Palais des Beaux-Arts

Whilst in Lille we visited the Palais des Beaux-Arts, set in a gorgeous building in the centre of Lille. It is dedicated to fine art, modern art, and antiquities. It was one of the first museums in France — built by Napoleon I in the early 19th century as part of the popularisation of art.

We both enjoy the beauty of art museums, and this municipal museum did not disappoint. We headed here to visit the temporary exhibition of the works of Raphael (1483-1520).

The Raphael exhibition, with its priceless collection of drawings — revealed for the first time to the public in its entirety – certainly helped feed the soul. The presentation of the 40 drawings, some double-sided, which were creatively displayed in their own space, is being supplemented by special loans from the Louvre Museum, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Royal Collection Trust, the National Gallery in London, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid — so quite a collection.

It was a delight to get so up-close to the sketches, paintings and frescoes. To view the details and colours, and witness how the paintings developed from the original sketches to their final versions. It was a very rare opportunity to get such a rounded view of his works.

We then visited the exhibition of the ‘town plans of Vauban’, which are situated on a whole floor dedicated to the many 3D constructions of strategic towns along the French north and eastern borders.

Vauban was a French military engineer who worked under Louis XIV. He is considered one of the greatest engineers of his time, and perhaps the most important in military history. It was fascinating viewing his models, and his ideas for architectural defences, that use the natural features of the landscape as their base.

It was these relief plans that encouraged the town of Lille to renovate the museum building at the beginning of the 1990’s.

We’d heard about the plans existence, so it was really pleasing to get the opportunity to see so many of them together in one place.