Musée National Gustave Moreau

I have really enjoyed my time in Paris to explore museums off the beaten path.  Yesterday I visited my favorite one so far.  It is the family home and studio of the artist Gustave Moreau (1826-1898), the master of French Symbolism.

One flight up were the rooms where Moreau lived.  Every wall was covered with paintings and drawings by Moreau and others.  The rooms were filled with objects he had meticulously collected or inherited.  Everything is arranged just as Moreau had it when he lived there.

Moreau's Study

Dining Room

End Table in Dining Room
with Extendable Candelabra Arms

I loved his bedroom filled with family photos and paintings.  It had a beautiful bed and a chess set.


Moreau's Bedroom




Moreau and his Mother

Cute Little Chair in the Bedroom

Upstairs were two huge open studios, the walls covered with his paintings, both finished and unfinished.  The studios were connected by a beautiful spiral staircase.

Studio

Moreau's Palette

Paint box

View from the spiral staircase

School Group in Upstairs Studio



Moreau mainly painted mythological or biblical figures and scenes.  My favorite was a painting of the Three Magi, which was unfinished. 

The Three Magi

This is definitely a museum I would recommend if you have the time.  There is so much to see in such a relatively small mansion.  A feast for the eyes!
I went back to the museum when Sue, Tom and Claire came to visit a couple of weeks later.  These are two of my favorite pictures.

Claire at Moreau's Studio

Analyzing a Painting

And I took my parents to the museum in April.  Mom loved the cute old sink in the bathroom.  No hot water, only cold.

Dad in the Dining Room

Mom and Dad on the Staircase Between Studios

Bathroom Sink

As I walked back to the metro I stopped in the Eglise Sainte Trinité - Church of the Holy Trinity.  Notice the blue sky that appeared yesterday afternoon after driving rain all day.

Eglise Sainte Trinité

The church just celebrated 150 years in November.

The church still had its Nativity set up- it was a modern one all in white.  And I loved the statue of Joan of Arc near the apse.  She's one of my favorite figures from French history.  It is fun to stumble on these pretty little churches all over Paris.

Nativity

Jeanne d'Arc