Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Vesoul Municipal Museum was established in 1882 in a desolate chapel of the Annonciad convent. As early as 1872, the state put up paintings, and the city acquired works at the fairs of Fine Arts. The initial fund was enriched by donations, including those of Jean-Léon Gérôme, a native of Vesoul, who sent a painting in 1885 after offering five sculptures. Other artists, such as Gigoux, Jeanneney, Muenier or Prinet (students of Gérôme), contributed to these collections. The bequests of individuals (Leblond in 1885, Meillier in 1892, Count in 1908) completed the acquisitions.

In 1938, the collections were transferred to the town hall, then in 1945, the descendants of Gérôme (donation Morot-Dubuffe) offered about twenty of his works. Hubert-Legrand's donations in 1952 and 1969 added paintings by Dagnan-Boveret and his contemporaries. In the 1960s, the Société d'Agriculture, Lettres, Sciences et Arts (SALSA) laid down its collections, introducing an archaeological section. As the space became insufficient, the works were grouped in 1981 in the former Ursulines convent, dating from the 17th to 18th centuries, where the museum now devotes itself to 19th century academic art and local history.

The museum houses a unique collection of works by Gérôme, known for its orientalist canvases (Women in the Bath) and its historical compositions inspired by antiquity (Cave canem) or biblical themes (The entrance of Christ to Jerusalem). The archaeological collections cover prehistory (site of the Black Balm), antiquity (fanum de Montjustin, Gallo-Roman steles de Corre) and modern times (portraits of Vesulians, views of Vesoul). The building, founded by Anne de Xainctonge, illustrates the religious architecture of France.

External links