In June of 2015, I visited the Musée du Petit Palais in Avignon and was enamored by the Italian primitive and early Renaissance painting as well as the impressive Renaissance works rendered by the French Avignon School. The 14th century building houses art created from the end of the 13th century to the beginning of the 16th century in chronological and geographical order and includes The Virgin and Child by Sandro Botticelli. Some styles represented include the Siennese School, Florentine Renaissance and the Marches School. There are about 300 Italian paintings housed in the museum that was established in 1976. The structure used to be a citadel, an archbishopric and a Catholic secondary school before it became a museum.

Tracy A. Burns is a writer, proofreader and editor in Prague.