The Fine Arts Museum of Nantes, along with 14 other provincial museums, was created, by consular decree on 14 Fructidor in year IX. Today the museum is one of the largest museums in the region. The facades, roof and stairs in the building that houses the art collections have been registered as historical monuments since 29 October 1975. On 18 December 2011, the museum closed its doors for what was initially expected to be two years at most, to carry out extension expansion work.