Maison de Rousseau

Théodore Rousseau settled at no. 55 in 1847 and never left. The house and its adjoining barn studio were the centre of his world for twenty years, until his death in 1867. Twenty-two years later, in 1889, the barn was fitted out as a chapel — its bell tower designed by Charles-Louis Millet, architect and second son of Jean-François Millet — and was enlarged in 1920 and 1965. The former studio thus became a place of worship, an unusual trajectory that reflects how thoroughly Rousseau's memory shaped the village after his death.

The maison-atelier is today one of the two sites of the Musée départemental des peintres de Barbizon, alongside the Auberge Ganne. The two buildings are distinct and separately visited: the Auberge holds the permanent collection, while the Rousseau house hosts the museum's temporary exhibitions.