Musée Municipal Mont-de-Piété

The Musée du Mont-de-Piété in Bergues is one of the oldest museums in the Hauts-de-France region. It was established in 1791 around works confiscated under the French Revolution from the religious establishments of the town and surrounding area. The collection comprises mostly Flemish works, including a complete cycle on copper by Robert van den Hoecke of the martyrdom of the apostles and a group of works by Jan van de Reyn including an important Adoration of the Magi.

Also of note is a work by Jacob van Loo of around 1645 depicting Amarillis crowning Mirtillo. In 1877, the painter and restorer Pierre Antoine Augustin Verlinde, a native of Bergues who lived in Antwerp, donated a collection of 1,500 drawings, mostly by artists of the northern schools. Among them is a remarkable group of preparatory sheets by Jan Boeckhorst for a series of tapestries telling the story of Apollo, a pen and ink drawing by Anthony van Dyck, an important series of drawings by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, and numerous drawings by Flemish Baroque sculptors.

Patrick Descamps, Director of the Museum and Heritage Department of Bergues (April 2025)