The Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille (''Lille Palace of Fine Arts'') is a municipal museum dedicated to fine arts, modern art, and antiquities located in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. It is one of the

largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (or ...

art museums in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was one of the first museums built in France, established under the instructions of

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 ...

at the beginning of the 19th century as part of the popularisation of art.

Jean-Antoine Chaptal Jean-Antoine Chaptal, comte de Chanteloup (; 5 June 1756 – 29 July 1832) was a French chemist, physician, agronomist, industrialist, statesman, educator and philanthropist. Chaptal was involved in early industrialization in France under Napole ...

's decree of 1801 selected fifteen French cities (among them Lille) to receive the works seized from churches and from the European territories occupied by the armies of Revolutionary France. The painters

Louis Joseph Watteau Louis Joseph Watteau (10 April 1731 - 17 August 1798), known as the Watteau of Lille (a title also given to his son) was a French painter active in Lille. Watteau was born in Valenciennes. His father Noël Joseph Watteau (1689-1756) was brother t ...

and

François Watteau François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; ...

, known as the "Watteau of Lille", were heavily involved in the museum's beginnings - Louis Joseph Watteau made in 1795 the first inventory of the paintings confiscated during the Revolution, whilst his son François was deputy curator of the museum from 1808 to 1823. The museum opened in 1809 and was initially housed in a church confiscated from the

Récollets The Franciscan Recollects () were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance, and spiritual reflecti ...

before being transferred to the city's town hall. In 1866, the "musée Wicar", formed from the collection of

Jean-Baptiste Wicar Jean-Baptiste Wicar (22 January 1762 – 27 February 1834) was a French Neoclassical painter and art collector. Life The son of a carpenter, Wicar was born in Lille. He studied drawing at the free school in Lille before further honing his ta ...

, was merged into the Palais des Beaux-Arts. Construction of the Palais's current

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

-revival-style building began in 1885 under the direction of Géry Legrand, mayor of Lille, and it was completed in 1892. The architects chosen to design the new building were Edouard Bérard (1843–1912) and Fernand Etienne-Charles Delmas (1852–1933) from Paris. During the early 20th century,

Victor Mollet Victor Jean-Baptiste Mollet (22 August 1860 – 17 December 1944), usually simply Victor Mollet, was a French architect based in Lille. He was the first architect from the Nord–Pas-de-Calais region to receive a degree from the Ecole des Beaux-Ar ...

served as its official architect. The building is located on the place de la République, in the center of the city, facing the

préfecture In France, a prefecture (, ) may be: * the , the commune in which the administration of a department is located; * the , the commune in which the administration of a region is located; * the jurisdiction of a prefecture; * the official residence ...

of Lille. It was renovated during the 1990s and reopened in 1997. At the start of the 1990s, the building's poor state and the moving of Vauban's relief models of fortified towns to Lille forced the town to renovate the building. Work began in 1991, under the architects Jean-Marc Ibos and Myrto Vitart, and was completed in 1997. This allowed the creation of a new 700 m² basement room for temporary exhibitions, as well as departments for the relief models and for 19th-century sculpture. Overall the museum covers 22000 m² and held 72430 pieces as of 2015, one of the largest provincial collections of fine art. The collection includes works by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealt ...

Tissot Tissot SA () is a Swiss luxury watch brand owned by the Swatch Group. The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853. Tissot is not associated with Mathey-Tissot, anoth ...

Jordaens Jacques (Jacob) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678Jacques Jordaens
in the Netherlands Institute for Ar ...

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly t ...

Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

Toulouse-Lautrec ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful an ...

, Delacroix,

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

, Claudel and

Jean-Baptiste Chardin Jean-Baptiste () is a male French name, originating with Saint John the Baptist, and sometimes shortened to Baptiste. The name may refer to any of the following: Persons * Charles XIV John of Sweden, born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, was K ...

Collections

Antiquities, Middle Ages and Renaissance

* '' Ascension of the Elect'',

Dirk Bouts Dieric Bouts (born – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) until ...

, oil on wood (c 1450) * '' Fall of the Damned'',

, oil on wood (c 1450) * ''Portrait of man, skull in a niche'', Barthel Bruyn, oil on wood * ''Three donors with Saint John the Baptist'', Barthel Bruyn the Younger, oil on wood * ''The Virgin and the Sleeping Jesus'',

Joos van Cleve Joos van Cleve (; also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the tr ...

, oil on wood (16th century) * ''The Virgin nursing the Infant Jesus'',

, oil on wood (16th century) * ''Christ blessing the Virgin'',

Jacob Cornelisz van Amsterdam Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (before 1470 – 1533) was a Northern Netherlandish designer of woodcuts and painter. He was one of the first important artists working in Amsterdam, at a time when it was a flourishing and beautiful provincial ...

, oil on wood (16th century) * ''The Virgin, the Infant Jesus and saint Cecilia'', Domenico Panetti * ''Trinity, triptych of Marchiennes'',

Jean Bellegambe Jehan Bellegambe or Jean Bellegambe (sometimes Belgamb or Belganb) (c. 1470c. June 1535/March 1536) was a French-speaking Flemish painter of religious paintings, triptychs and polyptychs, the most important of which are now held at Douai, Arras ...

, oil on wood (c 1510) * ''Triptych of the mystic bath'',

Jehan Bellegambe Jehan Bellegambe or Jean Bellegambe (sometimes Belgamb or Belganb) (c. 1470c. June 1535/March 1536) was a French-speaking Flemish painter of religious paintings, triptychs and polyptychs, the most important of which are now held at Douai, Arras, ...

, oil on wood (1510) * ''Feast of Herod'',

, marble (vers 1435) * ''Vanity'',

Jan Sanders van Hemessen Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1500 – c. 1566) was a leading Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter, belonging to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the Romanism (painting), Romanists, who were in ...

, oil on wood (c 1535–1540) * ''Virgin and Child surrounded by angels'',

Master of the Embroidered Foliage The Master of the Embroidered Foliage (active – ) is the Notname for an Early Netherlandish painter or a group of painters who worked out of Bruges and Brussels. In 1926 the German art historian Max Jakob Friedländer attributed a group ...

, triptych, oil on wood (c 1495–1500) * ''Portraits of Louis de Quarre and Barbe de Cruysinck as donors; saint Barbara and saint Louis on foot under arcades'',

, oil on wood (c 1495–1500) * ''The Virgin in glory amidst the apostles'',

Master of the Lyversberg Passion Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

, oil on wood (c 1460–1480) * ''Adoration of the Shepherds'',

Master of the Lille Adoration The Master of the Lille Adoration (active ), was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Antwerp, as one of the Antwerp Mannerists. He was first suggested as a distinct but unknown figure in 1995 in an article by Ellen Konowitz, a proposal whi ...

, oil on wood (1520) * ''Preaching of saint John the Baptist'',

Master of the Lille Preaching Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

, oil on wood (1530–1540) * ''Vierge au lait'', Maître des Madones mosanes, marble (c 1350) * ''Adoration of the Magi'', Maître MS, oil on wood (c 1506–1510) * ''Saint Dorothea'' and ''Saint Mary Magdalen'', Master of saint-Séverin, two panels, oil on wood (1480–1520) * ''

Noli me tangere ''Noli me tangere'' ('touch me not') is the Latin version of a phrase spoken, according to John 20:17, by Jesus to Mary Magdalene when she recognized him after His resurrection. The original Koine Greek phrase is (). The biblical scene has b ...

'',

Lambert Sustris Lambert Sustris (c. 1515/1520 – c. 1584) was a Dutch painter active mainly in Venice. The works Sustris completed in Italy exhibit either a Mannerist style or qualities that may be deemed proto-Baroque. He is also referred to as ''Alberto de ...

(1548-1560) * ''The Resurrection'' and ''La Vierge du rosaire'', anonymous, South German, oil on wood (c 1480–1490) * ''Adoration of the Magi'', anonymous, triptych, oil on wood (c 1510–1520) * ''Saint Henri and saint Cunégonde, saint Jerome and a bishop saint,

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

of the retable of saint George'', anonymous, Tyrol, oil on wood (c 1520) * ''Saint John the Baptist and saint Catherine'', anonymous, German, oil on wood (16th century) * ''Saint Barbara and two saints'', anonymous, German, oil on wood (16th century) * ''Sketch for Paradise'',

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * Veronese (moth), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, ...

, oil on wood

17th-century paintings

* ''Rest of the Holy Family'', Pieter van Avont, oil on wood * ''Martyrdom of saint Maurice and his companions'',

Jan Boeckorst Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

known as Lange Jan, oil on canvas (1661) * ''

Allegory of the Vanities of the World ''Allegory of the Vanities of the World'' is a 1663 painting by the Flemish painter Pieter Boel, now in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille. It is unusually large for a vanitas ''Vanitas'' is a genre of symbolizing the temporality, transience ...

'',

Pieter Boel Pieter Boel or Peeter Boel (baptized on 10 October 1622 – 3 September 1674) was a Flemish painter, printmaker and tapestry designer. He specialised in lavish still lifes and animal paintings. He moved to Paris, where he worked in the gobelin f ...

, oil on canvas (1663) * ''Coronation the Virgin'',

Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613 – 23 January 1654) was a Dutch Republic-born Flemish Baroque painter. Biography Willeboirts Bosschaert was born in Bergen op Zoom, where his Catholic family had moved in the late sixteenth century. He moved ...

, oil on canvas * ''Ecstasy of saint Rosalie of Palermo'',

Theodor Boeyermans Theodoor Boeyermans, Theodor Boeyermans or Theodor Boeijermans (10 November 1620 – January 1678) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Antwerp who painted Baroque history paintings and group portraits informed by the tradition of Peter ...

, oil on canvas * ''The Nativity'',

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Duchy of Brabant, Brabant-born French people, French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French art, French school. He was a founding member of the Académie royale de pein ...

, oil on canvas * ''Antique landscape'',

, oil on canvas * ''Saint Nicolas saving the prisoners'',

Jan Cossiers Jan Cossiers (Antwerp, 15 July 1600 – Antwerp, 4 July 1671) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. Cossiers' earliest works were Caravaggesque genre works depicting low life scenes. Later in his career he painted mostly history and reli ...

, oil on canvas (1660) * ''The Miraculous Fish or The apostles reporting to Christ the fruit of their enterprise'', Gaspard de Crayer, oil on wood * ''Martyrdom of the crowned martyrs : Claudius, Nicolastratus, Symphorianus, Castor and Simplicius'', Gaspard de Crayer, oil on wood * ''Miracle of Saint Anthony of Padua at Toulouse'',

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

, oil on wood (c 1627–1630) * ''Christ on the cross'',

, oil on canvas * ''Portrait of Marie de Médicis, reine de France'',

* ''Christ climbing to Calvary and being recognised by saint Veronica'',

Frans II Francken Frans Francken the Younger (1581, Antwerp – 6 May 1642, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter and the best-known and most prolific member of the large Francken family of artists.

, oil on wood (c 1615–1620) * ''Presentation of the Holy Tunic to Charles V'',

Frans II Francken Frans Francken the Younger (1581, Antwerp – 6 May 1642, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter and the best-known and most prolific member of the large Francken family of artists.

, oil on wood (c 1615) * ''Ball on a palace terrace or ball at the court of Don John of Austria'',

Hieronymus Janssens Hieronymus Janssens or Jeroom Janssens (nicknamed ''Den danser'') (1624, Antwerp – 1693, Antwerp) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish genre art, genre painter known for his compositions depicting elegant companies engaging in dance, music or pl ...

known as Le danseur, oil on canvas (1658) * ''Christ and the Pharisees'',