Description of the attraction
The Museum of Romantic Life is located near Montmartre, behind the arch of the gate of house no. 16 on rue Chaptal. If you look into it, you can see a magnificent garden, and at the end of a long alley - a mansion that looks like a casket.
Here in 1830 a Dutch-born artist Ari Schaeffer, a representative of the romantic trend in art, settled. At one time, he taught drawing to the children of the Duke of Orleans, and he, becoming King Louis-Philippe, invited the artist to the court. Thus, Schaeffer had numerous connections, his mansion quickly became one of the famous secular salons in Paris.
Famous writer Georges Sand, composers Chopin and Liszt, poet Lamartine, painters Delacroix, Ingres, Gericault regularly visited this house. Writers Charles Dickens and Ivan Turgenev, composer Gioacchino Rossini also visited Schaeffer's salon.
The famous biblical scholar, historian and philosopher Ernest Renan became Schaeffer's son-in-law - his work "The Life of Jesus Christ" made an indelible impression on European society. Here, on the rue Chaptal, was Renan's office. The controversial personality of the scientist, his fearlessness and bright journalism added attractiveness to the salon.
Now the Museum of Romantic Life is one of three literary museums in Paris (along with exhibitions dedicated to Balzac and Victor Hugo). The entire first floor is dedicated to the writer Georges Sand, who never lived here, but often spent time here. At the beginning of the 20th century, the granddaughter of the writer Aurora Lot-Sand donated to the museum a collection of things of her famous grandmother. One of the rooms completely reproduces the salon of Georges Sand herself in the Noan estate. Here you can see the original pen and inkwell of the writer, a locket with a lock of her hair, portraits of Sand and her family. Right there is a cast of Chopin's hand, made during the life of the great composer.
On the second floor, you can see the interiors that tell about the life of a court painter of the 19th century. The portraits on the walls and easels depict mostly beautiful ladies of that era - for example, the great Pauline Viardot, with whom Ivan Turgenev was in love. The rooms are decorated with beautiful knick-knacks and elegant furnishings.
The Museum of Romantic Life was founded by Schaeffer's descendants and remained private for a long time. In 1983, it became state-owned. The entrance is free.
