Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille

The Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille commands the Place de la République with a heavy, opulent Baroque-revival façade of light-colored stone, punctuated by symmetrical arches and ornamental domes. Completed in eighteen ninety-two, this grand structure was purpose-built to house a collection that had long outgrown its original home. It holds the distinction of being the second-largest general fine arts museum in France, surpassed in size only by the Louvre in Paris.