Located between the eponymous garden and the Senate, this museum, formerly the orangery of the Palais du Luxembourg, now houses temporary exhibitions... Commissioned by Marie de Médicis in the early 18th century, the Palais du Luxembourg was designed by the architect Salomon de Brosse. It was in one of the two galleries of the palace, the Galerie Est, that the museum was inaugurated in 1750. It was the first public museum displaying paintings in France, with about a hundred paintings from the King’s collection.
The latest exhibition at the museum will be open from 15 September 2007 to 13 January 2008 and places the spotlight on Giuseppe Arcimboldo. A 16th century Italian painter, Arcimboldo is known for his extremely colourful paintings featuring fantastic heads and faces created from plants, flowers and fruit.

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Photo D.R.