Museum of Fine Arts in Angers is located a few hundred meters from the two main attractions - Angers castle and cathedral of Saint-Maurice. And right next to the gallery named after the sculptor and medalist David d'Angers - these buildings form the Museum Quarter, which also includes a library and the university premises.

Museum of Fine Arts is located in the walls of the mansion of the late XV century, which was built by the mayor of Anjou and Brittany Treasurer Olivier Barrot in the style of the French Renaissance. The walls of this house have seen many famous personalities who have left their mark in the history of France - for example, King Louis XII, Cesare Borgia and Maria de 'Medici, whose property it was. In 1673 the building was purchased and after the Catholic Church has placed a significant adjustment in its seminary.

During the French Revolution, the mansion was opened Central School, but it did not last long - only two years, from 1801 to 1803. Created at the school museum continued its work even after two years with the opening of the hall of natural science has expanded its exposition. In 1839, in one of the premises of the former seminar was opened by David d'Angers Gallery, which in 1984 moved to a renovated church of All Saints.

In the middle of the XIX century, the museum became the owner of the treasure - received a bequest collection Lancelot Theodore Turpin de Criss, which included items of Egyptian, Greek and Roman origin, faience and paintings by the famous painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Another large-scale replenishment of the museum's collection took place in 2003, when Daniel Duclos bequest to the museum moved Vilevek castle, which became a branch of the museum, and nearly a thousand works of art.

At the end of last year and early this century, the museum was reconstructed and today it is one of the largest museums in France, located in the province. Its area is about seven hectares.