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Sitting opposite the Grand Palais on Avenue Winston Churchill is the Petit Palais. This gem of a building was built, like the Grand Palais opposite, for the Universal Exposition of 1900. It was intended to house a major display of French art and is now home to the Musée des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris (the City of Paris Beaux Arts Museum). The building’s trapezoidal plan encloses a semi-circular garden courtyard surrounded by a colonnade. Designed by Charles Girault, with distinct echoes of Garnier, it is entirely lit by natural light. Similar in style to the Grand Palais, its Ionic columns, grand porch and dome also echo Les Invalides across Pont Alexandre III.
The Cours de la Reine, which is nearest the river, is used for temporary exhibitions, while the Champs-Elysées side is home to the Palais’ permanent collections, which are divided into different sections: Greek, Roman, medieval and Renaissance ivories and sculptures; Renaissance clocks and jewellery; and 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century art and furniture. The Palais also exhibits a number of Impressionist artworks.
Petit Palais
Pont Alexandre III
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