Museum of Fine Arts of Strasbourg
Musee des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg: History, Collection Highlights.


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Museum of Fine Arts of Strasbourg

Contents

Introduction
History
Permanent Collection
Highlights
Contact Details

Introduction

The Museum of Fine Arts in Strasbourg has one of the finest collections of European art spanning from the 14th century to the early 19th century. Regarded as one of the best museums in Europe, the gallery has been located on the first and second floor of Rohan Palace since 1898 and owns about 865 works, of which 250 are on display at any one time.

FRANCE/BELGIUM
Musee Conde, Chantilly
Musee d'Orsay
Antwerp Museum of Fine Arts
ITALY
Uffizi Gallery Florence
Doria Pamphilj Gallery
Pitti Palace, Florence
Capodimonte Museum, Naples
BRITAIN
National Gallery London
Courtauld Gallery
British Royal Art Collection
British Museum

It has examples from early Flemish painting and the Italian Proto-Renaissance, including works by Hans Memling (1430-94) and Giotto; (1266-1337) as well as masters from the Renaissance (c.1400-1520), Mannerism (1520-1600) and, the Baroque art movements. There are paintings by Rubens (1577-1640), Zurbaran (1598-1664), Italian fresco painter and printmaker Tiepolo (1696-1770), the Spanish Romantic Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), the later French Romantics Eugene Delacroix (1798–1863) and Camille Corot (1796–1875), and the 19th century French Realist painter Courbet (1819–77), as well as many others. La Belle Strasbourgeoise (1703) or the Strasbourg Belle by Nicolas de Largilliere (1656 –1746), a nuptial portrait of the artist's sister is considered one of the star pieces of the collection.

APPRECIATING PAINTING
Before visiting the Museum of
Fine Arts of Strasbourg, see:
Art Evaluation: How to Appreciate Art.

NETHERLANDS
Mauritshuis Art Museum
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
SPAIN
Prado Museum Madrid
GERMANY - AUSTRIA - SWISS
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum
Alte Meister Dresden
Gemaldegalerie SMPK, Berlin
Pinakothek Museum Munich
Kunsthistorisches Museum

RUSSIA
Hermitage St Petersburg

 

History

The collection was first started under the government of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) with the donation of 40 paintings from the Louvre museum in Paris - and not as has been claimed a result of appropriations from churches after the French Revolution. The idea was to share some of the Louvre's surplus works with other cities for the educational purpose of training artists and craftsmen. During the 1870 Franco-Prussian war the collection was tragically destroyed by fire, with only one Corot painting surviving. After the War, the emperor allocated a budget to Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929), an art expert, and tasked him to rebuild the collection. The second major figure in the museum's history was Hans Haug (1890-1965) who organised more donations from the Louvre, and the purchase of La Belle Strasbourgeoise in 1963. While Largilliere is not considered of equal greatness to say the still life virtuoso Jean Chardin (1699–1779) or the great classicist Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), this particular work is highly valued for its beautiful treatment of colour, mystery and poetry. Today the collection continues to grow. In the 1980s and 1990s two Strasbourg citizens donated nearly 20 masterpieces to the museum, including works by portraitist and caricaturist Giuseppe Crespi (1665-1747), Marco Ricci (1676-1730), and Canaletto (1697–1768) who is famed for his vedute or view paintings of Venice.

Permanent Collection

The museum displays works from nearly all significant European art movements from Giotto to Courbet. The Italian schools from the 14th to 16th century are included, with carefully chosen pieces from the Early Renaissance. There are landscapes, still life and genre scenes from the 17th century. The Spanish Painting School is particularly well represented with masterpieces by El Greco (1541–1614), Tenebrist and printmaker Jusepe Ribera (1591-1652) and Goya (1746-1828). Some have argued that French painting is less well represented, but this is partly due to the tragic history of collection. Many larger historical, religious and mythological works by French masters burned in the 1870 fire. Yet, there are significant works from Baroque painter Simon Vouet (1590-1649), Philippe de Champaigne (1602–74), Largillierre, Chardin, Corot and Romantic painter Theodore Chasseriau (1819–56). There are also several examples of still life painting by noted 17th century Dutch Realist artists.

Highlights

- Madonna with Child and Two Angels by Sandro Botticelli.
- Polyptych of Vanity and Redemption Earth (1490) by Hans Memling.
- Saint Sebastian by Comegliano (c.1469-1517).
- Angel Bust (1480-5) by Filippino Lippi.
- The Myth of Prometheus (c.1510) by Piero di Cosimo (1461/2-1521).
- View of the Church of the Salute from the Grand Canal (1727) by Canaletto.
- The Betrothed (c.1525) by Lucas van Leyden (c.1494-1533).
- Departure for the Walk by Pieter de Hooch.
- Bethuel welcoming Abraham's Servant (c.1725) by Francois Boucher.
- Plateau of Peaches with Walnuts, wine glass, knife (1758) by Jean Chardin.
- The Stable Copper by Jean-Antoine Watteau.
- La Belle Strasbourgeoise (1703) by Nicolas de Largilliere.

 

 

Contact Details

Address
Rohan Palace
2 Place du Chateau
67000, Strasbourg

Telephone
03 88 88 50 68

Opening Times

Mondays: Closed
Tuesday and Wednesday: 12pm to 7pm
Thursday: 12pm to 9pm
Friday: 12pm to 7pm
Saturday and Sunday: 10am to 6pm

• For details of more galleries in France, see: Best Art Museums.
• For more details about French painting & sculpture, see: Homepage.


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