Painting in Lyon, France

Lyon is the 2nd largest city in France located halfway between Paris and Marseille, where the Rhone and Saone rivers meet. It has been an important city since Roman times, and during the Renaissance was a center for Europe's banking and silkmaking industry. Now it is an important economic center in France as well as one of the gastronomic capitals of France. Lyon has the largest intact Renaissance Quarter in all of Europe, more than 15 museums, many churches and architecture from different periods, good art materials stores, bookstores, many restaurants, cafes, outdoor markets, and a large 19th century park similar to New York's Central Park. It has very little tourism compared to places like Florence, Venice and Paris; thus its museums are extremely accessible and not crowded. Affordable accommodations can be arranged, people can get around easily by walking or bicycling, and public transportation within Lyon is excellent. In addition, Lyon is well served by its airport and train service (2 hours to Paris, 1 hour to Avignon, near many other places in the region). Lyon's main art museum, the Musee des Beaux-Arts, is called the 'Baby Louvre', as it is the second largest collection in France after the Louvre. It has works from all countries and periods, including good examples of Rubens, Van Dyck, Gericault, Ribera, Tintoretto, Veronese, Bassano, Perugino, Ingres, Flandrin (they were from Lyon), Puvis de Chanvannes murals, Fantin-Latour, Monet, Degas, Delacroix, Corot, Daumier, Gauguin, Bonnard, Vuillard, and many more paintings of interest. There is also an indoor chapel converted into a depository for19th and 20th century French sculpture, and many rooms of Egyptian, Roman, and works from many other cultures and times. The entrance to the Musee des Beaux-arts is a cloistered sculpture garden with 20 life-size sculptures (ranging from graeco-roman figures to Rodin) and the Parthenon reliefs. There are benches to sit on throughout, and if it rains people can sit in the covered arcades and still draw. It is free of charge and open 7 days a week. Additionally, there is a Roman amphitheatre and archeological site up the hill from the Renaissance Quarter. To this day the Roman amphitheatre is used for concerts and theatre performances. At the site there is an Archaeological museum exhibiting amazing mosaics, models of the ancient roman city, sculpture fragments, and temporary exhibitions. Other museums include a Cast museum that houses a huge collection of casts from all periods, a Contemporary Art museum, Printmaking museum, Decorative Arts Museum, Anatomy museum, Cinematography museum, Resistance museum (Lyon was the capital of the French Resistance in WWII), Natural History Museum, Silkmaking Museum, Museum of the history of Lyon, African Museum, and many others.