Musée Ariana in Geneva was founded in the late 19th century by Swiss art collector Gustave Revilliod to house his vast collections. Today it is a museum of ceramics and glass.
Émile Grobéty was the initial architect but once construction started in 1877, he was overwhelmed by the scale of the project and replaced by the more experienced Jacques-Elysée Goss. The museum opened its doors to the public in 1884. The statues and busts of the facades are the works of Italian sculptor Luigi Guglielmi and local sculptor Emile-Pierre Leysalle.
Musée Ariana - exterior
Its entrance hall features an elliptical dome with a marble colonnade. On the ground floor, the columns are in dark marble and have a smooth finish. Upstairs, the columns are twisted and use a lighter marble.
entrance hall
marble colonnade
The stained glass windows inside the dome are all part of Gustave Revilliod's collection. Some of them are copies of 16th century heraldic windows produced by Johann Heinrich Müller between 1883 and 1886. Johann Heinrich Müller was one of the most famous Swiss glassmakers of his time, having produced stained glass windows both for the Swiss government in Bern and the US Senate in Washington.
ceiling with windows by Johann Heinrich Müller
entrance hall
The building was renovated between 1981 and 1993.
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