Musée Jacquemart-André

The Musée Jacquemart-André is a private mansion on the Boulevard Haussmann, in the eighth arrondissement of Paris, that has been preserved as it was in the late nineteenth century, filled with the art collection of its owners. It is one of the finest of the Parisian house museums, a place where visitors can see great works of Italian Renaissance, Flemish and French art in the rooms they were bought to decorate, and it gives an idea of the taste and wealth of the Parisian elite of the period. It stands a short walk from the Champs-Élysées and the Parc Monceau.

The house was built between 1869 and 1875 for Édouard André, a banker and the heir to a fortune who was one of the leading collectors of his generation. The architect, Henri Parent, designed a grand residence for entertaining, with reception rooms, a ballroom, a winter garden and a double staircase. In 1881, André married Nélie Jacquemart, a successful portrait painter who shared his passion for art, and together they travelled to Italy, buying paintings, sculpture and furniture, and building one of the finest private collections of Italian Renaissance art in France. After her husband's death, Nélie Jacquemart continued to collect, and when she died in 1912 she left the house and its contents to the Institut de France, as her husband had wished, on condition that it be opened to the public. The museum opened in 1913.

The collection is wide-ranging. The Italian rooms are the highlight, with paintings and sculptures from Florence, Venice and other centres, by artists such as Uccello, Mantegna, Botticelli and Bellini. The Flemish and Dutch works include portraits by Rembrandt and Van Dyck, and the French eighteenth-century art includes paintings by Boucher, Fragonard and Chardin, with fine furniture, tapestries and porcelain. The rooms themselves are as important as the works, and walking through the Grand Salon, the library, the smoking room and the winter garden, with its marble staircase and plants, gives a sense of the life of a wealthy Paris household. The museum also holds major temporary exhibitions that are among the most popular in Paris.

The museum has a tea room in the former dining room, where lunch, tea and weekend brunch are served beneath a ceiling painting attributed to Tiepolo, and it is a pleasant place to rest. The audio guide is included with the ticket and explains the collection and the history of the house. The museum is accessible by Metro, RER and bus, and there is a shop selling books and gifts. The Fridays stay open later, which makes an evening visit possible.

The couple also owned a country house, the Abbaye de Chaalis, near Senlis, which was left to the Institut de France and can be visited. Paris offers many other museums, from the Louvre to the Musée d'Orsay, but the Jacquemart-André has a quiet, intimate quality that makes it a favourite. It suits art lovers and those interested in the decorative arts and in the Belle Époque. Allow two hours. Opening hours vary by day and season, so check before going.