what a collector's item

In 2023, CC Het Perron, in collaboration with the Ypres Museum, organised the exhibition “I try to remember how your texture felt like”, which focuses on contemporary textile art. As part of this exhibition, artist Charlotte Stuby (born 1989) explores the history of Ypres, its local colour, heritage and cultural legacy, including the collection of the Ypres Museum.

One of the highlights of the Ypres Museum is a large copper tomb slab belonging to the wealthy Ypres residents Pieter Lansaem (+1489) and his wife Liesbeth Pauwelin (+1487). The museum recently acquired a rare publication about this remarkable piece.

In 1853, Ypres was granted a cavalry school by the young Belgian government. Not just any school, but one of international renown. Young soldiers from all over the world came to Ypres to be trained as top riders. The school housed 168 horses, but this number quickly grew to 366. This brought international fame back to the fortified town.

When his French colleague Félix Tournachon, better known as Nadar, took off from the Brussels Botanical Garden on 26 September 1864 in his legendary hot air balloon Le Géant, Ghémar was quick to capture the moment on camera. This photo clearly shows that the spectacle attracted thousands of spectators. To keep them at a safe distance, Mayor Anspach had the streets cordoned off with crowd barriers, which have since been called “Nadar barriers” or “Nadar fences”.

The Ypres Museum has acquired a particularly beautiful and interesting work of art. It is a bronze portrait of none other than Albert Blyau (1872-1946). Thanks to this man, we still know countless old Ypres lace songs today. He travelled around Ypres and the surrounding area and drew “counts” or “tally marks” of lace makers. In the Ypres Museum, the Ypres lace schools and “spellewerksters” songs - saved by Albert Blyau - are given a lot of attention! A section of Blyau and Tasseel's 1902 publication is on display and you can listen to modern renditions of these folk songs. Read more.

700 years ago, on 17 September, Robert of Bethune died. Especially for this anniversary, we are taking Walter Seys' linocut out of the museum's storage.

In this crowded painting, Senave depicts the studio of Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn in Amsterdam. To celebrate his birthday, his students and fellow painters have organised a dinner party at a time when the painter has invited two models. They are posing for a canvas that will depict Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius.

If you look closely, you will discover a dragon at the feet of Saint Servatius on this weathered insignia. The curl of its tail is most visible (bottom left). This is not surprising, as medieval people were convinced that the dragon's greatest strength lay in its tail.

Thanks to a golden tip from two colleagues at the In Flanders Fields Museum, we tracked down a special piece of slate: a roof tile from the Belfry on which a German soldier had carved his name and place of residence: Fritz Margraff – Querfurt. British author Chris Lock had mentioned this piece of slate in his book “The Liberation of Ypres”. The Ypres Museum asked the contractors restoring the Belfry to look for the slate in question. Now the Ypres Museum is the proud owner of graffiti from the Second World War.

The Ypres Museum recently acquired this exceptionally large, original print from 1907 by Léontine Antony-Permeke. It is the largest photograph in the Antony collection and measures no less than 123 cm high and 153 cm wide (including the frame). Until now, the object was privately owned and hung for many years in a house in Ghent belonging to an exiled resident of Ypres. We are now showing the photograph to the public for the first time in the exhibition DAG JAN.

Visitors to the museum will undoubtedly linger at the oldest known city plan of Ypres by Thevelin-Destreez from 1564. The giant model in the Ypres Museum is based on this city plan. You literally step into the medieval metropolis. The imagination comes to life. The recent acquisition of a townscape from 1562 gives us an even better picture of Ypres in days gone by. Hiëronymus Cock drew this copper engraving in 1562. It shows the city and its fortifications at the time from a bird's eye view. The Cloth Hall and the Grote Markt are in the centre, with various churches, fortification towers, mills and the street pattern alongside.

February is the month of love. On 14 February, we celebrate Valentine's Day and show our loved ones extra attention with flowers, gifts or cards. In 496, Pope Gelasius I declared 14 February as Saint Valentine's Day. In any case, love and showing love is something that recurs in every period. This is also demonstrated by many archaeological finds. During excavations carried out at the Meersen, the former Saint Nicholas parish in Ypres, various pieces of evidence of this were found. For example, a brooch was found with two intertwined hands, symbolising marital fidelity.