Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée des Comtes de Provence, originally named the Museum of the Brignolais Country, was founded in 1950 by Dr. André Jaubert (1870–1961), a felibre passionate about local history. Located in the former Palace of the Counts of Provence – a 12th century building that served as a prison, a Parliament, or a sub-prefecture – it gathers ethnographic, archaeological and artistic collections. Among its main pieces are the sarcophagus of the Gayolle (IIth–IIIth century, re-used in the 6th century), classified as a historical monument, and works by Provençal painters such as Parrocel or Frédéric Montenard.

The sarcophagus of the Gayolle, discovered in a chapel of La Celle (Var), illustrates the transition between paganism and Christianity with its bas-reliefs mixing solar symbols, pastoral scenes and a 6th century funeral inscription. Given in 1860 at the Petit Séminaire de Brignoles, he was transferred to the museum in 1962 after legal and religious pilgrimages. Its facade, studied in 1626 by Peiresc, reveals an allegorical decoration of a happy beyond, long interpreted as Christian (good pastor, orante), but now recognized as syncretic.

The pictorial collection, centered on Provence from the 16th to 17th centuries, includes paintings by Barthélemy Parrocel (Les Noces de Cana), Joseph Parrocel (Josué stopping the sun), or Louis Nattero (Old Port of Marseille). These works, often from family donations, complement sacred art funds (chape de Saint Louis d'Anjou, ex-votos) and d'ethnography (traditional crafts, costumes). The museum, closed since January 2024 for rehabilitation, was run by the Association Les Amis du Vieux Brignoles until 2016.

The former palace of the Counts, rebuilt until the twentieth century, was a place of power: Charles II of Anjou signed there in 1297 a founding order of the Court of Auditors, shortly before the death of his son Louis, canonized in 1317. The building also housed a stele of Saint Sumian (11th century?), an altar-cippe linked to a cult of fertility until the 20th century, classified as a historical monument in 1954. His iconography – a person with his hands crossed, a tau cross – still questions historians.

Archaeological and natural collections (naturalized birds, mining tools) reflect the local economy: Candelon marble extraction, bauxite mines, viticulture and olive cultivation. A lively traditional crèche and reconstitutions of crafts (vanerie, coopererie) evoke Provencal rural life. The museum, labeled Musée de France, was a key player in the preservation of the Brignoese heritage before its closure for work.

External links