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The Petit Palais (; en, Small Palace) is an
art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. ...
in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts de la ville de Paris''). The Petit Palais is located across from the
Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais ( English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th ...
on the former Avenue Nicolas II, today Avenue Winston-Churchill. The other façades of the building face the
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plate ...
and Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The Petit Palais is one of fourteen museums of the City of Paris that have been incorporated since 1 January 2013 in the public corporation Paris Musées. It has been listed since 1975 as a '' monument historique'' by the Ministry of Culture. Petit Palais, actuellement musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris


History


Design competition

In 1894 a competition was held for the 1900 Exhibition area. The Palais de l'Industrie from the 1855 World’s Fair was considered unfitting and was to be replaced by something new for the 1900 Exhibition. Architects had the option to do what they pleased (alter, destroy, or keep) with the Palais de l'Industrie. In the end, Charles Girault won the competition and built the Petit Palais as one of the buildings that replaced the Palais de l'Industrie. The construction of the Petit Palais began on 10 October 1897 and was completed in April 1900. The total cost of the Petit Palais at the time of the construction was 400,000 pounds. In 1902, the Petit Palais officially became the Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris.


Inspiration

Girault largely draws on the late 17th and early 18th century French style for the Petit Palais. Additionally his work, such as the domed central porch and the triple arcade, has many references to the stables at Chantilly, Oise.


Plan of the building

Girault’s plan for the Petit Palais had minimal alterations from the design to the execution. The plan was original and fit perfectly in its given location. The Petit Palais is a trapezoid shape with its larger side as the main façade facing the Grand Palais. The building’s shape makes a semi-circular courtyard at the center.


Architecture

The Beaux-Arts style Petit Palais was designed by Charles Girault, and is around an octi-circular courtyard and garden, similar to the Grand Palais. Its ionic columns, grand porch, and dome echo those of the Invalides across the river. The tympanum depicting the city of Paris surrounded by muses is the work of sculptor Jean Antoine Injalbert. The Petit Palais was built to be a lasting building that would become a permanent fine arts museum after the exhibition. The materials of the building—stone, steel and concrete as well as the decoration were to demonstrate that the Petit Palais was built to be enduring.


Exterior


Main façade

The main façade of the building faces the Grand Palais. The focal point of the façade is the central entrance: "a central archway set in an archivolt topped by a dome and reached by a broad set of steps". Two wings flank the main entrance. These wings, continuing to the end (corner) pavilions, are embellished with free-standing columns that frame the tall windows.


Pavilions

The exterior of the pavilions are embellished with arched windows from the side around to the rear façades. These grand windows provide side lighting for the outer three galleries of the interior museum.


Decoration

The exterior of the Petit Palais was embellished with many contemporary sculptures. Several famous sculptors at the time, such as Convers, Desvergens, Fagel, Ferrary, Hugues, Injalbert and Peynot, worked on the exterior decoration of the building.


Interior


Courtyard

The trapezoidal shape of the Petit Palace forms an open area at the centre of the building. This enclosed area creates a semicircular, peristyled courtyard. The architecture of the courtyard incorporated many different architectural elements. The elegant courtyard is considered Beaux Arts style because of the "symmetrical composition" and "rich decoration in high relief". Coupled columns made of pink Vosges granite and gilt-bronze encircle the courtyard and bordering covered gallery. Although the courtyard is in the central part of the Petit Palais, one of the main structures of the Exhibition, its purpose was to provide visitors with a relaxing space apart from the busy Exposition.


Museum

The museum is split into two levels with two series of rooms running parallel and juxtaposed. The interior of the Petit Palais was designed to create exhibition spaces "suited to every aspect of a collection: the outer galleries for objects, the inner, skylit ones for paintings, the lower galleries for reserves and the entrance rotunda and main gallery for sculptures". The entrance rotunda and main gallery was especially grand. The floors were tiled with mosaics, the walls were lined with marble, whereas the dome and vaults were filled with allegorical paintings.


Exhibits

The exhibits housed in the Petit Palais during the Exhibition displayed the History of Art from the beginning until the present era. The History of French Art from 1800–1900 showed the stages of growth. The inner gallery of Petit Palais exhibited “priceless treasures in ivory, tapestry, metal work, jewelry, and porcelain gathered from the most important collections of France”. The outer gallery was a collection of royal French furniture. The exhibits are divided into sections: the Dutuit Collection of
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
paintings, drawings and ''objets d'art''; the Tuck Collection of 18th century furniture and the City of Paris collection of paintings. The museum displays paintings by painters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Gellée, Fragonard, Hubert Robert, Greuze and a remarkable collection of 19th-century painting and sculpture: Ingres, Géricault, Delacroix, Courbet, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Cézanne, Danger, Modigliani,
Carpeaux Carpeaux is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875), French sculptor and painter * Otto Maria Carpeaux Otto Maria Carpeaux (March 9, 1900 – February 3, 1978), born Otto Karpfen, was an Austrian ...
, Maillol and Rodin, among others. There is also a relatively small but important collection of ancient Greek and Roman art and of Christian icons for which the museums's first and only 21st century artwork was acquired in 2019 (''Les Martyrs de Libye'' by Nikola Sarić).


Reactions and influence abroad

As a whole the architecture of the 1900 Exhibition was not well received however, reactions to the Petit Palais were generally positive. Some people even claimed that the Petit Palais had the “power to educate the mind while it pleases the senses”. King Leopold II of Belgium was very impressed with Girault's execution of the Petit Palais. This admiration started a "fruitful collaboration between monarch and architect". Girault was commissioned to build several structures including: "the Arcade du Cinquantenaire in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, extensions at the
Royal Castle of Laeken The Palace of Laeken or Castle of Laeken (french: Château de Laeken, nl, Kasteel van Laken, german: Schloss zu Laeken) is the official residence of the King of the Belgians and the Belgian Royal Family. It lies in the Brussels-Capital Reg ...
, and a seafront colonnade at Ostend". The Petit Palais has served as a model for other public buildings, notably for the Royal Museum for Central Africa located in Tervuren, Belgium; and the Museo de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts) in Santiago, Chile.


Gallery

File:Le Petit Palais - Saint Jean l'évangéliste - 16ème siècle - 001.jpg, John the apostle, detail of a 16th-century painting File:Diana Resting, by Jacob Jordaens.jpg, ''Diana Resting'', by Jacob Jordaens File:Dionysos Tauros Petit Palais ADUT00069.jpg, Mask of
Dionysos Tauros In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
File:Auguste Clésinger - Woman stung by a snake. 1848.jpg, ''Woman stung by a snake'' by Auguste Clésinger File:Antoine Bourdelle (Paris 1900, musée du Petit Palais) 1.jpg, ''La naissance d'Aphrodite'' by Antoine Bourdelle File:Le Petit Palais - Hélène Bertaux - Psyché sous l'empire du mystère - 001.jpg, ''Psyché sous l'empire du mystère'', by
Hélène Bertaux Hélène Bertaux (), born Joséphine Charlotte Hélène Pilate (4 July 1825 – 20 April 1909) was a French sculptor and women's rights advocate. Early life and career She was born in Paris and began her studies at the age of twelve with ...
File:Seine affluents Ferrary Petit Palais.jpg, ''The Seine and its tributaries'' by Désiré-Maurice Ferrary File:Paris Peynot Petit Palais.jpg, ''Coat of Arms of Paris'' by Émile Peynot File:Quatre saisons Convers Petit Palais.jpg, ''Quatre saisons'' by
Louis Convers Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...
File:Entrance of the Petit Palais by night - 2022-08-06.jpg, Entrance of the Petit Palais by night in 2022


See also

* List of museums in Paris *
List of works by Henri Chapu Henri Chapu (1833–1891) was a French sculptor. Chapu was born in Le Mée-sur-Seine on 30 September 1833. He trained at the École Gratuite de Dessin as a tapestry maker. In 1849 his successes led him to the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, where h ...
*
The works of Paul Dubois- French sculptor Paul Dubois (18 July 1829 – 23 May 1905) was a French sculptor and painter from Nogent-sur-Seine. His works were mainly sculptures and statues, and he was also a portrait painter. Early life Paul Dubois was born on the 18 July 1829 in Nogent- ...


External links

*
Official Paris Musées website


— ''1900 (Exposition Universelle) and current photographs''.


References

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Paris Buildings and structures in Paris Exposition Universelle (1900) Buildings and structures in the 8th arrondissement of Paris Buildings and structures completed in 1900 Monuments historiques of Paris Beaux-Arts architecture in France Historicist architecture in France Neoclassical architecture in France World's fair architecture in Paris Domes 1900 establishments in France Paris Musées