The musée Fesch (officially, Palais Fesch-musée des beaux-arts) is the central

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. Located within the gated Palais Fesch, it is in the town's Borgu d'Ajaccio quarter. It was established by

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's uncle, cardinal

Joseph Fesch Joseph Cardinal Fesch, Prince of the Empire (3 January 1763 – 13 May 1839) was a French priest and diplomat, who was the maternal half-uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte (half-brother of Letizia Ramolino, Napoleon's mother Laetitia). In the wake of h ...

(a Prince of France from 1807), in Fesch's birthplace.

Location

The Fesch museum is located in

, the birthplace of its founder, the cardinal

. It is housed in the 19th-century Palais Fesch on Rue Cardinal Fesch. The Palais Fesch also houses a college of that name, which contains a large collection of pictures, though most of them are copies. There is also a library of 30,000 volumes, and a collection of Corsican minerals. The courtyard contains a bronze statue of Cardinal Fesch. In the right wing of the palace is the Chapelle Fesch, built in 1855, containing the tombs of Letizia Ramolino, mother of Napoleon, and of Cardinal Fesch. The Bibliothèque Municipale, an adjacent building, contains rare antique books. It was completed in 1837. Maglioli - Le cardinal Fesch

History

The initiative to build the museum was taken by Napoleon I's maternal uncle, cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839), archbishop of Lyons and the primate of the

Gauls The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...

. It was Fesch's wish to establish an Institute of Arts and Sciences in his hometown. Before he died in 1839, Fesch donated 1000 art works including 843 paintings, from his large collection of more than 17,000, to the museum. The museum was first designed in 1806 but construction started only in 1827 with the efforts of Mgr Péraldi, the cardinal's friend and agent. In 1829, the construction was interrupted by the then government of Bourbons as it was considered a slight to the government because its opulent design and display and was done by Péraldi who had been exiled to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

following the fall of the empire. The construction was resumed in 1833 and completed in 1852, the

n architect Frassato directed this stage of construction. However, Fesch did not live to see the completed museum as he died in Rome in 1839.

Features

The most impressive painting collections at the museum are arranged in several halls in the specific periods of the Early Italian and Renaissance, the Roman Baroque and the Neapolitan Baroque. The museum contains one of France's finest collections of Italian old masters, including

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...

, Cosmè Tura, one of the most important Napoleonic collection of paintings and memorabilia and a Corsican Collection of paintings. The four-storey building which displays more than 400 works of the collection in 27 rooms features the Napoleonic Collection in the basement. Niveau 1 contains 16th and 17th century Italian paintings such as Botticelli's ''Virgin and Child'',

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

's '' Man with a Glove'', and

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

's '' Leda and the Swan''. Niveau 2 features 17th- and 18th-century paintings, including Poussin's ''Midas à la source du fleuve Pactole'' and Recco's ''Ray on a Cauldron with Fish in a Basket'' while the Grand Gallery, also on this floor, hosts large canvases, such as Gregorio de Ferrari's ''Holy Family''.

Italian school

* Early Italian and Renaissance: Bernardo Daddi, Niccolò di Tommaso, Sandro Botticelli,

, Lorenzo di Credi, Cosmè Tura, Niccolò Pisano, Mariotto di Nardo, Cosimo Rosselli, Jacopo del Sellaio, Giovanni Boccati, Liberale da Verona, Francesco Francia,

Perugino Pietro Perugino ( ; ; born Pietro Vannucci or Pietro Vanucci; – 1523), an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael became his most famous ...

. ** 16th century:

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Fra Bartolomeo Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo (, , ; 28 March 1472 – 31 October 1517), also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di San Marco, Bartolomeo di Paolo di Jacopo del Fattorino, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Ital ...

, Bartolomeo Veneto, Jacopo da Empoli, Dosso Dossi, Bernardino Luini, Baccio Bandinelli,

Luca Longhi Luca Longhi (14 January 1507 – August 12, 1580) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance art, Renaissance or Mannerism, Mannerist period, active in and near Ravenna, where he mainly produced religious paintings and portraits. Biograph ...

, Veronese,

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

, Santi di Tito. * 17th century: Pietro da Cortona, Guercino,

Salvatore Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 – March 15, 1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose Romanticism, romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th cent ...

, Luca Giordano, Andrea Pozzo, Ludovico Carracci, Giovanni Lanfranco, Baciccio, Carlo Maratta, Cavaliere D'arpino,

Mattia Preti Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John. Life Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Ca ...

, Carlo Saraceni, Paolo Porpora, Antonio Tempesta, Giovanni Battista Ruoppolo, Ventura Salimbeni, Gregorio de Ferrari, Giacomo Boni, Rutilio Manetti, Francesco Guarino, Carlo Sellitto, Antonio Gherardi, Giuseppe Recco, Pietro Paolini, Evaristo Baschenis, Micco Spadaro,

Ciro Ferri Ciro Ferri (1634 – 13 September 1689) was an Italian Baroque sculptor and painter, the chief pupil and successor of Pietro da Cortona. Biography He was born in Rome, where he began working under Cortona and with a team of artists in the extens ...

Carlo Cignani Carlo Cignani (; 15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovative style referred to as his 'new manner' introduced a reflective, intimate mood of painting and presaged the later pictures of Guido Reni and Guercino, as well ...

, Ludovico Cigoli, Francesco Noletti, Andrea Belvedere, Filippo Vitale, Giuseppe Ghezzi. * 18th century:

Sebastiano Ricci Sebastiano Ricci (1 August 165915 May 1734) was an Italian Baroque painter of the late Baroque period in Venetian painting. About the same age as Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Tie ...

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian Baroque painter, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of Avellino. H ...

, Corrado Giaquinto, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Sebastiano Conca, Andrea Procaccini, Marco Benefial, Francesco Trevisani,

Luigi Garzi Luigi Garzi (1638–1721) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period whose style was strongly influenced by the work of the Bolognese painter Guido Reni. Biography He was born in Pistoia. He started learning from a poorly known landscape paint ...

, Marcello Bacciarelli, Benedetto Luti, etc.

Other schools

* French school:

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

, Simon Vouet, Gaspard Dughet, Nicolas Tournier, Claude Vignon, Étienne Parrocel, Pierre Subleyras,

Charles-Joseph Natoire Charles-Joseph Natoire (3 March 1700 – 23 August 1777) was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751–1775. Considered during his lifetime the equal of François Bou ...

, Claude Joseph Vernet, Jacques Sablet, Louis Léopold Boilly, Alexandre Cabanel, Carolus-Duran, etc. * Northern schools (mainly 17th century artists who sojourned in Italy): Van Dyck, Willem van Aelst, Nicolaes Berchem, Govert Flinck, Jan Frans van Bloemen, Matthias Stomer, Adam Elsheimer, Hendrick Goltzius, David de Koninck, Jan Miel, Jan Vonck, Johann Karl Loth, Matthijs Bril, Abraham Janssens, Frans Badens, Daniel Seyter, Philipp Peter Roos, Johannes Glauber, Bartholomeus Spranger, Caspar van Wittel, Anton von Maron or Anton Raphaël Mengs. * Corsican school (19th and 20th centuries): Tony Agostini, Jean-Baptiste Bassoul, Émile Brod, Léon-Charles Canniccioni, Jacques-Martin Capponi, Paul Chocarne-Moreau, François Corbellini, Catherine Empis, Dominique Frassati, Alfred de La Rocca, Jérôme Maglioli, Jean-Luc Multedo, Paul-Mathieu Novellini, Lucien Peri, Ludwig Pietzch, etc.Palais Fesch, corsican paintings
website musee-fesch.com. File:Sandro Botticelli - Madonna and Child with an Angel - WGA02683.jpg, Sandro Botticelli, ''Madonna and Child held by an Angel under a garland'' File:Bellini-Vierge-à-l-Enfant-Ajaccio,Fesch.jpg,

, ''Madonna and Child'' File:Tura, Cosmè-Vierge à l'enfant et deux saints-Ajaccio, musée Fesch.jpg, Cosmè Tura, ''Madonna and Child between a Martyr saint and saint Jerome'' File:Ajaccio Di Credi St Francois.JPG, Lorenzo di Credi, ''Saint Francis of Assisi receiving the Stigmata '' File:Ajaccio Pisano vierge saint.JPG, Niccolò Pisano, ''Holly Family'' File:Ajaccio Di Tito Ste Famille.JPG, Santi di Tito, ''Holly Family'' File:Tiziano, ritratto del museo fesch.jpg,

, ''Man with a Glove'' File:Leda et le cygne par Paolo Veronese 2.jpg, Veronese, ''Leda and the Swan'' File:Ajaccio Vasari St Jerome 2.JPG,

, ''Saint Jerome'' File:Ajaccio Salimbeni Trinite.JPG, Ventura Salimbeni, ''The Trinity with saint Peter and saint Bernardine'' File:Matthias Stom - Le sacrifice d'Abraham.jpg, Matthias Stomer, ''The Sacrifice of Abraham'' File:Ajaccio Baciccio Joseph.JPG, Baciccio, ''Joseph recognised by his brothers'' File:CGiaquinto-MariusAudifax.jpg, Corrado Giaquinto, ''Martyrdom of Saint Martha, Marius, Abacus and Audifax'' File:Ajaccio Da Cortona Autoportrait.JPG, Pietro da Cortona, ''Selfportrait'' File:Corrado Giaquinto - Autoportrait (Palais Fesch).jpg, Corrado Giaquinto, ''Selfportrait'' File:Ajaccio Bacciarelli autoportrait.JPG, Marcello Bacciarelli, ''Selfportrait'' File:Von-Maron-Autoportrait-Fesch,Ajaccio.jpg, Anton von Maron, ''Selfportrait'' File:Ajaccio Mengs autoportrait.JPG, Anton Raphaël Mengs, ''Selfportrait''

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Musee Fesch Ajaccio First French Empire Faesch family Museums in Corsica Napoleon museums Art museums and galleries in France Buildings and structures in Corse-du-Sud Tourist attractions in Corse-du-Sud