The Museum Godshuis Belle is a small museum in

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

, Belgium. Located in the chapel of an old

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

, it houses the art collection of the Ypres

Public Centre for Social Welfare The Public Centre for Social Welfare is a public institution that exists in each of the 581 municipalities of Belgium. Every citizen of Belgium has the right to social assistance and social integration. The term is a translation of the (OCMW), ...

(OCMW in Dutch).

History

During the

broadcloth Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finished width) and then hea ...

crisis of 1270–1274, many people in Ypres became poor and needed support. A charitable institution was established in 1273 by Christine de Guinness, the widow of Salomon Belle. By 1276, it had been expanded with a chapel and a hospital. Jehan Yperman, the first medical writer in Dutch, worked in the foundation from 1304 until his death in 1331. In 1616, a new chapel was built. Until 1796, the Godshuis was headed by descendants of Salomon Belle. It then became a civic institution, used especially for the care of the elderly. It remains in use today and forms the main establishment of the Ypres OCMW. The former chapel now serves as the Museum Godshuis Belle. Like most of Ypres, the site was destroyed during the First World War, and rebuilt afterwards. The architects were Georges Lernould and Jules Coomans, who drew up some of the plans, but died before building work had started. They partly reconstructed the old buildings, and partly made new

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

buildings. The chapel was rebuilt in 1933–1934, with a reconstructed interior. The building became a protected heritage site in 1940.

Collection

The most important painting in the collection is a painting of the

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

with the donors, Joos Bryde and Yolenthe Belle, and their children. It was painted in 1420 by an unknown artist (sometimes called the ''Master of 1420'') and is one of the oldest examples of panel painting in Flanders. The rest of the collection includes more paintings by old masters, a 17th-century altar draping, and a 17th-century

linen-press Traditionally, a linen-press (or just ''press'') is a cabinet, usually of woods such as oak, walnut, or mahogany, and designed for storing sheets, table-napkins, clothing, and other textiles. Such linen-presses were made chiefly in the 17th, 18th ...

Notes

Museum Godshuis Belle
{{Coord, 50.8497, 2.8862, type:landmark_region:BE, display=title Buildings and structures in Ypres Museums in West Flanders Art museums and galleries in Belgium