Fine arts Museum

Under the second Empire, the museum moved from the ' Bernardines' convent where it had been located from its opening in 1804 to the Palais Lonchamp inaugurated in 1869.

The Majestic building intended to house the Fine Arts museum and the Museum was built to the plans of the architect Henry Esperandieu. A huge foutain representing la Durance on a chariot pulled by Camargue bulls reminds us that the palace commemorates the arrival of the waters of the Durance canal in Marseille.

Museum exhibits a selection of the most remarkable masterpieces and its collections, more then 8000 paintings, sculptures and drawings from the XVI th century... On the ground floor, you can find the oldest paintings: from the XVI th and XVII th century and the first floor, XVIII th to the XIX th century.
On the ground floor, a room is dedicated to the works of Pierre Puget.

Permanent exhibitions:

The Fine Arts museum presents its collection and sculptures covering three centuries of Art history from XVI th to XIX th. We can also see a beautiful collection of the greatest Italian and Fench masters from XVI th and XVII th with piece of Art of Louis Finson, Jean Daret, Nicolas Mignard.


Nothern schools are represented by painting by Rubens, Jordaers or Snyders. Presentation of the Art in Provence is one of the asset of museum. Louis Finson, Jean Daret, Nicolas Mignard on Michel Serre's piece of Art reminds the dynamism of this artistic home, which used to "attract" the North and South European artists. You can find an exceptionnal set of paintings, sculptures and drawings of the french baroque greatest artists, Pierre Puget born in 1620 in Marseille.

The French school from the XIXth century is one of the highlights of the collection. Alongside the greatest masters such as Courbet, Corot, Daubigny, Millet and Puvis de Chavannes. Moreover, some artists from Marseille school represented by Loubon, Guigou or Ziem who imposed their original vision of the luminous landscapes of the Midi.

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