Mariotto di Nardo-La Vierge en gloire avec les apôtres

The Musée du Petit Palais is a museum and art gallery in

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...

, southern France. It opened in 1976 and has an exceptional collection of Renaissance paintings of the Avignon school as well as from Italy, which reunites many "primitives" from the collection of

Giampietro Campana Giampietro Campana (1808 – 10 October 1880), created marchese di Cavelli (1849), was an Italian art collector who assembled one of the nineteenth century's greatest collection of Greek and Roman sculpture and antiquities. The part of his collec ...

. It is housed in a 14th-century building at the north side of the square overlooked by the Palais des Papes. The building, built in the early 14th century as the residence of the bishops of Avignon, was made a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

as part of the historic center of Avignon in 1995.

Building

Named Petit Palais to distinguish it from the Palais des Papes, the original structure was built during the period of the

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than in Rome. The situation a ...

by Cardinal Berengar Fredol the Elder in around 1318–20. The palace and a few neighbouring buildings were bought on de Frédol's death in 1323 by Cardinal Arnaud de Via, nephew of the reigning

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected b ...

. When de Via died in 1335

Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful ...

bought the building for use as the episcopal palace. The subsequent building work created an interior close to that of the present configuration with four wings around a cloister and a service court. The building suffered during its use from 1396 as a fortified citadel during the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon b ...

, and was a wreck by the time the war ended in 1411. In the second half of the 15th century, Bishop Alain de Coëtivy and his successor, Giuliano della Rovere (the future

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or t ...

) carried out restoration work, giving the Palace more or less its present appearance by 1503. Della Rovere arrived in Avignon in 1474, having been made bishop of Avignon and

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

of Avignon by his uncle

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...

. He added new south and west facades in Italian Renaissance style (with

oculi An oculus (; ) is a circular opening in the center of a dome or in a wall. Originating in antiquity, it is a feature of Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. It is also known as an '' œil-de-boeuf'' from the French, or simply a "bull's-ey ...

, a west-facing door surmounted with a triangular pediment, window drip-moldings and his insignia facing south) and, in 1487, a tower (which collapsed in 1767). The Palace became known as the Palace of the Archbishop when the city was promoted to an archbishopric soon after della Rovere took office. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the palace was nationalised and sold off, becoming a Catholic secondary school in 1826 and then in 1904, with the separation of the church and the state, a professional and technical school. The building was listed as a historic monument in 1910. The restoration work, began in 1961, was supervised by Jean Sonnier, the chief architect of the

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a col ...

, the national heritage organization in France. The building opened as a museum in 1976.

Collection

*390 works by Italian (327) and French primitive or early-Renaissance painters such as

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th cent ...

('' Madonna with Child, c. 1467) or

Vittore Carpaccio Vittore Carpaccio ( UK: /kɑːrˈpætʃ(i)oʊ/, US: /-ˈpɑːtʃ-/, Italian: itˈtoːre karˈpattʃo c. 1460/66 – 1525/26) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school who studied under Gentile Bellini. Carpaccio was largely influence ...

. *600 sculptures including the effigy head from the tomb of

Antipope Clement VII Robert of Geneva, (french: Robert de Genève; 1342 – 16 September 1394) elected to the papacy as Clement VII (french: Clément VII) by the cardinals who opposed Pope Urban VI, was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. His election le ...

; the rest of the tomb was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Paintings

13th and 14th centuries

Simone Martini Simone Martini ( – 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a pupil ...

Paolo Veneziano Paolo Veneziano, also Veneziano Paolo or Paolo da Venezia (active by 1333, died after 1358) was a 14th-century painter from Venice, the "founder of the Venetian School" of painting, probably active between about 1321 and 1362.

Lippo Memmi Lippo Memmi (c. 1291 – 1356) was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law. Together with Martini, in 1333 he painted what is regarded as one of the masterworks of the Intern ...

Taddeo Gaddi Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1290, in Florence – 1366, in Florence) was a medieval Italian painter and architect. He was the son of Gaddo di Zanobi, called Gaddo Gaddi. He was a member of Giotto's workshop from 1313 until the master's death in 1337. ...

Agnolo Gaddi Agnolo Gaddi (c.1350–1396) was an Italian painter. He was born and died in Florence, and was the son of the painter Taddeo Gaddi,who was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto. Agnolo was a painter and mosaicist, train ...

(The Calvary),

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Ambrogio Lorenzetti (; – 9 June 1348) or Ambruogio Laurati was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active from approximately 1317 to 1348. He painted '' The Allegory of Good and Bad Government'' in the Sala dei Nove (Salon of Nin ...

Bartolo di Fredi Bartolo di Fredi (c. 1330 – 26 January 1410), also called Bartolo Battiloro, was an Italian painter, born in Siena, classified as a member of the Sienese School. Biography He had a large studio and was one of the most influential painters wor ...

Giovanni Baronzio Giovanni Baronzio, also known as Giovanni da Rimini, (died before 1362), was an Italian painter who was active in Romagna and the Marche region during the second quarter of the 14th century. His year of birth is unknown.Doina Little. "Baronzio, ...

, Lorenzo di Bicci,

Master of 1310 The Master of 1310 was an Italian painter active in Pistoia at the end of the 13th into the beginning of the fourteenth century. His name is derived from an altarpiece depicting the ''Madonna and Child with Angels and the Commandant Filippo Paci' ...

Jacopo del Casentino Jacopo del Casentino (c. 1297 – 1358) was an Italian painter, active mainly in Tuscany in the first half of the 14th century. Life Very little is known about this artist other than that he likely came from Casentino. Giorgio Vasari incor ...

Mariotto di Nardo Mariotto di Nardo di Cione (''fl''. 1388–1424) was a Florentine painter in the Florentine Gothic style. He worked at the Duomo of Florence, the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and the Orsanmichele. He created both frescoes and panel pain ...

Jacopo di Cione Jacopo di Cione (c. 1325 – c. 1399) was an Italian Gothic period painter in the Republic of Florence. Life and career Born in Florence between 1320 and 1330, he is closely associated with his three older brothers Andrea di Cione di Arcang ...

, Puccio di Simone,

Paolo di Giovanni Fei Paolo di Giovanni Fei (c. 1345 – c. 1411) was a painter of the Sienese school. He came to Siena from San Quirico, , held public positions in Siena from 1369 and was first mentioned in the Sienese register of painters in 1389. His earliest si ...

, Turino Vanni,

Barnaba da Modena Barnaba da Modena (c. 1328-c.1386) was a mid-14th-century Italian painter who painted in the style of Byzantine art.Raimond Van Marle, ''The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting'', Springer Science & Business Media, 2012, p. 382-383 He ...

(workshop),

Simone dei Crocifissi Simone di Filippo Benvenuti, known as Simone dei Crocifissi or Simone da Bologna (about 1330 - 1399), was an Italian painter. Born and died in Bologna, he painted many religious panel paintings, and also frescoes in the churches of Santo Stefan ...

Angelo Puccinelli Angelo Puccinelli or Puccinèlli (Lucca, 14th century) was an Italian painter In 1380, documents show he was in Siena, where he was likely influenced by Lippo Memmi. Among the only signed works are a ''Marriage of St Catherine'', a ''Madonna and ...

Girolamo Marchesi Girolamo Marchesi (c. 1471 – 1550) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. Born in Cotignola, whence his nickname of ''Girolamo da Cotignola'', he trained early on with Francesco Francia in Bologna, then in Rome under Raphael. He ...

, Niccolo di Pietro Gerini,

Niccolò di Tommaso Niccolò di Tommaso (active 1346–1376) was an Italian painter active in Florence, Naples and Pistoia. He is documented as joining the Arte dei Medici e Speziali around 1346. He shows the influence of Maso di Banco, but worked with Nardo di Cion ...

, Francescuccio Ghissi.

15th and 16th centuries

(Madonna with Child),

(Sacred conversation),

Lorenzo Monaco Lorenzo Monaco (1370 – 1425) was an Italian painter of the late Gothic to early Renaissance age. He was born Piero di Giovanni in Siena, Italy. Little is known about his youth, apart from the fact that he was apprenticed in Florence. He was inf ...

Carlo Crivelli Carlo Crivelli (Venice, c. 1430 – Ascoli Piceno, c. 1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto, where he absorbed influences from the Vivarini ...

Vittorio Crivelli Vittorio (or Vittore) Crivelli was an Italian painter, brother of Carlo Crivelli. Born ca. 1440 in Venice, dead in Venice 1501 or 1502. His works are similar in style to his brother's, but less accomplished. There are examples of his work in th ...

Sano di Pietro Sano di Pietro or Ansano di Pietro di Mencio (1405–1481) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school of painting. He was active for about half a century during the Quattrocento period, and his contemporaries included Giovanni di Paolo and Sas ...

Matteo di Giovanni Matteo di Giovanni (c. 1430 – 1495) was an Italian Renaissance artist from the Sienese School. Biography Matteo di Giovanni di Bartolo was born in Borgo Sansepolcro around 1430. His family relocated to Siena and he is firmly associated with ...

Benvenuto di Giovanni Benvenuto di Giovanni, also known as Benvenuto di Giovanni di Meo del Guasta (13 September 1436 – c. 1518) was an Italian painter and artist known for his choral miniatures, pavement designs, and frescoes. Working chiefly in Siena, he was first ...

Taddeo di Bartolo Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1363 – 26 August 1422), also known as Taddeo Bartoli, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School during the early Renaissance. He is among the artists profiled in Vasari's biographies of artists or ''Vite''. Vas ...

Andrea di Bartolo Andrea di Bartolo or Andrea di Bartolo Cini (1360/70 – 1428) was an Italian painter, stained glass designer and Illuminated manuscript, illuminator of the Sienese School mainly known for his religious subjects. He was active between 1389–142 ...

Benozzo Gozzoli Benozzo Gozzoli (4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festive, vibrant processions wi ...

Lorenzo di Credi Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time a ...

(workshop),

Antonio Vivarini Antonio Vivarini (Antonio of Murano) (active c. 14401480) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance-late Gothic period, who worked mostly in the Republic of Venice. He is probably the earliest of a family of painters, which was descended ...

Bartolomeo Vivarini Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo Vivarini (c. 1432c. 1499) was an Italian Renaissance painter, known to have worked from 1450 to 1499. Biography Bartolomeo's brother Antonio Vivarini, and his nephew (also possibly his pupil) Alvise Vivarini, were als ...

Liberale da Verona Liberale da Verona (1441–1526) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Verona. In popular culture: In the British TV series ''Inspector Morse (TV series), Inspector Morse'', in the episode "The Death of the Self ...

Pesellino Francesco Pesellino (probably 1422–July 29, 1457), also known as Francesco di Stefano, was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Florence. His father was the painter Stefano di Francesco (died 1427), and his maternal grandfather was the pai ...

Jacopo del Sellaio Jacopo del Sellaio (1441/42–1493), was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active in his native Florence. His real name was Jacopo di Arcangelo. He worked in an eclectic style based on those of Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, and Domenic ...

Neri di Bicci Neri di Bicci (1419–1491) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence. A prolific painter of mainly religious themes, he studied under his father, Bicci di Lorenzo, who had in turn studied under his father, Lorenzo di Bicci. The thre ...

Cima da Conegliano Giovanni Battista Cima, also called Cima da Conegliano (c. 1459 – c. 1517), was an Italian Renaissance painter, who mostly worked in Venice. He can be considered part of the Venetian school, though he was also influenced by Antonello da ...

Vecchietta Lorenzo di Pietro (1410 – June 6, 1480), known as Vecchietta, was an Italian Sienese School painter, sculptor, goldsmith, and architect of the Renaissance. He is among the artists profiled in Vasari's ''Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, ...

Giovanni di Paolo Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia (''c.'' 1403–1482) was an Italian painter, working primarily in Siena, becoming a prolific painter and illustrator of manuscripts, including Dante's texts. He was one of the most important painters of the 15th cent ...

Jacopo di Paolo Jacopo di Paolo (1345 approx. - 1430 approx.) was an Italian painter and miniaturist active in Bologna in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Biography Jacopo di Paolo at the beginning of his career was active at Mezzaratta Church, where h ...

Cosimo Rosselli Cosimo Rosselli (; 1439–1507) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence, but also in Pisa earlier in his career and in 1481–82 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where he painted some of the large ...

Ludovico Mazzolino Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 – c. 1528) - also known as Mazzolini da Ferrara, Lodovico Ferraresa, and Il Ferrarese - was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna. Biography He was born and died in Ferrara. He appears to have ...

, Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio,

Giovanni da Udine image:Le Vite - Giovanni da Udine.jpg, 150px, Portrait in Vasari's Vite Giovanni Nanni, also Giovanni de' Ricamatori, better known as Giovanni da Udine (1487–1564), was an Italian painter and architect born in Udine. A painter also named ''Giov ...

Biagio di Antonio Tucci Biagio d’Antonio Tucci (1446 – 1 June 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Florence, Faenza and Rome. Biography Biagio was born in Florence. It is not known with whom he trained, but his early style reflects the influence of ...

Bartolomeo Veneto Bartolomeo Veneto (active 1502–31) was an Italian painter who worked in Venice, the Veneto (the mainland), and Lombardy. During his time in Venice, he studied under Gentile Bellini. The little information available about Bartolomeo's life ...

Ambrogio Bergognone Ambrogio Borgognone (variously known as ''Ambrogio da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio di Stefano da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio Stefani da Fossano'' or as ''il Bergognone'' or ''Ambrogio Egogni''

Francesco Botticini Francesco Botticini (real name Francesco di Giovanni, 1446 – 16 January 1498) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He was born in Florence, where he remained active until his death in 1498. Although there are only few documented wor ...

Antoniazzo Romano Antoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili (c. 1430 – c. 1510) was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the latter part of the 15th century. He "made a speciality of rep ...

Bonifacio Bembo ''Portrait of Francesco Sforza''. ca. 1460. Tempera on panel, 40 x 31 cm. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. Bonifacio Bembo, also called Bonfazio Bembo, or simply just Bembo, was a north Italian Renaissance artist born in Brescia in 1420. He was ...

Marco Palmezzano Marco Palmezzano (1460–1539) was an Italian painter and architect, belonging to the Forlì painting school, who painted in a style recalling earlier Northern Renaissance models. He was mostly active near Forlì. Biography Palmezzano was b ...

Bernardino Fungai Bernardino Fungai (1460– c. 1516) was an Italian painter whose work marks the transition from late Gothic painting to the early Renaissance in the Sienese school.

, Master of Tavarnelle,

Louis Bréa Ludovico (or Louis) Brea (c. 1450 – c. 1523) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in and near Genoa. Brea was born into a family of coopers in Nice, and later moving to Liguria, he painted numerous altarpieces that displa ...

or from the Avignon school

Josse Lieferinxe Josse Lieferinxe () was a South Netherlandish painter, formerly known by the pseudonym the Master of St. Sebastian. Originating in the diocese of Cambrai in Hainaut, then part of the territories ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, Josse Lieferinxe ...

and

Enguerrand Quarton Enguerrand Quarton (or Charonton) ( 1410 – 1466) was a French painter and manuscript illuminator whose few surviving works are among the first masterpieces of a distinctively French style, very different from either Italian or Early Netherland ...

Sculptures

The collection features Romanesque sculpted capitals from the churches of Avignon notably from the cloister of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms (12th c.), pieces of funerary monuments of the papal period (14th c.) like those of

John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...

Innocent VI Pope Innocent VI ( la, Innocentius VI; 1282 or 1295 – 12 September 1362), born Étienne Aubert, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 December 1352 to his death in September 1362. He was the fifth Avignon pope a ...

Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the on ...

or the cardinals Philippe de Cabassole and Jean de La Grange (1388-–89), as well as sculptures of the school of Avignon (15th c.) with

Antoine Le Moiturier Antoine Le Moiturier (1425–1495) was a French sculptor. He was born in Avignon into a family of sculptors. His uncle was the itinerant French master Jacques Morel. Following from the work of Jean de la Huerta beginning in 1443, Le Moituri ...

or Jean de la Huerta. File:ChristBerlinghieri.jpg, Head of a Crucifix or Christ Berlinghieri. File:Simone Martini Vierge et l'Enfant vers 1320. tempera sur bois.jpg,

, Madonna with Child (c. 1320). File:Paolo Veneziano-Avignonie.jpg,

, Madonna with Child. File:Taddeo Gaddi-Vierge à l'enfant.jpg,

, Madonna with Child. File:Madonna. Petit Palais Avignon.jpg,

, Madonna with Child, (1400). File:Lorenzo Monaco - saint Laurent.jpg,

, Saint Laurent between Saint Ansano and Saint Margaret. File:Sano di Pietro-L'ange de l'Annonciation.jpg,

, Angel of the Annunciation. File:Giovanni di Paolo-La nativité.jpg,

, The Nativity between Saint Vittorino and Saint Ansano or Galgano. File:Neri di Bicci - La Vierge et l'enfant avec six saints.jpg,

, Madonna with Child and six saints. File:Vittorio Crivelli - Vierge et enfant.jpg,

, Madonna with Child. File:BotticelliMadonnaConBambinoAvignone.jpg,

, Madonna with Child, (1467). File:Vittore Carpaccio 076.jpg,

, Sacred conversation, (c. 1500).

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * * , search "Avignon", then choice of "Lieu de conservation". * {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1320 Houses completed in the 14th century Houses completed in the 15th century Art museums and galleries in France Musee Du Petit Palais, Avignon Musee Du Petit Palais, Avignon Museums in Avignon Art museums established in 1976 Musee Du Petit Palais, Avignon Musee Du Petit Palais, Avignon