Description of the attraction
Villa Vauban is an art museum in the city of Luxembourg. The villa was built in 1873 as a private residence on the site of a destroyed old defensive fortress (some fragments of the fortress walls dating back to the 18th century have survived to this day and can be seen today in the basement of the villa). The fortress was built according to the project of the outstanding military engineer, Marshal of France Sebastien de Vauban, and it was in his honor that the villa later received its name. The magnificent park surrounding the villa was laid out by one of the leading landscape architects of his time, the Frenchman Edouard André (1740-1911).
On May 1, 2010, after a five-year renovation under the direction of the architect Philippe Schmitt, Villa Vauban opened its doors to visitors as the Luxembourg City Museum of Art. The basis of the museum collection was the collections of private collectors donated to the city - the Parisian banker Jean-Pierre Pescator, the banker and Consul General of Luxembourg in Amsterdam Leo Lippmann and Eugenie Pescator (originally this collection belonged to the pharmacist Jodoc Frederic Hoshertz). In the future, the collection of the museum was replenished several times.
The collection of the museum perfectly illustrates the history of European art of the 17-19th centuries. The permanent exhibition of the museum features a splendid selection of paintings, drawings and sculptures. The museum's special pride is undoubtedly the works of such eminent representatives of the golden age of Dutch painting as Cornelius Bega, Gerard Dow and Jan Steen, as well as the works of 19th century French painters - Eugene Delacroix, Jean Mesonier and Jules Dupre.
