At the start of spring, the Avignon museum underwent maintenance and modernization work. Estimated cost: €500,000, with the help of the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs.
This Thursday, May 2, therefore marks the reopening to the public of the establishment which is celebrating its 50th anniversary (in 2026). A recovery while the School holidays are still on, and tourists, Italian in particular, are present in town.
The Petit Palais is this often little-known museum which nevertheless houses masterpieces from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, notably works from the Avignon School and paintings signed by two of the greatest painters of their time. time: Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and Vittore Carpaccio (1465-1525 or 1526).
Guided tours of the collections
Among the marvelous works that populate the walls of the Petit Palais, there is, obviously, the Madonna and Child by Botticelli, an oil on poplar wood (72 × 51 cm) created by one of the masters of the Italian Renaissance around 1467.
A major piece in which an extremely tender play of gaze takes place between mother and child. To make this reopening a full celebration, a series of highlights are planned in the coming days. This Saturday, May 4 and this Sunday, May 5 (10:30 a.m.), two guided tours of the permanent collections will take place, lasting one hour. (€3/5).
Another event: Saturday (2:30 p.m.), mediator Camille Roux will offer the “Family Yoga at the Museum” session, an experience for the body and mind at the heart of the museum’s works. Please note, limited number of places (04 90 86 44 58).
This week it’s Little Palace and Great Pleasures, a stone’s throw from the Rocher des Doms. Petit Palais Museum, Place du Palais Avignon; free admission ; open today, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
A renewed partnership with the Louvre Museum
An agreement was signed a few days ago between the City of Avignon and the Louvre Museum, the most important museum in the world. The partnership between the two establishments has existed since 1976, when it was decided to bring together 300 Italian masterpieces from the famous Campana collection at the Petit Palais.
Renewing this partnership today amounts to making it an identifiable label for the general public who, often, are unaware of the more than fraternal relations between the Louvre and the Petit Palais. With a new curator, Fiona Lüddeke, the Avignon museum is off to a new start.
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