and Other Treasures of the Cluny
[ Book this tour

1.5-hour tour.
Tracy Chevalier’s best-selling novel The Lady and the Unicorn was inspired by one of the Musée de Cluny's most mysterious of masterpieces. This tour explores these sumptuous 15th-century tapestries in depth. It is an ideal opportunity for fans of Ms. Chevalier's book to get to know the real tapestries in the flesh.

Find out if Nicolas' exquisite designs are as exceptional as he says they are. If the woman in the tapestry representing “Sight” really seems blind—like Aliénor the weaver’s daughter. If the beautiful brocade of Claude’s dress in “Taste” is just as you thought it would be…

Although The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries have fascinated generations of novelists (beginning with George Sand in the 1840s), they have infatuated art historians as well. We'll learn about their competing interpretations too. Some say the series is about renouncing physical pleasures for spiritual ones. Others, that is about seduction—an appropriate theme, perhaps, if the tapestries were originally made to be a lavish wedding gift.

The Lady and the Unicorn is just one of the many beautiful discoveries in the Cluny's outstanding collection. By studying other medieval tapestries here, you will understand what makes the Unicorn series unique. And through other related works of art, like stained glass, sculpture, and architecture, and personal items like shoes, jewelry, and combs, the late medieval Paris of Chevalier's book will vividly come to life.

Rates. €70 for individuals, or €60 per person for parties of two or more. 4 is maximum. Includes price of admission. €20 surcharge to guarantee that your party has a one-on-one seminar with the instructor, without other parties. [ Book this tour ]