Saint-Germain-des-Prés Fine Arts & Painting PrivateTour
If this tour main scene is Saint-Germain-des-Prés district, this walk is not a classic St Germain Tour but a tour dedicated to those who are interested in Fine Arts and Painting and who want to understand better in situ their historical evolution as to follow the footsteps of some of the greatest French painters. The Saint-Germain-des-Prés Fine Arts & Painting guided tour is done by a passionate fully licensed guide lecturer, don’t miss it!
Saint-Germain-des-Prés: Palais du Luxembourg where ends the tour – A place heavily marked by French Fine Arts History.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés Fine Arts & Painting Private Tour Essentials
140 € for 1 to 2 people + 30 € per extra person
- +/- 2.5-hour guided tour in English
- Really private tour = your party only (6 people max.)
- +/- 3.7 km distance covered
- Postgraduate (MPhil) certified French national guide
- Flexible schedule – 7/7 if available
KNOW MORE / BOOK NOW
Highlights
Iconic Saint-Germain Cafés
Scenic View from Pont-des-Arts
Institut
Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church
Saint-Sulpice Church
Why a Saint-Germain-des-Prés Fine Arts and Painting Guided Tour?
Because historically French Fine Arts institutions are concentrated in the north of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Because a lot af famous 19th-century French painters were linked with Saint-Germain-des-Prés: Delacroix, Ingres, Manet, Monet, Bazille, Flandrin etc. and even Picasso a very French Spanish man.
And finally because if 19th-century painting is ubiquitous in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, links of the district with arts is tremendously older.
Tour Organization
The tour is organized following three axes:
- Discover where were or are main French fin arts and painting institutions as their evolution and influence on arts.
- Follow the footsteps of some of the greatest French painters in the district.
- Discover greats works of arts visible in Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Besides these three main pillars, this tour is also a walk in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in which is evoked some of the classical points of interest of this world-famous Paris distric: literature, jazz, Saint-Germain Church, etc.
Your Private Guide in Paris
Certified French national guide
BA, Magna Cum Laude, Heritage Developpement & Preservation from Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers
Postgraduate from Paris Dauphine-PSL University
A Paris Private Guided tour dedicated to those who want
to focus on French Fine Arts and Painting in Saint-Germain-des-Prés!
Tour Content: Fine Arts and French Painting
Main French Fine Arts & Painting Institutions, Their Evolution and Influence on Arts
Before the Academies
- Middle age corporations of painters and sculptors
The Academies and the Salons Before the French Revolution
- The Royal Academy of Painting & Sculpture
- “Salons de peintures” during the Royal Academy of Painting & Sculpture period
- 18th-century « Salons de la Jeunesse » (Youth Salon)
The Academies and the Salons after the French Revolution
- The Academie des Beaux-Arts in Institut de France
- “L’Ecole Supérieur des Beaux-Arts” (Superior School of Fine Arts)
The Museums
- The French Revolution and the “Musée des Monuments Français”
- Musée du Louvre
- The first museums of Luxembourg
- The “Musée des Artistes Vivants” (predecesor of Orsay)
- Musée d’Orsay
Orsay Museum: situated at Saint-Germain-des-Prés north-west five major French painters presented in the museum were strongly linked with Saint-Germain-des-Prés: Ingre, Delacroix, Monet, Manet, Flandrin.
Following the Footsteps of the Painters In Saint-Germain
Shelter of Province and Foreign Painters
Discover why Saint-Germain-des-Prés was the shelter of many “province” and foreign painters who wanted to work in Paris. Among them a lot of low-countries protestant artists as Ferdinand Elle (or Van Heelen) a painter who is said to be one of the masters of Nicolas Poussin; as some famous French 17th-century painters as Lubin Beaugin, Pierre Patel, Antoine Le Nain (Oldest Le Nain brothers).
Fine Arts Related Places of Interest
- Simon Chardin birthplace and place where he first acceded to notoriety
- The place of birth of Edouard Manet
- Jacques Louis David residence
- The color shop of Ingres and Delacroix
- Workshops of Delacroix, David, Gros, Monet, Bazille, Ingre, etc.
Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Prés Guided Tour, the Furstenberg square: Here were standing the Abbaye stables and later on the workshops of Delacroix and Monet who painted there a word famous work: The Luncheon on the Grass.
The House of Cards, circa 1737, by Simon Chardin one of the most famous 18th-century French painters. Born there, he lived on the Left Bank between Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Saint-Sulpice until 1757, when Louis XV granted him a workshop in the Louvre. Credit: NGA courtesy.
Works of Arts and Master Pieces of the Tour
In Saint-Germain-des-Prés abbey Church
- Amazing fresco works of Flandrin (Ingre favorite pupille) in St Germain Church
- 11th-century romanesque capitales
- 13th-century Virgin Mary sculpture
- 17th oil paintings by François Verdier and Laurent de la Hire, (one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture)
- 18th century oil paintings by Sébastien Leclerc and Nicolas Bertin
Other Works of Arts
- Two master pieces of Delacroix in Saint-Sulpice Church
- 18th-century sculpture by Pigalle
- Picasso and Saint-Germain (he painted Guernica there) a sculpture of his mistress Dora Maar is visible in a square
Saint-Germain-des-Prés abbatial church: the newly restored choir and nave murals.
Tour Content: Saint-Germain-des-Prés Classics
Even if this tour focus on Fine Arts and French Painting, we will meet on our tour route some classics of the Saint-Germain tours that we will also comment on:
Deux Magots, Le Flore, Brasserie Lipp.
Procope, Cour du Commerce Saint-André & French Revolution.
Literature, theater, jazz, Etc.
Café de Flore at Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Other Saint-Germain-des-Prés Tours
First, we propose a version of this Saint-Germain-Fine-Arts and French Painting associated with an Orsay museum tour an Orsay Museum & Saint-Germain-des-Prés Guided Tour.
Three other Saint-Germain Tours are or will be availlable:
- Saint-Germain-des-Prés guided tour (classic version)
- Saint-Germain-des-Prés church and ancien abbey Tour
- Literature in Saint-Germain-des-Prés Guided Tour: In preparation
Things to know before Booking
Meeting Point
In the begining of Pont-des-Arts, north bank of the Seine River.
Access: métro line 7 station “Pont-Neuf” or métro line 1 station “Louvre-Rivoli”.
Tour Attention Points
- Tour is on foot covering +/- 3.7 km so good health and comfortable shoes are highly recommended.
- Prices do not include transportation, food, drinks or any other extra services.
- Neighborhood tours: we don’t enter in monuments except in two churches.
- Churches entrance, no warranty of entry (unplanned closing to visit may occur)
- Some monument can be presented from far: example Orsay Museum.
- Tour duration, covered distance & content are purely indicative, they may vary due to contingencies.
Book your Saint-Germain Fine Arts & Painting Private Tour
Choose below your tour: You will then be asked : -> choose the number of people, date & hours of visit -> after our validation-> pay on line.
Private Tour Saint-Germain-des-Prés Fin Arts & Painting
+/- 2.5-hourFor 1 to 2 people + 30 € for any extra person
A group of maximum 6 people exclusively yours
English language
The bell tower of Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church which was built around the year 1000, the sculpture in the foreground is from Picasso.
Oil sketch “Hezekiah, King of Judah” by Hippolyte Flandrin for the murals of the nave Germain-des-Prés. Credit: courtesy of the MET.