Musee Galliera

The Palais Galliera, also formally known as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris (City of Paris Fashion Museum), and formerly known as Musée Galliera, is a museum of fashion and fashion history located at 10, avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is open daily except Mondays and public holidays; an admission fee is charged and varies depending on the exhibition programmed. The museum has no permanent displays due to conservation issues. The museum opened its doors again 28 September 2013 after being closed for major renovation.

Palais Galliera is one of the 14 City of Paris museums that have been incorporated since 1 January 2013 in the public institution Paris Musées.

The Duke of Galliera was a partner in the urban planning firm Thome & Cie, and owned a large parcel of land in one of the finest neighborhoods in Paris. Upon his death in 1876, his wife, Marie Brignole-Sale de Ferrari, the Duchesse de Galliera, became the heir of his immense fortune. The duchess decided that she wanted to use the land to build a museum, at her expense, to hold their works of arts. According to her wishes, a notary prepared a deed of gift to give the land parcel to the French state. However, after the gift was registered and accepted by presidential decree on 30 August 1879, it was discovered that the notary had made a serious error. Rather than donating the parcel to France, the deed was written as a gift to the City of Paris. Unable to change the deed at this point, the gift remained as written. Construction of the museum began in 1879 on an opulent design by architect Léon Ginain, who also supervised its construction. In 1884, the Duchess gave 6.5 million francs to the City of Paris for work already done as well as funds necessary to complete it.

On 22 June 1886, Jules Grévy and Georges Clemenceau convened the Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic and adopted a law expelling any person who was a direct heir of a royalist dynasty that had reigned in France. The Duchess Galliera, who had descended from the House of Orléans, was outraged by the law, no less because she had already donated the Hôtel Matignon to France. Unable to revoke her gift of the new museum, she abandoned the rest of her planned legacy to Paris. Thus, her collection of paintings and fine art were given to Genoa, Italy, where they are now displayed at the Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Bianco.

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