Albert Lenoir
1801–1891 · French archaeologist, art historian and architect
Alexandre-Albert Lenoir (Paris, 1801-1891) was a French art historian, archaeologist and writer, best known for creating what is now the Musée de Cluny. He does not appear as a painter in the sources, although his mother, Adélaïde Binart, was one. He trained in architecture, working in the studio of François Debret, and in 1820 entered the École des Beaux-Arts.
Between 1830 and 1833 he travelled through Italy with the architect François-Alexis Cendrier, studying Greco-Roman, Etruscan and early Christian architecture. Back in Paris, he presented a proposal at the Salon for a historical museum in the Palais des Thermes and the Hôtel de Cluny, which became the Musée du Moyen Âge. He taught at the École des Beaux-Arts, joined the Académie des Beaux-Arts and became the first president of the Société des Amis des Monuments Parisiens.
His legacy lies chiefly in museum creation and the protection of Paris's historic heritage.