This museum of 19th Century painting occupies Mesdag's home and the building he had constructed in 1887 to house his rich collections of artworks. The painter bequeathed all of it to the state in 1903, and thanks to this museum the mid 19th Century school of Barbizon (Millet, Corot, Rousseau, Courbet) can be compared with the Hague School (Bosboom, Mauve, the brothers Maris, Israëls and Mesdag). The ground floor served as a studio for Sientje, Mesdag's wife.