The period rooms
From a Louis XV salon to an Art Deco apartment — you walk through eight centuries of homes, their real furniture in place.
Gaël Chardon from Paris, France — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Jean-Pierre Dalbéra — CC BY 2.0 · Poulpy — CC BY-SA 3.0
One palace, two fully independent institutions: separate tickets, managements and entrances — with no internal passages between them. Think elegant neighbour, not wing.
Galliera is the specialist fashion museum with the more focused shows; MAD has bigger spaces and the full decorative-arts context around costume — the real decision is made by what each is showing during your trip.
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In the western wing of the Louvre palace itself — but with its own entrance, its own ticket and incomparably lighter crowds — resides the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD): a million objects telling the French art of living across eight centuries, from gilded medieval chests to contemporary avant-garde chairs, through entire period rooms transplanted with their furniture from the mansions and apartments of every era. The permanent collection's twin stars: the chronological room sequence that walks you through taste itself — a rococo salon, then an Art Nouveau boudoir of twisting woods, then Jeanne Lanvin's famous Art Deco apartment; and the fashion-and-textile department, staging themed shows from an archive holding Dior, Schiaparelli and couture's legends — the great fashion exhibitions here rival Galliera's and exceed them in space. The location plans itself: the Rivoli entrance sits beside the Louvre's own, and the upper floors' views over the Tuileries are worth half the ticket alone.
From a Louis XV salon to an Art Deco apartment — you walk through eight centuries of homes, their real furniture in place.
From an archive of couture's treasures, monumental themed shows that have made some of Paris's most successful museum seasons — check what's on.
The upper galleries overlook the garden and royal axis at an angle even the Louvre doesn't own — photographers' quiet secret.
Rue de Rivoli, Marsan wing of the Louvre palace, 75001 Paris