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Origin and history

The Boucher-de-Perthes Museum of Abbeville was founded by the merger of two 19th-century institutions: the Museum of Abbeville and Ponthieu (founded in 1833 by the Abbeville Demolition Society) and the personal museum of Jacques Boucher de Perthes, pioneer of prehistory. The private collections of Boucher de Perthes, initially housed in his mansion (the Chepy hotel), were destroyed during the German bombing of 20 May 1940 during the Battle of France. Municipal collections, for their part, were exhibited in the former Fouques d'Emonville hotel, now a library.

The present museum, inaugurated in 1954, was rebuilt around the remains of the medieval town hall, including the belfry of 1209 (classified Historic Monument in 1926 and UNESCO World Heritage in 2005) and the treasury building. In 2001 and 2019, the heirs of Alfred Manessier, an abstract painter born in the Somme, offered more than 600 works to the museum, leading to its closure in 2022 for expansion. Its reopening is scheduled for February 2026.

The collections cover archaeology (prehistoric tools of the Somme Valley, Gallic and Roman objects), medieval art (polychrome sculptures, ivorys, retable of the Thuison Chartreuse), and fine arts (paintings from the 15th to the 20th centuries, including works by Ribera, Le Nain, or Fragonard). A section is dedicated to regional flora and fauna, with naturalized birds from Somme Bay and grass beds. The museum also owes its enrichment to donors such as the Lennel family or Jules Duchesne de Lamotte, who left a collection of ornithology in the 19th century.

The belfry, symbol of medieval communal power, is one of the few remains of the old town hall. Its construction in 1209 made it a witness to Gothic civil architecture. Integrated into the museum, it now houses temporary exhibitions. The Treasury Building, another vestige, once kept the city's archives.

The museum regularly organizes exhibitions on local history or regional artists, such as Abbevillois engravers Claude Mellan and François Poilly. Its dual vocation — scientific (archaeology, natural history) and artistic (paintings, sculptures) — reflects Boucher de Perthes' legacy, both learned and collector. The Manessier donation, which is being integrated, will strengthen its contemporary dimension.

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