The Musée des Beaux-Arts is a fine arts institution set within a historic complex of 15th- and 17th-century buildings in Angers. Investigate the fascinating collection, which focuses on various artistic movements from the 14th century to the 21st century and also features a section devoted to local history.
Note that the museum is housed in several buildings dating from different periods. The oldest is the Logis Barrault, a sumptuous private mansion built between 1486 and 1493 that has hosted such illustrious guests as Louis XII and César Borgia. Angers’ municipal museum opened here in 1801 and the complex underwent renovations between 1999 and 2004 to help optimize exhibition spaces.
Enter the great vaulted hall on the ground floor. Dating back to the late 15th century, this grand hall was originally designed as a ceremonial room for entertaining guests. Learn about the history of human activity in Angers by perusing the exhibition here. Among the 500 artifacts displayed, you’ll see stone fragments, ceramics, silverware, weapons, portraits and photographs.
On the first floor, see two rooms dedicated to 14th- and 15th-century primitives, Renaissance artworks and a gallery of 17th-century art. Among the excellent artworks here are pieces by Segna di Bonaventura, Jan Brueghel the Elder and Giambattista Tiepolo.
Ascend to the second floor to discover artworks from the 18th through 20th centuries. Don’t miss the glass-roofed gallery devoted to 18th-century French painting, a highlight of the collection. Look for sketches by Jean-Honouré Fragonard and François Boucher’s mythological masterpiece Les Génies des Arts.
Trace the journey toward modernity in a series of small rooms displaying the work of 20th-century artists, including locals Angevins Mérodack-Jeanneau and Daniel Tremblay.
After touring the collections, sit in the café or go for a stroll in the garden of the museum amid trees, flowerbeds and shrubbery. Between June and September, the museum is open daily.
Between October and May, it is open from Tuesday to Sunday. There is an admission fee.
