Musée De Picardie, Amiens, France

The Musée de Picardie is the main museum of Amiens and Picardy, in France. Its collections include artifacts ranging from prehistory to the 19th century, and form one of the largest regional museums in France.

As an institution, the museum was founded as the Musée Napoléon in 1802 (the year of the Treaty of Amiens). However, the current building that houses the museum is more recent, being purpose-built as a regional museum between 1855 and 1867. The Second Empire style building was designed by architects Henri Parent and Arthur-Stanislas Diet. It was built thanks to the Société des Antiquaires de Picardie, keen to give the city somewhere to house the collections the society had gathered over decades. A prototype for other French regional museums, it was France's first building constructed exclusively for the purpose of conservation and exhibition of artworks.

Housed in the basement, archaeological collections include artifacts ancient Greece and Egypt. The medieval exhibition contains items form the 12th to 16th centuries, with the main pieces being the Puys d'Amiens, masterpieces of Gothic art from Amiens Cathedral. French and foreign painters from 17th to 20th centuries are also represented.

References:

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Museums in France

User Reviews

Silvana Avram (4 months ago)
Beautiful, ecclectic collection from antiquity to modernity. Elegant and inspiring space. It was lovely to see so many school children coming to study and learn, with their teachers. I particularly loved the modern section with cool displays and installations. The front garden is also a wonderful space for reflection. All in all, a great place to revisit when in Amiens.

Christina Lam (6 months ago)
Has a bit of everything, not just huge paintings. Wooden facades sculptures Egyptology, Earth Sciences. Well worth a visit. Spent 2 hrs here. Use Google lens for translation if you're particularly interested in certain objects. Has a few interactive screens in English and German. Free deck chairs to sit on outside. Clean toilets. Free lockers.

harriet miller (7 months ago)
It’s a beautiful building. They have some interesting art unfortunately nothing was in English so that made a very difficult for us but if you’re in the area and you want to see the building inside and some of the art, it’s worth the stop for about an hour, unless you speak French and French.

Norah Plasschaert (7 months ago)
Gorgeous museum! Even the building itself is worth a visit. The paintings and statues are supercool!

SVC (8 months ago)
The museum seems recently restored. Iy looks fabolous and everything is very modern! Good place to learn about the history of the city and region.

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