Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Museum of Fine Arts in Draguignan, formerly the Museum of Art and History, came into being in 1794 with a decree of the District Executive Board creating a public library to preserve books, objects of natural history, antiques and paintings. This first museum-library settles in the former convent of the Doctrinaires, under municipal and state control. The original collections come from revolutionary seizures, supplemented by government shipments throughout the 19th century, making this museum one of the oldest in the province.

In 1888, the Caisse d'Epargne de Draguignan made available the ground floor of the former summer palace of Monsignor du Bellay, bishop of Fréjus (1739–166), located 9 rue de la République. This building, built in the 17th century as a convent of the Ursulines (1628), then embellished by the Bellay after its acquisition in 1751, became the new setting of the museum. At the beginning of the 20th century, major donations enriched the collections: 19th-century works offered by Baron Adolphe de Rothschild, objects of North African ethnology (donation Edouard Aubin), furniture (Jean-Baptiste Troin), animal bronzes (Féraud de Grasse) and an eclectic donation by archivist Frédéric Mireur in 1919.

The museum, bought by the municipality in 1940, saw its most valuable works evacuated during the Second World War to the castles of Vérignon and Javon. After renovations in the 1970s, it reopened in 1977 with modern facilities (reservations, reception, temporary exhibition room). The Museums of France Act 2002 allows Draguignan to recover state deposits prior to 1910. Closed in 2017 for a construction site of 11 million euros, it reopens in November 2023 after a complete modernization, marking a redevelopment of the local cultural heritage.

His master pieces include the armor of François de Montmorency (XVIth century), exhibited at the Universal Exhibitions of 1867 and 1900, and the Child with the soap bubble, attributed to Rembrandt (invented in 1794) and stolen in 1999 before being found in 2014. The museum also exhibits works by Philippe de Champaigne, Simon Vouet, Jean-François de Troy, Camille Claudel (Rêve marble at the corner of fire), and painters such as Rubens, Renoir or Ziem. His collections combine regional archaeology, fine arts and decorative arts (ceramics by Sèvres, Louis XVI furniture, Art Nouveau vases).

Collection

Les salles présentent des peintures du XVIIème, XVIIIème et XIXème siècle (Philippe de Champaigne, Teniers, Mignard, Panini, Greuze, Drouais, Van Loo, Camoin, Renoir, "L'enfant à la bulle de savon" de Rembrandt), des sculptures (Claudel, Houdon...), mais aussi de l'archéologie, des faïences et objets d'art (l'armure de François de Montmorency).

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