Musée Massey

The Massey Museum opened its doors in April 2012 after a complete remake and renovation of its building and collections.

The Massey Museum, located in a magnificent garden was created at the end of the nineteenth century according to the wishes and dreams of a local Tarb resident, Placide Massey. Once he retired as Director of the Versailles Orangerie and parks, Placide Massey decided to build a villa with an observation tower in the Moorish style that overlooks the Pyrenees and harks back to the romantic fashions of the time. Since then, the garden filled with rare plant species is a designated garden of note and the museum boasts the label Musée de France.

The tour is spread over two levels where the two major collections of the museum are displayed:

• the historic Hussard collection : Started in 1955 by the then museum director, Marcel Boulin this collection has taken on an international dimension today linking the breeding of the anglo-arab horse to its presence in the Hussards regiments based in Tarbes. The exhibition follows chronologically from the first appearance of the Hussards in 1545 through to 1945.
• the fine arts collection : Initially conceived by Achille Jubinal in the nineteenth century and then added to by donations from the Fould family and the Academic Society of the Hautes-Pyrénées and then finally becoming an important State depository, the collection comprise major works from the sixteenth and seventeenth century Italian school, the sixteenth and seventeenth Dutch and Flemish schools and the eighteenth and nineteenth-century French school.