How Fine Arts Paris champions the safeguarding of heritage ?
Vendredi 18 septembre 2026
For the first time, Fine Arts Paris joins the European Heritage Days and opens its doors free of charge on 19 and 20 September to the first 200 registrants. But the fair’s commitment to safeguarding heritage goes well beyond this unprecedented event.
Each year, it welcomes a guest institution of honour, the Musée du Grand Siècle for this 2026 edition. It also lends its support to the “Le Plus Grand Musée de France” patronage campaign. Finally, it works with Ville de Paris (the City of Paris), which uses the occasion to reveal the behind-the-scenes work of restoring its religious and civic artworks.
Fine Arts Paris joins the European Heritage Days 2026
Created in 1984, European Heritage Days invite the public, each year on the third weekend of September, to discover exceptional places across France. For this 43rd edition, on 19 and 20 September 2026, the Ministry of Culture is spotlighting two themes: the heritage of photography, marking two hundred years since Nicéphore Niépce’s invention, and the safeguarding of heritage at risk.
By joining this national event for the first time, Fine Arts Paris fully embraces this momentum. For this 2026 edition, the fair opens its doors free of charge on 19 and 20 September to the first 200 registrants, via a booking link on the official Journées du Patrimoine website (available in French only).
The museums honoured as guests of Fine Arts Paris
At every edition, Fine Arts Paris invites an institution, offering it visibility and the opportunity to meet potential donors.
Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild (2024)
In 2024, the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild exhibited in Paris for the first time around fifty pieces from Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild’s collection, staged by Jacques Garcia.
On this occasion, one of the collection’s masterpieces, an 18th-century chest of drawers stamped by cabinetmaker Joseph Baumhauer, found a patron for its restoration.
© Tanguy de Montesson
Musée Nissim de Camondo (2025)
At the 2025 edition, Fine Arts Paris hosted the Musée Nissim de Camondo, then closed to the public and undergoing restoration. The institution exhibited 80 of its masterpieces, for the first time outside its historic mansion in the Plaine Monceau, in a setting designed by Alexandre Benjamin Navet.
Fine Arts Paris helped raise the visibility of the museum’s fundraising campaign: thanks to this invitation, the museum raised 3 million euros and met a major French patron previously unknown to it, who is now heavily committed to the restoration of a large part of the museum’s art collection.
© Tanguy de Montesson
Musée du Grand Siècle (2026)
The Musée du Grand Siècle is the guest of honour for this 2026 edition. Born from the donation of the art collection of Pierre Rosenberg, honorary president of the Louvre and member of the Académie française, this new institution, dedicated to 17th-century France and to collecting, aims to become a reference for this major period in French history. Housed in the former royal barracks of Saint-Cloud, the future museum will open its doors in 2028.
At Fine Arts Paris, it previews the “Grand Siècle” itinerary that will be deployed in its future permanent galleries: paintings, sculptures, furniture, precious and everyday objects that will tell the story of the arts, sciences and society in 17th-century France. Let us hope this preview inspires patrons to offer works or financial support to this remarkable project.
Le Plus Grand Musée de France: the campaign of the Fondation pour la Sauvegarde de l’Art Français
“Le Plus Grand Musée de France” is hosted at Fine Arts Paris for the 3rd time, a wonderful showcase to highlight its work in safeguarding heritage. At the 2025 edition, the campaign found a patron to help fund part of the restoration of Cardinal Richelieu’s tomb at the Sorbonne, part of a wider restoration of the chapel led jointly by Ville de Paris, the Chancellery of the Universities of Paris, and World Monuments Fund France.
Launched over ten years ago by the Fondation pour la Sauvegarde de l’Art Français, “Le Plus Grand Musée de France” invites civil society to take part in restoring the treasures of French towns and villages. Over ten years, the campaign has enabled the restoration of 300 works of art, raised 2.2 million euros, initiated 20 partnerships with universities and Grandes Écoles, and involved 70,000 people.
Restored works on display at Fine Arts Paris 2026
A sculpture by Bernini, Saint Sebastian (1617-1618), Saint-Martin church, Jouy-en-Josas. The work travelled to Rome as part of the “Bernini e i Barberini” exhibition at the Palazzo Barberini. Restored through the Allianz competition in 2024/2025, it is the award-winner for the Île-de-France region.
An oil on canvas by Simon Vouet, The Ecstasy of Saint Mary Magdalene (c. 1649), Saint-Loup church, Châlons-en-Champagne. A preview ahead of its presentation at the “Simon Vouet: Secrets of the Studio” exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes. It was restored thanks to the patronage of the Fondation Lazard Frères Gestion in 2026.
An oil on canvas by Jusepe de Ribera, Christ Blessing (c. 1607-1608), Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul church, Nivillac. The work featured in the “Ténèbres et Lumières” retrospective held at the Petit Palais in 2024/2025. It was restored thanks to a student-led campaign in 2014/2015.
Ville de Paris: conserving its religious and civic artworks
With around a hundred places of worship, 50,000 works of art, and nearly 1,000 statues in public spaces, Ville de Paris holds an exceptional heritage, which it maintains and preserves throughout the year. For Fine Arts Paris, it offers a behind-the-scenes look at conservation and restoration in all its forms.
Live restoration of the Jean-Jacques Rousseau statue
A 19th-century plaster statue of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, sculpted by Raoul Larche (1860-1912), is being restored live throughout the fair.
This intervention is also an opportunity to highlight Paris’s public statuary, now accessible through a regularly updated digital map.
Three recently restored works on display at the fair
Also on display at Fine Arts Paris are two 17th-century tondi, Ecce Homo and Mater Dolorosa, by Claude François, known as Frère Luc (1614-1685). Recently restored, they adorn the Saint-Merry church (4th arrondissement), at the heart of the Marais, and bear witness to the importance of devotional commissions during the Grand Siècle.
Finally, a painted stained-glass window (enamel on glass) from the early 17th century, depicting the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter, from the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church (5th arrondissement) and recently restored, is presented before being reinstalled. It offers a striking view of both the finesse of the original craftsmanship and of the restoration work.
