Musée d'Orsay, Art museum in 7th arrondissement, France
Description
A former railway terminal along the Seine now contains extensive galleries beneath arched glass roofing, flanked by side exhibition rooms on three levels arranged around a central hall with exposed iron framework and stone ornamentation from the Belle Époque era.
History
Victor Laloux designed the Gare d'Orsay for the Paris World's Fair in 1900, serving trains until 1939 before the structure served various purposes for decades. Italian architect Gae Aulenti redesigned the interiors for the museum opening in 1986 under President François Mitterrand.
Culture
The institution displays French paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, and photography spanning 1848 to 1914, including major Impressionist and Post-Impressionist holdings organized across multiple floors through thematic and chronological arrangements that trace artistic movements of the period.
Practical
Visitors may enter Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM, with Thursday hours extending until 9:45 PM. The first Sunday of each month grants free admission. RER line C stops at Musée d'Orsay station, while several bus routes and Metro line 12 reach the grounds.
Did you know?
The preserved station clock face in the main hall measures over 40 feet (12 meters) in diameter and provides views through its transparent hands toward Montmartre and the opposite riverbank, while visitors can walk behind the mechanism itself.
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