Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon, France

The Musée du Petit Palais is a museum and art gallery. It opened in 1976 and has an exceptional collection of Renaissance paintings of the Avignon school as well as from Italy, which reunites many 'primitives' from the collection of Giampietro Campana. It is housed in a 14th-century building at the north side of the square overlooked by the Palais des Papes.

Named Petit Palais to distinguish it from the Palais des Papes, the original structure was built during the period of the Avignon Papacy by Cardinal Bérenger Fredoli the Elder in around 1318-20. The palace and a few neighbouring buildings were bought on de Frédol's death in 1323 by Cardinal Arnaud de Via, nephew of the reigning Pope John XXII. When de Via died in 1335 Pope Benedict XII bought the building for use as the episcopal palace. The subsequent building work created an interior close to that of the present configuration with four wings around a cloister and a service court.

The building suffered during its use from 1396 as a fortified citadel during the Western Schism, and was a wreck by the time the war ended in 1411. In the second half of the 15th century, Bishop Alain de Coëtivy and his successor, Giuliano della Rovere (the future Pope Julius II) carried out restoration work, giving the Palace more or less its present appearance by 1503. Della Rovere arrived in Avignon in 1474, having been made bishop of Avignon and papal legate of Avignon by his uncle Pope Sixtus IV. He added new south and west facades in Italian Renaissance style and, in 1487, a tower (which collapsed in 1767). The Palace became known as the Palace of the Archbishop when the city was promoted to an archbishopric soon after della Rovere took office.

During the French Revolution, the palace was nationalised and sold off, becoming a Catholic secondary school in 1826 and then in 1904, with the separation of the church and the state, a professional and technical school.

The collection includes 327 works by Italian and French primitive or early-renaissance painters such as Sandro Botticelli or Vittore Carpaccio. There is also 600 sculptures including the effigy head from the tomb of Antipope Clement VII.

References:

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Museums in France

User Reviews

Desi Dim (9 months ago)
Little gem! Friendly staff and rich collection, many loans from Louvre. Free entry.

Ilona (12 months ago)
Very nice museum, art from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, mainly Italian art

arChy (2 years ago)
It's free museum but it's world class museum with many old masters paintings. I especially like the methods of how they made paints in the past. Too bad my French is not very good cos very few descriptions are in English and it's mostly just who's the painter and title.

Terry Firkin (2 years ago)
Very good art gallery of the Papal Palace. Wonderful collection and some beautiful works by Botticelli.

Craig Bromberg (3 years ago)
On the north side of the Place du Palais and immediately adjacent the large Palais des Papes is the Musee du Petit Palais, a smallish museum that focuses on religious paintings on wood screens and panels (which would normally be placed within various churches) as well as some scultupres. The museum is well organized, laid out and the 14th century palace that it is situated in as interesting in its own right. The collection is narrowly focused so would appeal mostly to a particular crowd. The museum is free and since one is normally in the area to see the Palais des Papes, it is worth the 20 minute visit.

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