Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de La Rochelle is housed in a private hotel built in the early seventeenth century, in the location of an old house called Grand Logis or Palais Royal. Purchased in 1600 by Paul Legoux, treasurer of the house of Navarre, this place welcomed personalities such as Sully (1604), Condé (1615), Louis XIII (1628) and Anne d'Austria (1632). After becoming a seminary in 1673, and then a bishop in 1696, the hotel was rebuilt between 1769 and 1774 by Bishop de Crussol of Uzès, according to the plans of architect Gilles Nassivet, in a neoclassical style.

During the Revolution, the hotel was confiscated by the municipality. In 1795, the municipal library was installed, followed in 1845 by the Museum of Fine Arts, created from works acquired since 1841 by the Société des Amis des Arts. The building, which was listed as a historical monument in 1925, also housed a stone museum and the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs. Closed for work since 2018, it is scheduled to reopen in 2027.

The museum's collections cover European painting from the 15th to the 20th century, with major works by painters such as Delacroix, Corot or Courbet. A remarkable Asian section includes Chinese export paintings (Qing dynasty) and Japanese ceramics from the Rimpa school. The museum also preserves stone fragments of missing buildings, such as the Carmelite church or the city hall.

The hotel, in a U-shaped plan, features boss elevations and a modillon cornice. Its main staircase, located between the south wing and the building body, reflects its neoclassical architecture. After the transfer of the library in 1998, the liberated space hosted a Contemporary Art Space, opened in 1999. The collections of the Orbigny-Bernon museum, closed in 2012, were transferred to the museum.

External links