In 1860, the countess of Héricourt de Valincourt bequeathed her collection of paintings to La Fère, the town where she was born. The treasure trove included German, Flemish, Dutch, Italian and French works from the 15th to the 19th century and the condition she specified was that the future municipal museum should bear the name of her mother, Jeanne d'Aboville. Some of the works were put on public display in 1869, and in 1881 the museum opened the doors to its collection of 500 canvases. There are currently four hundred paintings on display, which capture the essence of popular tastes during the first half of the 19th century in terms of landscapes, still lifes and genre paintings. The quality of the works, such as Martin Schongauer's Crucifixion, Maerten De Vos's The Wise and Foolish Virgins, Pierre Dupuis's Panier de prunes or even a portrait of Madame Adélaïde by Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, demonstrates the refined and discreet sensitivity of the Héricourt family.