Ecole des Beaux-Arts founded in a former convent
The École des Beaux-Arts was founded in 1816.
It is the most prestigious art institution in France and today has branches in six other major French cities. This renowned art school was established in the former Couvent des Petits-Augustins, a convent built in the early 17th century under the patronage of Marguerite de Valois, the first wife of King Henry IV.
Like all religious institutions, the convent was closed at the beginning of the French Revolution and became state property. Fortunately, many buildings escaped demolition and were repurposed, as the convent enjoyed a prime location in the heart of the capital, on the banks of the River Seine.
A museum founded at the French Revolution!
In 1795, Alexandre Lenoir chose the convent as the location for the Musée des Monuments Français (Museum of French Monuments), intended to showcase the various works of art recovered from the numerous religious buildings demolished during the Revolution.
The Couvent des Petits Augustins was demolished in the 1830s, except for a few key structures, such as the hexagonal chapel, the church, the sacristy, and the small cloister, all of which were repurposed to house the École Royale et Spéciale des Beaux-Arts (Royal and Special School of Fine Arts).
New buildings were constructed, including the Bâtiment des Loges, Palais des Études, and an exhibition building overlooking the Quai Malaquais along the Seine.
The École des Beaux-Arts de Paris expanded further in 1883 with the acquisition of the Hôtel de Chimay (16th-18th centuries) and its annexes on the Quai Malaquais.
Today, the École des Beaux-Arts covers 2 hectares and has been a listed historical monument since 1972. In 2008, some of the sculpture workshops were moved to a building located in the heart of the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen (Flea Market).
Ecole des Beaux-Arts – Cour Bonaparte
The former convent church overlooks the main courtyard of the École des Beaux-Arts, the Cour Bonaparte.
The church’s main facade is adorned with a magnificent portal from the Château d’Anet, originally designed by the renowned architect Philibert de L’Orme for Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II.
The 22-meter-high portal displays the three classical architectural orders, Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian, as well as the intertwined emblems of Diane and Henry II.
The church was repurposed to house the Musée de Moulages du Moyen-Age et de la Renaissance (Museum of Plaster Casts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance), which obvious showcases plaster casts from the medieval and Renaissance periods.
Original sculptures and paintings adorn the walls from floor to ceiling.
The scope and richness of the collections are such that it is impossible to take it all in at a glance!
That said, two stand out among the myriad of works on display, bathed in the soft light streaming through the skylights.
The first is a cast of the pulpit from Pisa Cathedral, which commands attention with its meticulous detail.
The second is a cast of the Colleoni, the famous equestrian statue by Bartolomeo Colleoni (the original is in Venice).
The church is directly connected to the small hexagonal chapel commissioned by Marguerite de Valois.
This chapel, known as the Chapelle des Louanges, (Chapel of Praise), was one of the first Parisian buildings crowned with a dome.
Today, it houses an exhibition of casts of selected works by Michelangelo, as well as replicas of paintings by winners of the prestigious Prix de Rome.
The back of the church opens onto the Cour du Mûrier (Mulberry Courtyard), an inner courtyard with an elegant fountain at its centre.
Formerly part of the cloister, this courtyard now serves as an open-air gallery for displaying statues.
It was named after the Chinese mulberry tree planted by Alexandre Lenoir in 1816.
The vaulted galleries of the former cloister are painted in warm ocher and vermilion hues, evoking the atmosphere of a Provençal village.
Cour Vitrée in Palais des Etudes et Amphithéatre d’Honneur
An open gallery connects the Cour du Mûrier to the Cour Napoléon and the Palais des Études.
This 800-square-metre oval inner courtyard, known as Cour Vitrée boasts a spectacular glass roof supported by metal arches.
Félix Duban, the architect of the École des Beaux-Arts, designed the Palais des Etudes to house the numerous plaster casts of sculptures from the Louvre Museum.
In 1863, Duban commissioned the locksmith Travers with the creation of a a glass roof supported with a metal frame, to cover the building’s inner courtyard. The Cour Vitrée was recently restored, in 2007- 2008.
To admire the collections of plaster casts today, you must visit the Petites Écuries at the Palace of Versailles, where they were moved in 1971.
The facades of the Palais des Études were also painted with polychrome decoration inspired by Italian art during this period.
The Cour Vitrée now serves as an exhibition space for the work of students from the École des Beaux-Arts.
Félix Duban also designed the Amphithéâtre d’Honneur, which, completed in 1839, initially served as a venue for lectures and award ceremonies.
The painter Paul Delaroche created the superb fresco that decorates the back wall of the amphitheatre.
This unique work depicts 75 life-size artists, painters, engravers, sculptors, and architects, representing the Greek, Roman, Gothic, and Renaissance artistic periods, thus highlighting the diversity of the art world throughout the ages.
Although the École des Beaux-Arts is generally closed to the public, it is possible to visit it independently each year during the Journées du Patrimoine – European Heritage Days, which take place on the third weekend of September.
Directions: 6th district – 6 Rue Bonaparte
Metro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés on Line 4
Coordinates: Lat 48.857214 – Long 2.334857
