Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bourges

Bourges is a city that has been important since the Middle Ages, and its museums reflect a past in which it was a royal and ducal capital.

The city's artistic history starts with John, Duke of Berry, the brother of King Charles V, who made Bourges his capital in the late fourteenth century. John was one of the greatest art patrons of the Middle Ages. He commissioned the illuminated manuscript known as the Très Riches Heures, one of the masterpieces of Gothic painting, and he built palaces and a chapel in the city. Much of his palace has vanished, though parts are incorporated in the building that houses the law courts today. His tomb, with its sculpted figures, was once in the Sainte-Chapelle of Bourges, which was demolished in the eighteenth century, and some fragments of its decoration are preserved.

A century later, the merchant Jacques Cœur built the palace that bears his name, and the cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1992, towers over the old town. This rich background explains the quality of the city's collections. A fine arts museum in such a place can be expected to show paintings, sculpture and decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, with a focus on French and northern European work, and local artists of the Berry region. The museums of the city have often been grouped in historic mansions in the old centre, such as the Hôtel Cujas, home of the Musée du Berry, which presents archaeology and the history of the province.

It is wise to check the opening hours and ticket arrangements before you go, since these may vary during holidays and special events, and to ask at the tourist office which building currently holds the fine arts collections.

The visit suits art lovers who like to see regional collections, those who want to explore Bourges beyond the cathedral and visitors on a rainy day. Allow an hour or two. The Bourges Cathedral, the Palais Jacques-Cœur, the Église Saint-Ursin and the Musée du Berry are all within walking distance, and the Parc de la Garenne Lemot belongs to another part of France, near Nantes.