Earth:Oceanographic Museum of Monaco

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Short description: Museum of marine sciences in Monaco-Ville, Monaco
Short description: Oceanographic museum, Historic site in Le Rocher, Monaco
Oceanographic Museum of Monaco
Monaco BW 2011-06-07 17-50-43.jpg
Exterior of the Museum
Established1910
LocationLe Rocher, Monaco
TypeOceanographic museum, Historic site
Websitewww.oceano.mc
The building rises from the cliffside rock.
A view of the interior of the museum.
Aerial view of the Rock with the museum.

The Oceanographic Museum (Musée océanographique) is a museum of marine sciences in Monaco-Ville, Monaco. This building is part of the Institut océanographique, which is committed to sharing its knowledge of the oceans.[1]

History

The Oceanographic Museum was inaugurated in 1910 by Monaco's modernist reformer Prince Albert I,[2] who invited to the celebrations not just high officials and celebrities but also the world-leading oceanographers of the day to develop the concept of a future Mediterranean Commission dedicated to oceanography, now called Mediterranean Science Commission. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was director from 1957 to 1988. The Museum celebrated its centenary in March 2010, after extensive renovations.

Overview

The museum is home to exhibitions and collections of various species of sea fauna (starfish, seahorses, turtles, jellyfish, crabs, lobsters, rays, sharks, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, eels, cuttlefish etc.). The museum's holdings also include a great variety of sea related objects, including model ships, sea animal skeletons, tools, weapons etc., as well as a collection of material culture and ritual objects made from, or integrating materials such as pearls, molluscs and nacre.[3][4]

At the first floor, A Sailor’s Career showcases the work of Prince Albert I. It includes the laboratory from L’Hirondelle, the first of Prince Albert's research yachts. Observations made there led to an understanding of the phenomenon of anaphylaxis, for which Dr Charles Richet received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1913.[3]

An aquarium in the basement of the museum presents a wide array of flora and fauna. Four thousand species of fish and over 200 families of invertebrates can be seen. The aquarium also features a presentation of Mediterranean and tropical marine ecosystems.[3]

Numerous artists display their artworks in the museum, such as Damien Hirst and Philippe Pasqua.[5]

Architecture

This monumental example of highly charged Baroque Revival architecture has an impressive façade above the sea, towering over the sheer cliff face to a height of 279 feet (85.04 m). It took eleven years to build, using 100,000 tons of stone from La Turbie.[3] During construction, the names of twenty well-known oceanographic research vessels personally selected by Prince Albert I were inscribed into the frieze of the museum's façade.[6]

Oceanographic research vessels inscribed on façade

Country Vessel Image Year Launched Expedition Inscription[7][6]
 German Empire SMS Gazelle[6] 1859 1874–76[8] GAZELLE
 United Kingdom HMS Investigator'[6] Investigator.jpg 1801 1801–03[6] INVESTIGATOR
 Austrian Empire SMS Novara'[6] SMS Novara 1864 Martinique.jpg 1850 Novara Expedition (1857–59)[6] NOVARA
 Russian Empire Vitiaz[6] Vityaz'-Skobelev1861-1900V.jpg 1862 1870–74

1883–85[6]

VITIAZ
 Belgium RV Belgica[6] Belgica1web.jpg 1884 Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897–99)[6] BELGICA
 France Talisman[6] 1883[9] TALISMAN
 German Empire SS Valdivia'[6]
Vessel Valdivia.jpg
 1886 Valdivia Expedition (1898–99)[8] VALDIVIA
 Kingdom of Italy Washington[6] 1881[10] WASHINGTON
 Sweden(Template:Country data United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway) SS Vega[6]
SS Vega.jpg
 1872 1878–79[6] VEGA
 Norway(Template:Country data United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway) Fram[6] Amundsen-Fram.jpg 1892 Nansen's Fram expedition (1893–96)

Sverdrup's Canadian Arctic islands expedition (1898–1902)

Amundsen's South Pole expedition (1910–12)[6]

FRAM
 Monaco Princess Alice[11][6] PRINCESS ALICE
 Monaco Hirondelle[11][6] Hirondelle II-IMG 1808.jpg HIRONDELLE
 Austria-Hungary SMS Pola[6] SMS Pola.png Austro-Hungarian Deep Sea Expeditions [de] (1890–93)[6] POLA
 United States USC&GS George S. Blake'[6] C&GS steamer-Blake-1874-1905.jpg 1874 1874–1904[6] BLAKE
 United Kingdom HMS Challenger'[6] HMS challenger William Frederick Mitchell.jpg 1858 Challenger expedition (1872–76)[6] CHALLENGER
 Netherlands HNLMS Siboga[6] Siboga, gunboat (1898).jpg Siboga expedition (1899–1900)[6] SIBOGA
 United Kingdom Buccaneer[12][6] BUCCANEER
Template:Country data Kingdom of Portugal SS Amélia I [pt], II [pt], III, IV'[6] Yacht royal portugais Amelia (loin, clair).jpg 1896, 1897, 1899, 1901–1910[6] AMELIA
 Denmark Ingolf[6] 1895–96[6] INGOLF
 United States USS Albatross'[6] Albatross-ii.jpg 1882 1883–97, 1899–1916, 1919–21[6] ALBATROSS

Caulerpa taxifolia

In 1989, a French marine biologist discovered a patch of a giant, tropical seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia directly under the walls of the museum. The actual source and extent of this exotic introduction remain a matter of controversy.[13]

Gallery

  • Aquarium with Piranhas

  • Sea turtle

  • Nautilus

  • Central room of the top floor

See also

  • List of museums in Monaco

References

  1. ↑ "The Oceanographic Institute, Foundation Albert I, Prince of Monaco". Monaco Blue Initiative. http://www.monacoblueinitiative.org/en/organizers/oceanographic-institute-foundation-albert-i-prince-of-monaco/. 
  2. ↑ Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. Infobase Publishing. p. 529. ISBN 978-1-4381-2918-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC&pg=PA529. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco". Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. http://www.aslo.org/nice2009/museum.html. 
  4. ↑ "Art de la nacre, coquillages sacrés". Rapport de recherche sur la provenance et l'authenticité d'une collection du Musée Océanographique. Monaco: Musée Océanographique. 1992. 
  5. ↑ De Santis, Sophie (15 May 2017). "Philippe Pasqua, "Borderline"" (in fr). Le Figaro. http://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/2017/05/15/03015-20170515ARTFIG00085-philippe-pasqua-borderline.php. 
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27 6.28 6.29 6.30 6.31 6.32 6.33 6.34 Cotter, Charles H.; Dean, J. R. (December 1966). "Down to the Sea: A Century of Oceanography". The Geographical Journal 132 (4): 560. doi:10.2307/1792593. ISSN 0016-7398. 
  7. ↑ Kofoid, Charles A. (1910). The biological stations of Europe. G.P.O. OCLC 7310523. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Some Early German Contributions to Oceanography". https://hydro-international.com/content/article/some-early-german-contributions-to-oceanography. 
  9. ↑ "The "Talisman" Expedition". Nature 29 (739): 197–198. December 1883. doi:10.1038/029197a0. ISSN 0028-0836. Bibcode: 1883Natur..29..197.. 
  10. ↑ Moraitou-Apostolopoulou, Maria (2013). Mediterranean Marine Ecosystems. Springer. ISBN 9781489922489. OCLC 1076260370. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "The Career of a Navigator". Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. https://www.oceano.mc/en/presentation/the-oceanographic-museum/the-career-of-a-navigator. 
  12. ↑ Carpine-Lancre, Jacqueline; McConnell, Anita (January 2011). "Prince Albert and J. Y. Buchanan: Mediterranean investigations". History of Oceanography (International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science) 22: 29. https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=hist_ocean. 
  13. ↑ Davidson, Nick (2003-04-01). "Transcript of "Deep Sea Invasion"". PBS and BBC. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3008_algae.html. 

External links

[ ⚑ ] 43°43′51″N 7°25′31″E / 43.73083°N 7.42528°E / 43.73083; 7.42528



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