Galliera Museum of fashion instead of the Galliera collection

The Galliera Museum of fashion, a history of the 19th century, whose guiding line is the Duchess of Galliera and her Arts Collections. Now the Galliera Museum is one of the richest museums in the world to present the codes of dressing and clothing habits of France for the last 300 years.

The Duchess of Galliera, born Marie Brignole-Sale

Marie Brignole-Sale was born in Genoa (Italy) on April 5, 1811, into a patrician family that had given the city doges, senators, ambassadors, and poets. Her enlightened and European education was marked by the trips she made with her father during his various diplomatic missions. In particular, he was an ambassador of Sardinia in France to King Louis-Philippe. From then on, Marie was brought up, so to speak, at the Tuileries court with Louis-Philippe's children, for whom she kept a deep attachment.

Her marriage to the Marquis of Ferrarri

In 1828, the young polyglot woman married the Marquis Raphaël de Ferrari. Like her, he came from a powerful and very rich Genoese family, involved in the great European works of the time and in finance (for example the transformation of Paris by Baron Haussmann).

The couple had three children, Livia (1828-1829), Andrea (1831-1847), and Philippe (1850-1917). Philippe, the youngest son, studied brilliantly while developing a passion for stamps which led him to build one of the most important philatelic collections in the world. A man with a whimsical personality, he was marked by a deep spirit of revolt towards his family.

The Duchess of Galliera

In 1837, the couple acquired the ducal estate of Galliera located on the Reno river in Emilia (Italy). Pope Gregory XVI conferred the title of duke on the Ferrari couple in 1838. From then on, Marie Brignole-Sale, Marquise of Ferrari, chose to be called exclusively Duchess of Galliera for reasons of taste.

In 1852, the duke and duchess of Galliera bought the Matignon hotel in Paris from the duke of Montpensier, son of King Louis-Philippe, who was forced to sell it. The Orlean family was on the verge of bankruptcy following the 1848 revolution.

In her hotel on the Rue de Varenne, the duchess was surrounded, it is said, by 200 servants. She made it a high place of Parisian life, whether political, intellectual, or social, where the Pereire brothers, the Duke of Morny, the Duke of Broglie, Prosper Mérimée met.

Always faithful to their Italian roots, in 1861 they bought the Lucedio estate and were made, in the same year, prince and princess of Lucedio by Victor-Emmanuel II of Savoy.

This journey, marked by acquisitions in Italy and France and by constant enrichment, came to an abrupt end with the death of her husband Raphael. On November 22, 1876, the duke died in Genoa (Italy). Philippe, the only son left, refused to inherit his father's fortune and ducal title. The Duchess of Galliera then obtained that the title was taken over by Antoine d'Orléans, her son at heart.

The philanthropist Duchess

At the age of 65, widowed in 1876 and rejected by her son, the Duchess found herself at the head of an immense fortune of 225 million gold francs, which she then spent on charitable works.  For example, she founded the Ferrari hospice for the elderly in Clamart and an orphanage in Meudon.

With a donation of one million gold francs, she also contributed to the creation of the Ecole libre des Sciences politiques d'Emile Boutmy, the future Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris.

The Duchess's collection and the Galliera Museum of fashion

Begun by her ancestors in 1623 - when Van Dyck painted a portrait of the family - and constantly enriched, the art collection of the Duchess of Galliera is very prestigious and varied. Flemish, Spanish and Italian paintings, 18th-century French furniture, clocks, and productions from the manufactures of Sèvre and Gobelins... The greatest names can be found in this collection.

The duchess also wanted to found her own museum. For her Parisian collection, she decided to build a palace that would serve as a museum on a piece of land that her husband owned.  Her intentions were well thought out and formalized as she signed the museum plan on April 10, 1878, five days before she officially submitted her proposal to the Prefecture of the Seine. On July 11, 1878, the city council gratefully accepted the donation.

But all this planning collapsed. Outraged by the discussion begun in 1883 on the expulsion of the princes of the House of France, to which she was close, and by the adoption of the constitutional law of August 14, 1884, which made the Count of Paris ineligible for the presidency of the Republic, the Duchess, who was then the benefactor of Paris, decided to retaliate in her own way. In her holographic will of October 7, 1884, she withdrew the bequest of her rich collections to France in favor of the Palazzo Rosso in Genoa. She thus chose to dispossess Paris, her beloved city, while maintaining the construction of the Palais Galliera. Upon completion, the palace will be made available to the City of Paris.

At the age of 77, Marie Brignole-Sale duchess of Galliera died on December 9, 1888, in Paris.

The Palais Galliera: an eclipse of more than 70 years

Pendant plus de 70 ans, le Palais Galliera est utilisé pour diverses exposition temporaires et variées. Ce n'est que dans les années 1950 que germe l'idée d'un musée de la mode, d'abord comme une section du Musée Carnaval dont le Musée Galliera de la mode héritera en 1977. Après plusieurs adaptations et de nombreux travaux, le musée Galliera rouvre ses portes en 2013 dans sa conception actuelle.

Description of the Galliera Museum of fashion today

Built in the nineteenth century, the Palais Galliera now houses the Fashion Museum of the City of Paris called the "Galliera Museum of fashion". Its collections, more than 100,000 pieces of clothing and accessories, are among the richest in the world and reflect the codes of dress and clothing habits of France from the eighteenth century to today. The Galliera museum lives to the rhythm of exclusively temporary exhibitions, two to three per year. The site has a library and a documentation center, accessible only by appointment.
Collections
Fashion accessories
Costumes
Prints
Prints
History
Photography
Textiles

Garden of the at the back of Galliera Museum of fashion

The Garden or Square Galliera, located behind the museum, was designed in the 19th century. Entrance on the avenue du Président Wilson, in front of the Palais de Tokyo.