Following extensive renovations, the Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris is set to reopen to the public in February…
Back in September 2024, the Musée de la Vie Romantique (the Museum of Romantic Life) in Paris’ 9th arrondissement closed its doors for major refurbishment works to the exterior façade and the interior, which needed freshening up and modernising, while also reconnecting with the building’s history. The museum will be reopening on February 14, 2026, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Located at the foot of Montmartre hill, in the Nouvelle Athènes district, the listed building was built in 1830 and immediately purchased by painter Ary Musée de la Vie Romantique (the Museum of Romantic Life) in B Paris’ 9th arrondissement closed its doors for major refurbishment works to the exterior façade and the interior, which needed freshening up and modernising, while also reconnecting with the building’s history. The museum will be reopening on February 14, 2026, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Façade_de_la_maison_d’Ary_Scheffer,_vue_du_jardin
ocated at the foot of Montmartre hill, in the Nouvelle Athènes district, the listed building was built in 1830 and immediately purchased by painter Ary
Façade of the House of Ary Scheffer (1865) by Arie Johannes Lamme Scheffer, who set up two painting studios in the property. In the 1980s, it was opened as a museum by the City of Parisan annex to the Musée Carnavalet, in fact-before hosting temporary exhibitions and taking on the name of Musée de la Vie Romantique.
RECONNECTING WITH HISTORY
The 17-month refurbishment has restored the house’s original character, based on a painting preserved in the Dordrecht Museum in the Netherlands. The façade has been coated in lime in the traditional 19th-century style, all the windows and carpentry have been refitted with that time’s technique and the shutters have been painted in their original, light brown colour.
Inside, the exhibition space has been reimagined to reflect the atmosphere of an artist’s home from the 1830s, rather than purely a museum. Each room has been designed around a colour scheme, while remaining in keeping with the décor introduced in the 1980s, when the museum first opened. An improved path also leads visitors to the pretty Rose Bakery tea shop which is set in the museum’s greenhouse.
LAVIE ROMANTIQUE
The museum now offers an entirely new presentation of the collections, within a An inaugural temporary exhibition, dedicated to the painter Paul Huet (1803-1869), his whimsical landscapes and the visual motif of the sky, will be running until August 30 this year.
Ary_Johannes_Lamme_-_Le_grand_atelier
Set within one of Paris’ most atmospheric neighbourhoods, the Musée de la Vie Romantique’s reimagined exhibition space offers a cosy encounter with Romanticism, striking a perfect balance between emotion and art history. It is once again an enchanting stop for anyone seeking a more poetic side of the City of Love.
Musée de la Vie Romantique Hôtel Scheffer-Renan,
16 Rue Chaptal 75009 Paris.
Tel: +33 (0)1 55 31 95 67.
Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm.
Closed on December 25, January 1 and May 1.
From France Today Magazine
Lead photo credit : Vues du chantier du musée de la Vie romantique, septembre 2025. © Jean-Baptiste Gurliat _ Ville de Paris
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