The Musée d’Unterlinden is named for the 13th century Dominican convent of Unterlinden (`under the linden trees’), the building of which today houses the museum. The museum’s been around since 1853 and has a large collection of art and artefacts ranging from the decorative arts to religious art, silverware, and finds from Neolithic excavations. All of this spreads across three floors.

We arrived at the museum shortly before noon, and began by spending a little while strolling around, admiring the beauty of the building itself. The pillared 13th century cloister, the garden in the middle, and occasional glimpses of the original walls of the Dominican convent of Unterlinden certainly add to the experience.

That done, we moved on to exploring the exhibits on the ground floor, beginning with what we assumed was a reconstruction of the convent’s original wine presses and casks (there weren’t any signs around and the audio guide we’d received at the reception desk was silent about this). Further along the corridor spread the actually galleries of the museum, this section abounding in 12th century carvings, literally dozens of depictions of the Madonna and Child (painted, carved, and painted plaster), and—this was what caught my eye—triptychs. Most of these finely carved and painted pieces functioned as domestic altarpieces for chapels in aristocratic homes.

The largest and most magnificent altarpiece of all is the museum’s pride and joy: the Isenheim Altarpiece. This was made for a monastery in Isenheim, near Colmar, between 1512 and 1516. It was painted by Grünewald and carved by Nicholas de Haguenau in a series of panels that depict a range of Biblical scenes: the Annunciation, the Passion and Crucifixion, the Ascension, etc.

A group of conservationists was busy at one end of this room, carefully restoring a painting; but we made our way past them and on to the altarpiece, which is massive and dominates the room. It opens out into a number of panels, each richly painted and arranged one behind the other, so that visitors can see it in its entirety. This was where the audio guides provided came in full use: each allegory and detail of the altarpiece is explained, making it much easier to appreciate the work. Among the most striking sections is a fantastic (literally, since it shows mythical creatures—demons and the like) depiction of the tormenting of St Anthony.

After the splendour of the Isenheim Altarpiece, the rest of the Musée d’Unterlinden seemed to pale into insignificance. On the other floors, though, the galleries of decorative and fine arts eventually proved worth a visit. Among the displays here are some finely painted ceramic stoves, paintings (including a series by Colmar’s very own 15th century artist, Martin Schongauer, and a memorable The Repentant Magdalene with mesmerising eyes) and murals. There’s furniture (look out for the exquisite old cupboards decorated with fine carving and marquetry) and even oddities like the mechanical armonica. This, we discovered, was a musical instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin; it consisted of a series of glass bowls of different sizes, each of which, when struck with wet fingers, produced a different note. Only sixty pieces of Franklin’s original armonica exist; this is one of them.

And that isn’t all. The Musée d’Unterlinden also has displays of loads of other items: armour, weaponry, gargantuan church bells, gleaming silverware, porcelain, and prettily painted kügelhopf moulds. There are cute dioramas depicting life in the ages gone by, with little kitchens, dining rooms, and so on in dolls’ house-like reproductions.

By the time we finally made our way down to the basement, we were tired and hungry, but we still managed to do a quick round of the archaeological galleries. These are devoted to archaeological finds from across Alsace, but also have interesting artefacts like pottery, beads and weapons from further afield, such as Greece and the Etruscan civilisation.

Not, perhaps, as vast a museum as some others, but definitely worth a visit—even if you go just to see the Isenheim Altarpiece. Entry to the Musée d’Unterlinden is €7 per person; this includes a free audio guide. Photography is allowed in the museum, but without a flash.

I particularly liked the fact that this art museum contains a number of rooms with taped commentary – just punch in the number of the work and you can listen to an excellent description of the symbols involved… it was a real education, and we spent much more time over these old works than we might have otherwise. Perhaps I shouldn’t say "old works"… the collection at the Unterlinden is exceptionally fine.

Just a word about the first floor that was closed…it actually contains 18 separate subject areas, including things as diverse as "Toys," "Pewter," "Stained Glass," a "Harpsichord Room," and "Popular Alsatian Art" - there is something for everyone, but having said that, people do not come to the Unterlinden to see the first floor. They come for the ground floor and the large exhibit of medieval art (12th-16th century), and in particular, the Issenheim altarpiece.

The Issenheim altarpiece is housed, in all its glory, in the former chapel of the convent… an extremely capacious room. It is the work of Matthias Grunewald and was done around 1515. We’ve all seen small altarpieces, usually three panels… this is not one of those. It’s an altar screen with two-sided folding wing pieces displaying the Crucifixion, the Incarnation, the Assumption and the Resurrection… an extremely ambitious work beautifully rendered. There is also a carved altar screen depicting Saint Anthony’s visit to Saint Paul and Saint Anthony’s temptation. It is a room in which your audio guide really pays for itself… silly to see this exhibit without it.

There are also exhibits in the basement… modern art and archaeology, but they really pale in comparison to the exhibits upstairs. I thought it was time well spent.