This exhibition tells the story of Verlaine and Belgium. Like an epic novel, it takes you on a journey through the man and his writings, drawing on a wealth of original and unique documents.

From the quarrel between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine via the gunshot that led to the latter’s prosecution to Verlaine’s spell in Mons Prison, the exhibition seeks to repay some of the debt that other writers and literature in general owe to this great poet.

On the way, we encounter others who played a part in his story: his wife Mathilde Mauté, the judge Theodore t’Serstevens, his ‘friends’ Eugénie and Philomène, contemporary Belgian men of letters, but also the likes of Stéphane Mallarmé and Victor Hugo... And of course, in the shadows, Arthur Rimbaud, the beau Satan adolescent.