Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chambéry, Art museum in Chambéry, France

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chambéry occupies the former municipal granary at the entrance to the old town, rebuilt in 1889 by architect François Pelaz. Its cream stone facade has a rusticated ground floor with three large arched openings, while the upper storey has tall arched windows framed by pilasters and stone reliefs. A balustrade with stone urns runs along the roofline.

Chambéry's art collection was first opened to the public in a room of the Hôtel de Ville in 1783. Between 1863 and 1878 Baron Hector Garriod gave 104 paintings to the town, and at his death 140 more works were bequeathed on condition they be shown in a museum. The municipality had architect François Pelaz convert the former granary at the town entrance, and the library there was inaugurated on 14 July 1889.

The Italian holdings grew through bequests: Baron Hector Garriod, a Savoyard settled in Florence, gave 104 paintings between 1863 and 1878 and left 140 more at his death. In 1980 Marius Daille's donation brought the Sienese primitives collected by writer Paul Bourget. Look for Bartolo di Fredi's Trinity altarpiece of 1396 and Domenico Veneziano's Portrait of a Young Man.

The museum occupies the former grain market at the entrance to the old town, on a paved square; the building was converted by architect François Pelaz in 1889. A three-year modernisation closed it until March 2012, when the renovated galleries reopened. The library moved out in 1992, freeing space for the collections.

The Italian holdings grew through a 1980 donation by Marius Daille, which brought the museum the collection of Sienese primitives owned by the French writer Paul Bourget. The altarpiece of the Trinity by Bartolo di Fredi, dated 1396, came with it.