About DellArte
DellArte was born from a simple conviction: French artistic heritage deserves clear, modern, and free access. We compile open data from the Ministry of Culture to offer everyone a single portal to museums, artworks, and artists in France.
Why DellArte exists
France has over 1,200 labelled 'Museum of France' museums and hundreds of thousands of recorded artworks in the Joconde database. These data are public, disseminated by the Ministry of Culture on data.culture.gouv.fr. Yet, no site truly made them accessible to the general public.
Official portals are designed for professionals and researchers. Tourist sites are limited to the most well-known establishments. Thousands of museums, artists, and artworks remain in the shadows, lacking a public tool for exploration.
DellArte fills this gap. Launched in March 2026, the project transforms raw data into an interactive directory where anyone — curious, teacher, tourist, student, artist — can discover French museum heritage without technical or financial barriers.
Our values
Transparency
All our data come from official and open sources. We cite our sources; we do not invent anything. The displayed museums are exclusively those labelled by the Ministry of Culture.
Accessibility
No registration, no paywall, no intrusive advertising. Cultural heritage belongs to everyone, and access should never be conditioned. DellArte is free and will remain so.
Quality
Each page is designed to be useful: verified information, clear navigation, quick loading times. We prefer less content, but reliable, over filler.
Openness
DellArte offers a free widget to embed museums on any site. Tourist offices, local authorities, cultural blogs: heritage sharing is encouraged.
What DellArte offers
The complete directory of museums in France, with detailed sheet, contact info, themes, and location for each establishment.
The public collection catalog from the Joconde database: title, artist, technique, period, retaining museum.
Navigation by department, region, city. Find museums near you or plan a cultural visit.
200 questions to test your knowledge in art, heritage, and culture. Painting, sculpture, architecture, art history.
Data sources
All information presented on DellArte comes from official sources:
- Muséofile Database — Directory of museums in France, maintained by the Museum Service of France (Ministry of Culture). Contains info on approximately 1,220 labelled museums: address, thematic areas, category, GPS coordinates.
- Joconde Database — Collective catalog of collections of museums in France, with about 700,000 artwork/descriptions: title, artist, technique, period, conserving museum, image when available.
These data are shared under Open License v2.0 (Etalab), allowing free reuse, including for commercial purposes.
Our ambitions
DellArte is more than a directory. Our goal is to become the French-speaking reference for discovering, understanding, and sharing French museum heritage. We want every museum in France, even the modest ones, to have a digital showcase worthy of their collections.
We believe that culture should not be reserved for insiders or major metropolitan areas. An archaeology museum in Ariège, a lace museum in Puy-de-Dôme, a curiosity cabinet in Charente: each place has a story worth telling and finding.
Goals 2026 — 2027
Enriching museum records
Add opening hours, prices, accessibility info, and links to official websites for each museum. Incorporate visitor reviews and photos.
Thematic routes
Offer cultural itineraries by theme (Impressionism in Normandy, Romanesque art in Burgundy, Contemporary art in Paca) to help visitors organize discovery circuits.
Mobile app
Develop a mobile app to locate nearby museums, view offline records, and receive personalized recommendations.
Public API
Open a documented REST API to enable developers, researchers, and institutions to reuse the aggregated data in their own projects.
Institutional partnerships
Collaborate with DRACs, tourist offices, and museum networks to enrich data and promote lesser-known museums to the public.
Editorial content
Publish practical guides, artist profiles, artwork analyses, and museum reports to go beyond raw data and tell stories.
Explore French heritage
More than 1,200 museums, 700,000 works, and thousands of artists await you. Start with what interests you most.
DellArte is published by DellArte — Launched in March 2026.
static.about_link_equipe · Contact · Legal notices · Free widget