Those often charming sites that are museums by virtue of having been artist’s studios have until now never been the object of in-depth research. Very few academic monographs or studies have been devoted to these studio-museums as institutions. They are customarily seen as the equivalent of writers’ houses, or of the homes of famous people, an idea which neglects the collection of works so often housed in the studio — that is, the museum aspect of the studio. Most of the studies that have so far been devoted to them have been either activist, aiming to defend the artist whose work was thus preserved, with no thought given to the place given over to that purpose, nor to that purpose qua purpose ; or, more often, have focused solely on the magic of the place, without either defining it or describing it precisely, nor in justifying the choice to preserve or develop it, for the benefit of the public. This paper, based on a research program initiated at the Eugène-Delacroix Museum, attempts to highlight the ontological ambiguities that haunt these institutions, which are at the same time sites for remembrance, living spaces, and museums.