Housed in the Palace of the Dukes and Estates of Burgundy, the Fine Arts Museum of Dijon is one of the oldest and richest museums in France. The completely transformed museum reopened its doors in May 2019, following ten years of renovation work.
The transformation of Dijon’s art museum
This prestigious museum occupies the exceptional setting of a palace whose construction spanned several centuries. More recently, it has undergone major renovation and extension work, for which the colossal sum of 60 million euros was invested to make the infrastructure worthy of the collections of the art museum of Dijon.
Renovation of the ducal dwelling
The first phase of the work was carried out between 2008 and 2013 to refurbish the rooms of the old ducal dwelling, including the tomb room, as well as the Bellegarde gallery where the previously walled-up windows now let daylight through once again.
The exhibition rooms in the 20th-century wing
The second work phase was carried out between 2015 and 2019 on the eastern wing of the palace and involved the refurbishment of around forty exhibition rooms devoted to permanent displays of the museum collections. The Bar Tower and the buildings around the Bar Courtyard have also been restored.
The contemporary extensions
Two contemporary extensions now add a 21st-century touch to the architecture of the ducal residence: the “golden roof” and a glass structure that crowns the palace roof.
Completely renewed museography
The Fine Arts Museum first opened in 1799, placing it just behind the Louvre as one of the oldest museums in France. It boasts a collection of 130,000 works of art which are now kept in the new storage facilities.
History in eight sequences
The museum exhibits 1,500 pieces which are each displayed in the room corresponding to their period, following a logic of harmony between the “content” and the “container”. The visit covers eight sequences of history organised in chronological order through the differant eras, from Antiquity to the 21st century.
A modern, interactive museum
Through the successive collections of paintings, sculptures, objets d’art and items of furniture, the visitor can learn more at the multimedia tables and interact with the digital content.
Besides the museum tour
The Brasserie des Beaux-Arts, which can be found on the ground floor of the Bellegarde gallery, has a terrace in the Bar Courtyard. There, at the heart of the gastronomy capital, visitors can enjoy a bite to eat at any time of day.
A vast bookshop and boutique offers a wide range of books, and there’s a children’s section where you’ll find books and games. Admission to the museum is free, as in all the municipal museums of Dijon.
