Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Jeanne d'Aboville Museum originated in the legacy of the Countess d'Héricourt de Valincourt (1798-1875), born Gabrielle Uranie Le Maistre. In 1860, she bequeathed her collection of 500 paintings to the city of La Fère, provided that the museum bore the name of her mother, Jeanne Gabrielle d'Aboville (1772-1853), who had allowed her to cultivate her passion for the arts. Coming from the local nobility, the Countess, a music lover and amateur of art, wanted to mark her attachment to her hometown, then military stronghold.

The collection, partially exhibited in 1869, found its definitive setting in the 1880s with the construction of a dedicated building. From 1881 onwards, all the works are presented according to the museum codes of the period: walls entirely covered with paintings hanging against frame. This collection, mainly composed of Flemish and Dutch paintings from the 15th to 16th centuries, reflects the tastes of a collector from the mid-19th century, with a preference for primitive Flemish and intimate landscapes.

The museum later enriched an archaeological department in the 1980s, thanks to the legacy of Pierre Foulon. The latter offers a set of pieces from local excavations (Versigny), covering Prehistory in the High Middle Ages, with an ancient dominant. Notable artifacts include paleolithic tools, Gallo-Roman ceramics, and Merovingian weapons, illustrating regional history since the first human occupation.

The pictorial collections, although reduced to about 400 works after the war losses (1870, 1914-1918, 1939-1945), remain remarkable in their thematic coherence. The subjects favor intimacy, nature and spirituality, with major works such as The Resurrection of Lazarus d'Aartgens de Leide or Ruins of the Abbey of Egmond de Salomon van Ruysdael. The collection also includes Italian (Gandolfino d-Asti) and French (Claude Déruet, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun), as well as still lifes reflecting the cultural contrasts between North and South.

Today, the museum organizes its 400 paintings and archaeological objects on three levels: ground floor dedicated to archaeology, first floor to Dutch primitives and handlers, second floor to Italian and French schools. Active in lending works and pedagogy, he offers workshops for schools, focusing on the interpretation of collections. Its label "Musée de France" and its local anchor make it a key cultural actor in Hauts-de-France.

External links