Palais des Ducs
France > Burgundy > Dijon > Palais des Ducs
The geographical focus of a visit to Dijon is inevitably the seat of its former rulers, the Palais des Ducs, which stands at the hub of the city. Facing the main courtyard, Mansart's serene place de la Libération was built towards the end of the seventeenth century (as place Royale) to show off a statue of the Sun King; these days it's something of a sun trap on a good day, and a recent decision to close it to traffic has caused a boom in café trade. The ducal palace itself now functions as the town hall, and its exterior has undergone so many alterations – especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when it became Burgundy's parliament – that the dukes themselves would only recognize it by the two surviving towers. The fourteenth-century Tour de Bar dominates the courtyard in front of the east wing, which now houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts, while the loftier, fifteenth-century Tour Philippe-le-Bon can be visited only on guided tours (April–Nov 10 Tours daily; Dec–March Sat & Sun 6 Tours daily, Wed tours at 1.30pm, 2.30pm & 3.30pm; €2.30). The view from the top is particularly worthwhile for the unobstructed views of the fantastically glazed Burgundian tiles of the Hôtel de Vogüé and the cathedral; on a clear day the Alps loom on the horizon.Given the dukes' possessions in the Netherlands, it's hardly surprising that the Musée des Beaux-Arts (daily except Tues: May–Oct 9.30am–6pm; Nov–April 10am–5pm; €3.40, Sun free) boasts a Flemish collection. Lording it among the rather dull sequence of French and Italian works on the first floor is the Nativity by the so-called Master of Flémalle, a shadowy figure who may have been the teacher of Rogier van der Weyden and who ranks with van Eyck as one of the first artists to break from the chilly stranglehold of International Gothic. Elsewhere, minor works by Titian and Rubens leaven an otherwise rather doughy mix, while one of the more interesting rooms is devoted to the intricate woodcarving of the sixteenth-century designer and architect Hugues Sambin, whose work appears throughout the old quarter of the city in the massive doors and facades of the aristocratic hôtels. The two upper floors house the modern and contemporary galleries, with an intimate Vuillard canvas, some attractive works by the local early-nineteenth-century painter Félix Trutat, and a handful of rather second-rate examples of the work of Manet and Monet. This section of the museum takes you right under the roof of the palace, and has been designed on some unusual principles; the layout is bewildering, but bears fruit in an unusual, scarcely lit room where modern images of skulls provide a thought-provoking backdrop to Georges de la Tour's luminous Boy with a Lamp. Visiting the museum also provides the opportunity to see the surviving portions of the original ducal palace, including the vast kitchen and the magnificent Salle des Gardes, richly appointed with panelling, tapestries and a minstrels' gallery. Here are displayed the tombs from the Chartreuse de Champmol of Philippe le Hardi and Jean sans Peur and his wife, Marguerite de Bavière. Both follow the same pattern: painted effigies of the dead, attended by angels holding their helmets and heraldic shields, and accompanied by a cortege of brilliantly sculpted mourners.
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