The Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle (Museum of Fine Arts and Lace) of Alençon is located Cour Carrée de la Dentelle in the heart of the prefecture of the Orne department. It occupies part of the former Jesuit college built in the 17th century and restored in 1981. The collections it exhibits were brought together in the second half of the 19th century, in particular thanks to donors (Chennevières, His De La Salle, Leriche, Jacquette, Noblesse). They made it possible to constitute a heritage that led to the foundation of the museum in 1857 by Léon de la Sicotière, a senator and local scholar. The establishment, then intended to propagate a taste for the arts and sciences , today unveils a rich collection of lace and presents the main European lace-making centers. Its Fine Arts section houses galleries of paintings, engravings, and sculptures from French and European schools from the 15th to the 20th centuries.