Pierre de Luxembourg museum, Medieval art museum in Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon, France.
The Pierre de Luxembourg museum occupies a former cardinal's residence built in the fourteenth century and displays religious artworks from that period. Inside are paintings and sculptures, primarily from French and Provençal studios, arranged across rooms that retain elements of the original building.
The building was constructed as a residence for an influential church leader in the fourteenth century when Avignon was one of Europe's major religious centers. It was substantially renovated in the seventeenth century and later converted into a museum to preserve its art collections.
The collection reflects how religious devotion shaped artistic creation in medieval times, from carved ivory figures to large painted panels. These works show what mattered most to people and the church during that era.
The museum sits in the town center and is easy to reach on foot while walking around Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The galleries spread across multiple floors, so allow time to explore and wear comfortable shoes for moving between levels.
One altar panel from the fifteen hundreds in the collection depicts the Coronation of the Virgin with detailed heavenly spheres and hell portrayed below. This work shows how medieval artists compressed their entire view of the universe into a single painting.
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