page_title: Art in Paris
section_title: Museums
hierarchical_section_title: Art in Paris / Museums
caption_attribution_description: What the Mona Lisa sees all day
context_page_description: Art in Paris is an article on the art culture and history in Paris, the capital of France. For centuries, Paris has attracted artists from around the world, arriving in the city to educate themselves and to seek inspiration from its artistic resources and galleries. As a result, Paris has received a reputation as the "City of Art". Home to some of the world's most famous museums and galleries, including the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, the city today remains home to a thriving community of artists. Paris is recognized globally for its public landmarks and masterpieces of architecture including the Arc de Triomphe and a symbol of France, the Eiffel Tower.
context_section_description: The Louvre is the world's largest and most famous museum, housing many works of art, including the Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and the Venus de Milo statue. Known as the Great Louvre, it is the national museum and art gallery of France. Francis I ( a connoisseur of Art), initially started building the Louvre as part of the royal palace erected at a location where a 12th-century fortress of Philip Augustus existed. The palace underwent several additions over the centuries. Finally, after the court moved to Versailles in 1682, a proposal to convert the Louvre into a public museum was mooted in  the 18th century, and in 1793 Musée Central des Arts in the Grande Galerie was opened to the public. Under Napoleon III, Louvre was further enlarged, and as completed, it has two main quadrilaterals and within two large courtyards. It is considered to possess one of the richest art collections in the world. Its collection is now mainly European art up to the Revolutions of 1848 as paintings of later date have been moved to the Orsay Museum that opened in 1986. Some of the master pieces held by the museum are of the Italian Renaissance painters, and Flemish and Dutch painters of the Baroque period. Some other notable galleries in the Louvre are the department of Egyptian antiquities (collection from 1826) and the Mesopotamian art (in the Near Eastern antiquities gallery).
  Works by Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin are found in the Musée Picasso and the Musée Rodin respectively. The Picasso museum, which was renovated in 2013, is housed in the Hôtel Salé, a mid nineteenth century edifice. It has a rich collection of 3500 drawings, engravings, paintings, ceramic works and sculptures by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). It was gifted to the government by the kin of Picasso as compensation for the estate tax (droits de succession).
  The museum which was renovated in 2013 housed in the Hôtel Salé, a mid nineteenth century edifice has a rich collection of 3500 drawings, engravings, paintings, ceramic works and sculptures by the grand maître (great master) Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). It was gifted to the government by the kin of Picasso as compensation for the inheritance tax.
  Art and artifacts from the Middle Ages and Impressionist eras are kept in the Musée de Cluny and the Musée d'Orsay, respectively. The Musée de Cluny is now named as the Musée National du Moyen Âge. It is housed in the Hôtel des Abbés de Cluny, a 15th-century monument built in medieval architectural style and also holds the remnants of Gallo-Roman thermes (baths) dated around to 200 AD, which is called the cool room. The exhibits in the museum are the former with the prized tapestry cycle The Lady and the Unicorn (La Dame à la Licorne), Netherlands tapestries of the late-15th-century, and gold, ivory and enamel artifacts including manuscripts which are lighted.
  Paris's newest (and third-largest) museum, the Musée du quai Branly, opened its doors in June 2006 and houses art from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, including many from Mesoamerican cultures. In 1998, under the same French president Jacques Chirac, Maison de la Culture du Japon has opened offices near Eiffel Tower. This place show various exhibits on Japanese Art and Culture in Paris. Few art galleries have developed around those places. 7th district have been in recent years active location for new museums development.
  The Orsey Museum is located in a refurbished former Orsay Railway Station (Gare d'Orsay), a large building in the Beaux Arts architectural style, on the left bank of the Seine River. The museum was opened in 1986 and has exhibits of French painting, sculpture, photography, and decorative arts of the mid and late 19th century; French academic painting and sculpture of the 19th century are by many artist "of the late Romantic and Neoclassical, Realist, Barbizon, Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Divisionist, and Nabi schools."
  The artistic community of Montparnasse is chronicled at the Musée du Montparnasse. The Musée du Montparnasse located in the 15th arrondissement, in Montparnasse Quarter was opene
caption: The Mona Lisa Room at the Louvre.
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