MUSEE HÔPITAL SAINT-JEAN (SINT-JANSHOSPITAAL)

Hôpital Saint-Jean is one of Europe's oldest surviving medieval hospitals, and one of the best preserved. Founded in the ^12th century, it welcomed not only the sick, but also the poor and pilgrims... It remained in use until 1976. The main reason for visiting is to see the works of the painter Hans Memling, but a visit to an old hospital is not without interest. The interior architecture, with its bricks and beams, is impressive. The museum was completely renovated at the end of 2023, with a renewed museography. It comprises three sections:

The hospital. Works of art and everyday objects tell the story of hospital life in past centuries. These include registers, letters and seals, nursing instruments, a 1778 painting of the common room at Hôpital Saint-Jean, a nun's habit... Interactive touch tables, videos and contemporary works invite visitors to reflect on universal notions such as hospitality, life and death, empathy...

Hans Memling. The museum houses seven works by the artist, four of which were created for the Hôpital Saint-Jean. Six paintings (altarpieces and portraits) are housed in a glass structure inspired by the Châsse de sainte Ursule, which can be seen in the adjacent chapel. Their display allows us to observe them in detail, to admire the delicacy and precision of the master's brushwork, whether in the rendering of fabrics, the realism of portraits and orphevra elements, or the softness of landscapes... Born around 1435 in Seligenstadt, Germany, Hans Memling trained in Brussels in Rogier van der Weyden's studio, before settling in Bruges, where he produced his greatest masterpieces. With the two paintings in the Groeninge Museum, Bruges boasts the second-largest Memling collection in the world (nine works in all). The city is second only to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has eleven!

The attic. The hospital's attic framework is one of the most monumental and oldest in Europe. The year in which the oaks were felled has been estimated at 1230. From the end of 2024, the attic will be occupied by an immersive exhibition.

After your visit to the museum, don't miss the former ^18th-century pharmacy(apotheek in Dutch) and the small medicinal plant garden.