Romantic Paris, the exhibition at Paris Petit Palais

The Petit Palais is devoting a fine exhibition to the Romantic Paris of 1815-1848. On view from May 22 to September 15, 2019, the exhibition takes visitors on a tour of the capital during its great urban revolution.

The Petit Palais' Romantic Paris 1815-1848 exhibition-event offers a vast panorama of the capital during the Romantic years, from the fall of Napoleon to the Revolution of 1848. This period was rich in political upheavals, with digital displays recalling the Restoration, the 1830 Revolution, the July Monarchy and the 1848 Revolution.

Immersive, the exhibition is designed as a stroll through the emblematic districts of the period: the Tuileries, the Palais-Royal, the Nouvelle-Athènes, Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, or the Grands Boulevards.

The tour begins in the salons of the Palais des Tuileries, the royal residence and seat of political power, evoked through loans, where we meet the Duchesse de Berry and Marie d'Orléans.

We then take a stroll through the Galeries du Palais-Royal, the semi-covered shopping arcades so popular at the time, and still visible today. An array of luxury objects and fashion accessories recall the refined craftsmanship of the period.

After this stroll, it's off to the Salon du Louvre. Here you'll find works by Chassériau, Delacroix, Girodet, Ingres, Vernet and David d'Angers.

This is followed by a visit to the Latin Quarter, Chaussée d'Antin, New Athens and the Grands Boulevards.

Discover the exhibition on video:

A nod to the Romantics' fascination with the Middle Ages is made through Notre-Dame de Paris, a historic monument brought to light by Victor Hugo in 1831. It inspired artists such as painters and draughtsmen, as well as opera composers (Louise Bertin), and its characters - Esmeralda, Phoebus, Quasimodo - served as motifs for trinkets.

Paintings and engravings evoke the lives of these bohemian artists, but also popular entertainments such as balls and costume parties.

The Petit Palais tour ends on the streets of Paris in February 1848, during the revolution that put an end to the July Monarchy. A lithograph showing a gavroche sitting on Louis-Philippe's throne, a figure depicting the disillusionment of the Romantics.

To complete the exhibition, head to the Musée de la Vie Romantique, which offers an immersion into the heart of the literary salons of Romantic Paris.

We can't wait to discover these exhibitions!

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.