Musée de Picardie

Since its opening in 1867, the Musée de Picardie has been considered to be one of the most beautiful province museums. Based on the design of Napoléon III's Louvre, the Musée de Picardie is a fine arts museum that gathers rich archeology, sculpture, artwork and painting collections, thus inviting the visitor to a voyage from the paleolithic age up to this day. Through its temporary exhibitions ranging from classical antiquity to the 21st century - including comtemporary art - and its various lectures and events, the Musée de Picardie is well-settled as a one of the region's major landmarks. As per the wishes of the Société des Antiquaires de Picardie , which founded the museum, the latter constitutes a veritable palace of the arts that allows to preserve the Picard artistic heritage and pass it on to the region's denizens. It was created in 1867 under the name of «Musée Napoléon», a reference to emperor Napoleon I, considered as the museum's «founding father» after he sent a series of paintings to celebrate the Treaty of Amiens in April 1802.

The building currently housing the Musée de Picardie, built between 1855 and 1867, was designed from the start as a museum destined to receive regional collections of antiques and fine arts.

It was one of the very first modern structures of this type in France, being built to be a museum. The edifice was erected thanks to the militant action of the Société des Antiquaires de Picardie, which was anxious to provide the region with some suitable facility to house the numerous items that had been collected for decades.