Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours
Encyclopedia
The Musée des beaux-arts de Tours (English: Museum of Fine Arts of Tours) is located in the bishop's former palace, near the cathedral St. Gatien, where it has been since 1910. It displays rich and varied collections, including that of painting which is one of the first in France both in quality and the diversity of the works presented.
The museum gets over 12,000 works but only 1,000 are shows to the public. On the ground floor, the museum has a room especially dedicated to Tours art of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The monument has been classified as monument historique
on 27 June 1983.
, from the predella of the San Zeno Altarpiece
:
Description
In the courtyard, there are a magnificent cedar of Lebanon and stuffed elephant in a building in front of the museum. This elephant was killed for madness during a circus parade "Barnum & Bailey" in the streets of Tours on 10 June 1902.The museum gets over 12,000 works but only 1,000 are shows to the public. On the ground floor, the museum has a room especially dedicated to Tours art of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The monument has been classified as monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
on 27 June 1983.
Collections
The museum has a large and fairly homogeneous collection of paintings, which includes several masterpieces such as two paintings by Andrea MantegnaAndrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son in law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g., by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality...
, from the predella of the San Zeno Altarpiece
San Zeno Altarpiece (Mantegna)
The San Zeno Altarpiece is a triptych by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, from c. 1457-1460. It is located in the Basilica di San Zeno, the main church of Verona. The three predellas were stripped by the French in 1797, and are now replaced by copies...
:
- Collection of Italian Primitives shows works by Mantegna, Antonio VivariniAntonio VivariniAntonio Vivarini was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance-late Gothic period, who worked mostly in the Republic of Venice...
, Giovanni di PaoloGiovanni di PaoloGiovanni di Paolo di Grazia was an Italian painter, working primarily in Siena. He may have apprenticed with Taddeo di Bartolo, becoming a prolific painter and illustrator of manuscripts, including Dante's texts....
, Lippo d'Andrea and Lorenzo VenezianoLorenzo VenezianoLorenzo Veneziano was an Italian painter. His earliest altar-piece was painted for the high altar of the church of Sant' Antonio di Castello, and is now in the Accademia at Venice...
. Italian painting of the following centuries is represented by works of Giovanni Battista MoroniGiovanni Battista MoroniGiovanni Battista Moroni was a North Italian painter of the Late Renaissance period. He is also called Giambattista Moroni...
, Mattia PretiMattia PretiMattia Preti was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta.- Biography :Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was sometimes called Il Cavalier Calabrese...
, Sebastiano ConcaSebastiano ConcaSebastiano Conca was an Italian painter.He was born at Gaeta, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, and apprenticed in Naples under Francesco Solimena. In 1706, along with his brother Giovanni, who acted as his assistant, he settled at Rome, where for several years he worked in chalk only, to...
, Francesco CairoFrancesco CairoFrancesco Cairo was an Italian painter active in Baroque Lombardy and Piedmont.He was born and died in Milan. It is not known where he obtained his early training though he is strongly influenced by the circle of il Morazzone, in works such as the Saint Teresa altarpiece in the Certosa di Pavia.In...
and Giuseppe BazzaniGiuseppe BazzaniGiuseppe Bazzani was an Italian painter of the Rococo.Born in Mantua to a goldsmith, Giovanni Bazzani, early on he apprenticed with the Parmesan painter Giovanni Canti . A fellow pupil was Francesco Maria Raineri. He spent most of his life in Mantua...
. - The French painting until the nineteenth is displayed by artists such as Claude VignonClaude VignonClaude Vignon was a leading French painter and engraver working in the Baroque manner.He was born at Tours and received early training in Paris...
, Philippe de ChampaignePhilippe de ChampaignePhilippe de Champaigne was a Flemish-born French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school.-Early life:Born in Brussels of a poor family, Champaigne was a pupil of the landscape painter Jacques Fouquières...
, Jacques BlanchardJacques BlanchardJacques Blanchard , also known as Jacques Blanchart, was a French baroque painter who was born in Paris. He was raised and taught by his uncle, the painter Nicolas Bollery...
, Noël CoypelNoël CoypelNoël Coypel , French painter, also called, from the fact that he was much influenced by Poussin, Coypel le Poussin, was the son of an unsuccessful artist....
, Eustache Le SueurEustache Le SueurEustache Le Sueur or Lesueur , one of the founders of the French Academy of Painting, was born in Paris, where he passed his whole life....
, Jean JouvenetJean JouvenetJean-Baptiste Jouvenet was a French painter, especially of religious subjects.He was born into an artistic family in Rouen...
, Charles de La FosseCharles de La FosseCharles de La Fosse , French painter, was born in Paris.He was one of the most noted and least servile pupils of Le Brun, under whose direction he shared in the chief of the great decorative works undertaken in the reign of Louis XIV. Leaving France in 1662, he spent two years in Rome and three in...
, Hyacinthe RigaudHyacinthe RigaudHyacinthe Rigaud was a French baroque painter of Catalan origin whose career was based in Paris.He is renowned for his portrait paintings of Louis XIV, the royalty and nobility of Europe, and members of their courts and considered one of the most notable French portraitists of the classical period...
, Nicolas de LargillièreNicolas de LargillièreNicolas de Largillière was a painter born in Paris, France.-Early life:Largillière's father, a merchant, took him to Antwerp at the age of three. As a boy, he spent nearly two years in London. Sometime after his return to Antwerp, a failed attempt at business led him to the studio of Goubeau...
, Pierre SubleyrasPierre SubleyrasPierre Subleyras was a French painter, active during the late-Baroque and early-Neoclassic period, mainly in Italy....
, François LemoyneFrançois LemoyneFrançois Lemoyne or François Le Moine was a French rococo painter.He was born in Paris. In 1701, when he was 13 years old, he entered the Académie de peinture et de sculpture. He studied under Louis Galloche and stayed until 1713. In 1711, Lemoyne won the Prix de Rome...
, Jean-Marc NattierJean-Marc NattierJean-Marc Nattier , French painter, was born in Paris, the second son of Marc Nattier , a portrait painter, and of Marie Courtois , a miniaturist...
, François BoucherFrançois BoucherFrançois Boucher was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture...
, Carle Van Loo, Nicolas LancretNicolas LancretNicolas Lancret , French painter, was born in Paris, and became a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society under the regent Orleans....
, Jean-Baptiste PerronneauJean-Baptiste PerronneauJean-Baptiste Perronneau was a French painter who specialized in portraits executed in pastels....
, Joseph Vernet, Hubert RobertHubert RobertHubert Robert , French artist, was born in Paris.His father, Nicolas Robert, was in the service of François-Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville a leading diplomat from Lorraine...
, IngresIngresIngres Database is a commercially supported, open-source SQL relational database management system intended to support large commercial and government applications...
, Théodore ChassériauThéodore ChassériauThéodore Chassériau was a French romantic painter noted for his portraits, historical and religious paintings, allegorical murals, and Orientalist images inspired by his travels to Algeria.-Life and work:...
, Eugène DelacroixEugène DelacroixFerdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Edgar DegasEdgar DegasEdgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
and Claude MonetClaude MonetClaude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. - The collection of Flemish and Dutch painting presents works by artists such as RubensRubensRubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
, Rembrandt, Frans II Francken, Gerard ter BorchGerard ter BorchGerard ter Borch was a Dutch genre painter, who lived in the Dutch Golden Age.-Biography:Gerard ter Borch was born in December 1617 in Zwolle in the province of Overijssel in the Dutch Republic....
, Bartholomeus van der HelstBartholomeus van der HelstBartholomeus van der Helst was a Dutch portrait painter.-Biography:Born in Haarlem, the son of a Haarlem innkeeper, Van der Helst moved to Amsterdam some time before 1636, for he was married there in that year...
, David Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the Younger was a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, the son of David Teniers the Elder. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
. - Modern painting is represented with artworks by Maurice DenisMaurice DenisMaurice Denis was a French painter and writer, and a member of the Symbolist and Les Nabis movements. His theories contributed to the foundations of cubism, fauvism, and abstract art.-Childhood and education:...
or Maria Elena Vieira da Silva. - There are sculptures by Jean-Antoine HoudonJean-Antoine HoudonJean-Antoine Houdon was a French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment...
, Auguste RodinAuguste RodinFrançois-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
, Antoine BourdelleAntoine BourdelleAntoine Bourdelle , originally Émile Antoine Bourdelle, was an influential and prolific French sculptor, painter, and teacher.-Career:...
, Alberto GiacomettiAlberto GiacomettiAlberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...
and Olivier Debré.