The origin of the CPAS dates back to the end of the 18th century. In the movement of centralization carried out by the French regime, the various Brussels assistance institutions are grouped together within the General Council of Hospices and Secours. As a result, all of their heritage (including art and furniture) passes into the hands of the Council. Paintings, sculptures, pieces of goldsmithery…from ancient pious foundations, hospices, hospitals and the Beguinage are entrusted to the administration responsible for organizing public welfare.

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Initially, this heritage was housed in the administration premises in the former convent of Bogards, rue du Midi (currently the Academy of Fine Arts of the City of Brussels). In 1843, it moved with the main headquarters of the Conseil des Hospices to the site of the Saint-Jean hospital, on the boulevard du Jardin Botanique. Part of the collections will be visible there, especially in the monumental chapel.

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From the beginning of the 20th century, the Conseil des Hospices – which would become the Public Assistance Commission in 1925 – will want to exhibit his heritage. A first presentation of works from Brussels was organized in 1921 at the Museum of Ancient Art. Quite quickly, a small museum was organized under the enlightened direction of Archivist Paul Bonenfant in the administration offices and in the chapel. Inaugurated on April 26, 1927 in the presence of Mayor Adolphe Max, it is therefore one of the oldest museums in Belgium. In 1935, the administration's move to its current building, rue Haute, was accompanied by the redeployment of the works in these same premises.

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The collections of the Museum of the CPAS of the City of Brussels are not the result of an acquisition policy on the part of the Museum. The works come mainly from donations and bequests from individuals to aid institutions. This feature gives the whole a high symbolic value.

 

The collections, the oldest work of which dates from the 14th century, therefore present a great diversity: paintings, prints, sculptures, silverware and brassware, ceramics, furniture, textiles, a collection of coins and medals as well as objects testifying to daily life and the history of medicine.

 

The assets of the foundations and charitable establishments of the Ancien Régime still form the core of the collections of the CPAS of the City of Brussels today. Among these institutions, the hospitals Saint-Jean, Saint-Pierre and the Beguinage constituted over the centuries an exceptional artistic heritage. The polyptych of The Life and Death of the Virgin commissioned from the painter Bernard Van Orley by two beguines offers a fine example.