Description of the attraction
The Museum of Fine Arts in Angers is located a few hundred meters from the city's two main attractions - Angers Castle and Saint-Maurice Cathedral. And very close to the gallery named after the sculptor and medalist David Anzhersky - these buildings form the museum quarter, which also includes the library and university premises.
The Museum of Fine Arts is housed within the walls of a late 15th century mansion built by the mayor of Anjou and the treasurer of Brittany, Olivier Barrot, in the French Renaissance style. The walls of this mansion have seen many famous personalities who have left their mark on the history of France - for example, King Louis XII, Caesar Borgia and Marie de Medici, whose property he owned. In 1673, the building was acquired by the Catholic Church and, after significant reconstruction, housed a seminary.
During the Great French Revolution, a central school was opened in the mansion, but it did not last long - only two years, from 1801 to 1803. The museum created at the school continued its work and even two years later, with the opening of the natural history hall, expanded its exposition. In 1839, in one of the premises of the former seminary, the David d'Ange gallery was opened, which in 1984 moved to the building of the restored Church of All Saints.
In the middle of the 19th century, the museum became the owner of a real treasure - the bequest collection of Lancelot Theodore Turpin de Crissé, which included items of Egyptian, Ancient Roman and Ancient Greek origin, faience and paintings by the famous painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Another large-scale replenishment of the museum collection took place in 2003, when, according to the will of Daniel Duclos, the castle of Villeevec, which became a branch of the museum, and almost a thousand works of art were transferred to the museum.
At the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, the museum was renovated, and today it is one of the largest museums in France, located in the province. Its area is about seven hectares.
