Une Passion Italienne : Les Jacquemart-André Collectionneurs

Édouard André (1833-1894) and Nélie Jacquemart (1841-1912) were the epitome of high society collectors at the end of the 19th century. Édouard André, from a family of wealthy Protestant bankers, and Nélie Jacquemart, of modest origins but a talented portrait painter, were united by their passion for the art of the Italian Renaissance, which led them to create a unique private museum in their Paris mansion: paintings, sculptures and objets d'art help to recreate the atmosphere of a 15th-century Florentine palace.

For almost thirty years, thanks to frequent trips to Italy, the couple forged close relationships with the best antique dealers - including Stefano Bardini and Michelangelo Guggenheim - as well as with the greatest experts of the time - such as Wilhelm von Bode and Georges Lafenestre - who helped them to purchase two and a half thousand works from the main Italian art centres. This collection, a symbol of refined elegance that is still unique today, was bequeathed to the Institut de France in 1912 with the aim of turning it into a museum open to the public.

By analysing the couple's modus operandi through the study of numerous documents (purchase invoices, letters, photographs and much more) held in the archives of the Paris museum and in the archives of several Italian antique dealers, this book aims to take a fresh look at the couple and their 'Florentine passion'.