Craiova Art Museum: Romania’s Palace Showpiece

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,’ we walk through a home that now houses a large art collection.

The palace’s façade is defined by a balance of arched windows with gilded façade ornamentation, capital-topped Corinthian columns, ornate ironwork balconies, gilded corbels, and slate-covered steep-pitched roof towers. The enormous palace comprises 29 rooms, plus annexes. Ana del Castillo/ Shutterstock

The architecture of Craiova Art Museum in Romania serves as a stunning setting for some of Romania’s finest paintings and sculptures, from the medieval era to modernity. It was built as a palace for Constantin Mihail (Michael Constantine) between the late 1800s and early 1900s, based on an original design by architect Paul Gottereau. The building became an art museum in the 1950s.

Eclectic in its design, the palace boasts a mix of French academic classicism, a style influenced by art at the French Academy in Rome, and late-baroque elements, defined by lavishness and grandeur.