L'Histoire et la Poésie (History and Poetry)

History of the work

Above the main entrance of the Bern Historical Museum on Helvetiaplatz is a large facade mosaic. The painter Léo-Paul Robert designed it; according to the French Wikipedia, Clement Heaton carried it out. The city's data list it as 'L'Histoire et la Poésie' (History and Poetry), the German Wikipedia as 'Geschichte und Poesie'; on Wikimedia Commons it is filed under the title 'L'âge de l'histoire' (The Age of History).

The sources give different dates: the city's data say 1894 to 1900, the German Wikipedia 1898 and the French Wikipedia 1897. The building itself went up from late 1892 to 1894 in the Kirchenfeld district to plans by André Lambert, on the grounds of the celebration of the city's 700th anniversary. It was originally meant to house the Swiss National Museum, but the Federal Assembly chose Zurich instead.

Robert was born in Biel on 19 March 1851; the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland lists him as Paul Robert, son of the painter Aurèle Robert. From 1869 to 1875 he trained in Munich, Florence and Paris. After a religious crisis he gave up painting for a while and travelled to Palestine in 1883 and 1884; afterwards his work was marked by deep religiosity. With Heaton he created large murals in Neuchâtel and Lausanne and this mosaic in Bern.

From 1891 to 1897 Robert sat on the Federal Art Commission. In his late years he painted hundreds of watercolours of birds and caterpillars. He died in Orvin on 10 October 1923. Standing in front of the museum, look up: the mosaic sits directly above the main entrance.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Léo-Paul Robert · Wikipedia (fr): Léo-Paul Robert · HLS: Robert, Paul (Nicole Quellet-Soguel) · Wikipedia (de): Bernisches Historisches Museum · Wikimedia Commons: Wandmosaik L’âge de l’histoire (Léo-Paul Robert – Clement Heaton 1900)