Museum of Fine Arts of Reims

Reims built its fine-arts collection out of the wreckage of the French Revolution, taking in works seized from the abbeys and churches of the Champagne region, and later settled into the former Abbey of Saint-Denis in the city centre.

Two holdings stand out. One is a set of 13 painted portraits by Lucas Cranach the Younger, the German Renaissance workshop master, shown together in a room of their own. The other is one of the largest groups of paintings by Camille Corot outside the Louvre, more than 20 landscapes that trace the quiet, silvery style which led French art toward Impressionism.

The museum has been closed since 2019 for a large extension and is due to reopen mid-decade in a much bigger building.