“Little Louvre” museum re-opens in Bayonne after 14-year renovation

Amid rising prices and complaints of overtourism and overwhelmed staff, art lovers can now choose to say au revoir to the Louvre in Paris and “Hello” instead to the Musée Bonnat-Helleu in the Basque city of Bayonne, also known as the “Little Louvre,” which has re-opened after an astonishing 14-year renovation.

Bayonne, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departement in southwestern France, is an attractive, fortified harbour city with colourful, half-timbered houses that became a favourite location for 19th-century artists. The Musée Bonnat-Helleu was founded in 1891, growing its reputation and collection significantly after bequests by its namesakes, Léon Bonnat and Jean Helleu. But after over a century, by 2011, the venue no longer complied with building standards and was forced to close.

The museum’s 3,000m² of exhibition space is twice what it was before the works started, but still only a tiny fraction of its venerable Parisian counterpart, which comprises 73,000m², making Bayonne a more human-sized gallery experience that nevertheless boasts 7,000 works, including a collection of French Old Masters and pieces by Goya, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Rubens.

There’s even a central courtyard with a diamond-shaped roof (sound familiar?), mosaic floors by Giandomenico Facchina, as well as a café, gift shop, and study rooms to welcome the 60,000 to 80,000 visitors the museum hopes to attract every year.

The Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne Is Open Again!

The 14 year restoration vastly expanded historic building exhibition space while modernizing the 19th-century infrastructure. The museum now is showcasing scholarly discoveries and 2,500 works on loan from the Louvre. pic.twitter.com/EI60Q3aWTh

— La Gazette Drouot – International (@Gazette_Inter) December 1, 2025

The decade and a half of renovations came about, according to Le Monde, after officials underestimated the costs of the project and failed to take into account additional requirements, such as adjustments to the road layout nearby. There were also grand plans for the basement, which were complicated by the course of the Adour River. All of which, compounded by the high turnover of leadership at the head of the museum, meant the original €10-million budget spiralled to more than three times that, coming in at €35 million.

However, that sum comprises the restoration of 1,300 artworks, giving Jean-Dominique Ingres’s beloved La Baigneuse a new lease of life. Discoveries along the way also include El Greco autographs and overpaintings in Simon Vouet’s Roman Charity (1620s).

Now “emotion” rather than purse-strings can take the fore again, according to Hélène Ferron, head of the museum’s collections, speaking to The Art Newspaper. “Emotion is key to our museum experience, we want it to feel welcoming, not intimidating,” she said, promising to acquire more works by women, as well as a “renewed museum experience,” invigorated by local heritage and culture, idea-driven curations, and collaborations with local festivals.