MUSÉE CERNUSCHI

In avenue Vélazquez 7 you will reach the "Musée Cernuschi". The museum is named after Enrico Cernuschi, a man from Milan who settled in Paris and was of multifaceted talent: he was an economist, patriot, political provoker, founder of the Bank of France, and above all a huge traveler and passionate collector of oriental art. Inaugurated at the end of the 19th century, his museum is essentially a collection of souvenirs: but when a man like Cernuschi traveled around the world, he would stay away for three years and come back with over 5,000 objects! Mostly purchased in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, you can see the majority of it here: ceramics, bronzes, statues, jade objects, ivory, lacquers, weapons, and exotic jewels, all accompanied by extraordinary photographic documentation. The museum's piece de résistance is a bronze statue of Buddha from the 18th century that's over four meters tall and came from a Tokyo temple that was destroyed by a fire.