in Paris, museum of medieval arts and crafts housed in the Hôtel de Cluny, a Gothic mansion built about 1490 as the town residence of the abbots of Cluny. The collection assembled by Alexandre du Sommerard, owner of the mansion from 1833, was the basis of the museum. The French government acquired the property on du Sommerard's death in 1842. The collection was reorganized in the early 1950s to present a coherent history of medieval civilization and includes gold- and silverwork, stained glass, sculpture, jewelry, textiles, and everyday articles.