Saint-Omer, ville d'art et d'histoire...
Les Monuments - Aéroclub de Saint-Omer - L'USSO
		Old Baillage An inscription chronogram, which is reproduced on the plank, recalls that the building was built thanks to the generosity of Louis XVI and indicates the date of construction 1786. The strong structure of the building is well marked vertically by the four high pilasters which separate the three levels and by the cornice decorated with a balustrade. The bays of the central span are in semicircular arch while the others are rectangular. The roof comprises two lines of attic windows laid out in quincunx. The abundance of a pretty carved decoration distributed well to the balcony and the barges and the four large statues drawn up on the balustrade with the right of the pilasters fortunately come to decorate the frontage. The statues are the work of the sculptor audomarois Emile Sturne (1842-1922). They replaced those of XVIIIe century damaged by the bad weather. This substitution was done at the time of the restoration of the building and its assignment to the Savings bank of Saint-Omer in 1905. Like the old ones, the current statues represent the cardinal virtues. Of left on the right, by looking at the frontage: Justice, Prudence, Temperance and the Force with their traditional emblèmes. Justice, a stringcourse on the eyes, carries glaive in the right hand and the Tables of the Law on the left arm. Prudence is reflected in a mirror symbol of the knowledge which it has of itself and firmly holds a snake in the right hand to mean its domination on the wordly goods. Temperance tightens in the right hand a support (bit and reins) and carries on the left hand a clock symbols of the self-control and measurement. The Force, capped of a helmet and carrying cnémides, rests with the two hands on a column. The building was successively: Sit of Bailliage, royal court, Siège of the District for the revolutionary period Communal Musée, Siège of the Savings bank.