Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris — About — Slash Paris

The Petit Palais was created for the Universal Exposition of 1900 as a city museum in which to showcase the works bought from the yearly Salons. Most of the collection is the legacy of Auguste Dutuit. Among this collection you can find ancient artifacts, medieval objects, rare manuscripts and books, Dutch paintings from the seventeenth century. The collection includes western art from the Egyptian era to the present. Dutuit also left a fund for the further purchase of works.

Arranged around an octi-circular courtyard and garden, the palace is similar to the nearby Grand Palais. Its ionic columns, grand porch and dome echo those of the Invalides across the river. The tympanum depicting the city of Paris surrounded by muses is the work of sculptor Jean Antoine Injalbert.

The current exhibits are divided into sections: the Dutuit Collection of medieval and Renaissance paintings, drawings and objets d’art; the Tuck Collection of 18th century furniture and the City of Paris collection of paintings. The museum diplays paintings by painters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Gellée, Fragonard, Hubert Robert, Greuze and a remarkable collection of 19th century painting and sculpture : Ingres, Géricault, Delacroix, Courbet, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Cezanne, Modigliani, Carpeaux, Maillol, Rodin etc.

The Petit Palais has served as a model for other public buildings, notably for the Royal Museum for Central Africa near Brussels, Belgium, and the Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Museum) in Santiago, Chile.

The museum displays a remarkable collection of paintings and sculptures.