Let's be a little bit romantic

If you deviate a little from the normal tourist promenade of Montmartre, slightly downhill, you can find the small “Museum of the Romantics”. You have more or less to know the address (16 rue Chaptal), because it’s just an ordinary street, with some typical 19th century houses and then there is a small opening between two houses. If you walk up the little alley, you will suddenly come to a paved courtyard and you will see something which looks like a small manor house, more typical for the country side than for the centre of Paris.

This house used to belong to a painter called Ary Scheffer (1795-1858). His reputation as a painter is today perhaps not on the highest level, but you can find his works in some prestigious museums like Louvre, National Gallery… He was clearly a romantic painter and was well appreciated and well introduced in the high society during the first half of the 19th century. He made a lot of portraits including of Chopin and Liszt, who were also among his friends, as were Delacroix, George Sand, Rossini, Tourgueniev, Dickens… all frequent guests here.

The house was occupied by Scheffer’s heirs for a long time, but was then left to the City of Paris and is a museum since 1987.

Especially George Sand and Chopin who were close neighbours spent a lot of time here and part of George Sand’s belongings – furniture, paintings, jewellery, by her made drawings and a manuscript… are now exposed at the museum. You can also find a plaster cast of Chopin’s left hand. … and of course a number of paintings by Scheffer and some others.

After the visit, you can have something to drink in the very nice garden café.