The history of the collections

Initially, the museum's collection consisted mainly of "antiquities" collected in the first half of the 19th century by the departmental Antiquities Commission. The collection was gradually enriched by sculptures, historical portraits, engravings and objets d'art, most of which came from generous donors. Unfortunately, the fire that ravaged the site in 1871 considerably damaged this first collection. In the aftermath, the lost collections had to be rebuilt. The challenge was enormous, but brilliantly met: the catalogue, which contained 1,415 numbers in 1869, had almost 3,000 by 1895! During this period, major pieces joined the collection, including the manuscript of La Nancéide by Pierre de Blarru, the bed of duke Antoine, the Hanap de Sion, and the earthenware service bearing the arms of Leopold and Elisabeth-Charlotte. The pace of acquisitions and collections intensified further in 1910 with the creation of the Popular Arts and Traditions section, then known as the "rustic" arts.

A number of prestigious collections from Lorraine were acquired by the museum between the wars: those of the Thiéry-Solet family (1921), which included copper by Jacques Callot; Louis Edme-Gaucher (1928); and Lucien and René Wiener (1939). Deposits were also made, among them the Institut de France that entrusted the museum with the terrestrial and celestial globes executed by Jean L'Hoste for the duke of Lorraine Henri II in the early 17th century.

After the Second World War, the museum received a number of important bequests from generous donors: Georges Goury(1955), Eugène Corbin (1956), Henri Marcus (1966), René Cadet (1966) and Edouard and Suzanne Salin (1975). Their generosity helped to enrich the collections in the fields of archaeology, decorative arts and painting. It was also after the war that the Société d'Histoire de la Lorraine et du Musée lorrain acquiredLa Femme à la puce, a masterpiece by Georges de La Tour that became a museum icon.

From 2000 onwards, the City of Nancy joined forces with the Société d'Histoire de la Lorraine et du Musée Lorrain to pursue its policy of purchases: in 2009, it acquired the trésor de Pouilly, a masterpiece of Renaissance goldsmith. In 2017, it was the turn of the Épée de Grand Écuyer de Lorraine, classified as a National Treasure, to join the museum's collections. Archaeology has not been forgotten, as demonstrated by the acquisition of La lance d’apparat de Cutry in 2018. The State, the Région Grand Est and the Société d'Histoire de la Lorraine et du Musée lorrain are also partners in the museum's renovation project, and are closely involved in these additions.