Le Musée du Mont de Piété - Bergues

The Bergues Mont-de-piété (pawn shop), a jewel of Flemish Baroque art , was built between 1629 and 1633 to a design by the painter, architect, economist and engineer Wenceslas Cobergher (1560 - 1634).

It is an elegant rectangular building of brick and stone, with arched windows and two remarkable, richly decorated facades .

The Bergues Museum , which has been awarded the Musée de France label, is housed in this pawnshop and has an exceptional setting to house its rich collections of paintings, drawings and natural history .

The painting collection is organised thematically and comprises just over 220 works . On the ground floor, a room is dedicated to portraits. This contains "The Watchman with the Dog" by Georges de la Tour , alongside works by Peter SOUTMAN, Jan VAN DEN HOECK and Jan De REYN. Another room is dedicated to religious art. On the upper floor, a room is dedicated to the presentation of twelve copper paintings; in another room, women in art take centre stage with works by Jan MASSYS.

One room is also dedicated to the Abbey of St Winoc and two others are dedicated to still lifes .

The 2nd floor is dedicated to ornithology .

The museum also has a very rich collection of drawings . It currently contains just over 2,000 sheets.

Temporary collections are also regularly presented in the museum.

Willem Vandenameele