Some Photos from the Musée des Arts et Métiers
If you’ve read Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum, then you have heard of the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris. The Museum of Arts et Metiers in Paris “was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions.” It is housed in the buildings of the former Priory of Saint Martin des Champs. Some dramatic scenes take place in what had been the former church adjacent to the monastery. Here are some pictures I took there a few years ago.
I may have posted some of these before.
-
- The exterior of the apse of the former church building.
-
- The famous pendulum, inside the church, looking towards the apse.
-
- The vault from which the pendulum is suspended.
-
- One of the scientific instruments on display.
-
- A memorial to the heretic, Guillaume Postel, who was confined to the priory.
-
- Looking into the nave.
-
- Another angle, this time from inside the nave.
-
- Some more of the display.
I hope that gives you a little feel of the building.
fojap 
It sure does and makes me want to go see it
I probably should have mentioned that the actual building was built during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. I’m assuming that in the wake of the Revolution when the power of the Catholic Church was overthrown it became a museum. So, there are two things there to see, the museum exhibits and the building itself.