Musée du Luxembourg

The Musée du Luxembourg holds the title of the first public museum in France. It opened its doors to the public in 1750, far earlier than many of the country's most famous institutions. At that time, it was located within the Luxembourg Palace itself, where visitors could admire a magnificent cycle of twenty-four paintings by Peter Paul Rubens. These works depicted the life of Marie de Medici, the queen who had commissioned the palace. Alongside these masterpieces, the gallery displayed about one hundred paintings from the royal collection, including works by legendary figures like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Rembrandt.