This is what happens when two obsessive art collectors with an unlimited budget build themselves a mansion on Boulevard Haussmann and then leave the whole thing to the nation. Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart spent their lives assembling one of Paris's finest private collections, and walking through their former home feels less like visiting a museum and more like crashing a very grand 19th-century dinner party. The Italian Renaissance rooms are the crown jewel, but the Winter Garden with its Tiepolo-crowned staircase is the room you'll remember.
Paris's finest private art collection, still arranged exactly as its 19th-century collectors lived with it—Botticelli in the bedroom, Tiepolo on the staircase.
Go on a weekday morning right at opening to have the Winter Garden and Italian rooms nearly to yourself—weekends get packed, especially during temporary exhibitions.
A billionaire's townhouse frozen in time
The Musée Jacquemart-André is what happens when two obsessive art collectors with an unlimited budget build themselves a mansion on Boulevard Haussmann and then leave it to the nation. Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart spent their lives—and their fortune—assembling one of Paris's finest private collections, and walking through their former home feels less like visiting a museum and more like crashing a very grand 19th-century dinner party. The Italian Renaissance rooms are the crown jewel, with works by Botticelli, Uccello, and Mantegna, but don't skip the Dutch masters—Rembrandt's portraits and Fragonard's playful canvases are equally stunning.
The showstopper is the Winter Garden, a glass-roofed atrium with a sweeping double staircase crowned by a Tiepolo fresco that the couple literally pried off a Venetian villa wall in 1893. It's the kind of room that makes you understand why Parisian high society fought for invitations to their parties. The State Apartments, where the Jacquemart-Andrés would receive around a thousand guests at sumptuous soirées, still carry that atmosphere of faded grandeur. The on-site café in the former dining room is a lovely spot for a break—order a pastry and pretend you're one of their guests.
Go on a weekday morning if you can. The museum is one of the few in Paris open every day of the week, but weekends get crowded, especially during temporary exhibitions. Budget about two hours—you'll want to linger in every room.
Le Musée Jacquemart-André, c'est l'histoire de deux collectionneurs passionnés qui ont consacré leur vie et leur fortune à assembler l'une des plus belles collections privées de Paris. Édouard André et Nélie Jacquemart ont fait construire cet hôtel particulier sur le boulevard Haussmann à la fin du XIXe siècle, et la demeure est restée exactement telle qu'ils l'avaient aménagée. On ne visite pas vraiment un musée, on pénètre dans un foyer—celui de deux esthètes qui recevaient le tout-Paris dans leurs salons.
Les pièces de la Renaissance italienne sont le clou du spectacle : Botticelli, Uccello, Mantegna... mais ne faites pas l'impasse sur les Flamands et les Hollandais. Les portraits de Rembrandt et les toiles de Fragonard valent le déplacement à eux seuls. Le jardin d'hiver, avec son escalier monumental et la fresque de Tiepolo arrachée à une villa vénitienne en 1893, est le genre de pièce qui vous donne envie de revenir habiter au XIXe siècle. Les Grands Appartements, où les Jacquemart-André recevaient jusqu'à mille invités lors de soirées somptueuses, conservent encore cette atmosphère de grandeur d'antan.
Le café installé dans l'ancienne salle à manger est une pause idéale—pâtisserie et thé sous les fresques, comme un invité de la maison. Allez plutôt en matinée en semaine : le musée est l'un des rares ouverts tous les jours, mais les week-ends, surtout pendant les expositions temporaires, l'attente peut être longue. Comptez deux bonnes heures pour tout voir sans se presser.