Musée de la Vie Romantique, Paris

The Musée de la Vie Romantique is one of the three literary venues of the Paris museums group.

Built in 1830 in the area of “New Athens”, this museum is at the foot of Montmartre hill. Now made up of a courtyard, garden and two artist ateliers, the building remained for many decades the familial residence of Ary Scheffer, a Dutch-French Romantic painter. It was, therefore, within this space that many of the most prominent figures of the Romantic period gathered; George Sand, Charles Dickens, Eugène Delacroix, Frédéric Chopin are just a few of the names that were invited to many of the soirées held in this house. 

Remaining a private residence for many years, in 1983 the property became one of the 14 museums of the Ville de Paris, and one of the three literary museums within this group. Therefore, it remains dedicated to the artistic output of painters and writers throughout the first half of the 19th-Century.

The main pavilion is spread across two floors. On the ground floor there are many artifacts dedicated to the life of George Sand (1804-1876), one of the most prominent French women writers of the century. The portraits, jewelry and souvenirs collected throughout her life were placed in the hands of the Ville de Paris in 1923 by Sand’s granddaughter, Aurore Lauth-Sand.

On the first floor there are a number of works by Ary Scheffer, including paintings and sculptures, and one of the rooms is dedicated to Romantic portraits of women. It is then an opportunity to understand the wonderful, fantasised view of the Romantics: women have only pale, flawless skin and voluptuous breasts. 

Every year the museum welcomes temporary exhibitions always evoking the life and works of the Romantics, a literary and artistic group that has influenced ever since. And at the end of your visit, the courtyard in the centre of the residence is certain to evoke all the romantic sentiments within you; the delicate, green garden furniture is enclosed within a canopy of trees and placed next to a small glass structure, where cold and hot drinks and food are served from March to October.  

Cover picture and photo n°2 - © Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Amélie Dupont
Cover picture and photo n°2 - © Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Amélie Dupont
Cover picture and photo n°2 - © Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Amélie Dupont
Cover picture and photo n°2 - © Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Amélie Dupont

Opening Hours

Monday:
Closed
Tuesday:
10:00 - 18:00
Wednesday:
10:00 - 18:00
Thursday:
10:00 - 18:00
Friday:
10:00 - 18:00
Saturday:
10:00 - 18:00
Sunday:
10:00 - 18:00
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