Page 68 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Brussels Bruges Ghent & Antwerp

66  BRUSSELS AREA B Y AREA

0 Musées Royaux des Beaux-
Arts: Musée Old Masters

The Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique is an umbrella
title covering several different museums around Brussels. The
three main ones, all located on the same site in the city centre,
are Brussels’ premier art galleries: taken together, the Musée
Old Masters, Musée Fin-de-Siècle and Musée Magritte (see
pp68–9) map the history of Western art in general, and Belgian
art in particular, from the medieval period to the postmodern.
Housed in a Neo-Classical building, the Musée Old Masters is Façade of the Museum
the largest of the three and dates back to the Napoleonic era, Corinthian columns and busts
when it consisted of the few valuable works left behind by of Flemish painters adorn
the French Republican army. This small collection grew and the entrance.
the present gallery opened in 1887. The Musée Old Masters is
best known for the finest collection of 15th- to 18th-century
Flemish art in the world, from Rogier van der Weyden to
Rubens and van Dyck.

Ground
level

The Census at Bethlehem (1610)
Pieter Brueghel the Younger (c.1564–
1638) produced a version of this subject
some 40 years after the original by his Main entrance
father. Shown together, the two works
illustrate the development of Flemish
painting in its peak period.

Gallery Guide
The gallery is divided up into two
different eras of art, as shown in Entrance to
the key. Two large auditoriums on the museum shop
the ground floor and lower levels
are used for occasional lectures as . The Annunciation (c.1406–7)
well as presentations. Visitors can The Master of Flémalle (c.1375–1444) sets the holy
enter the Musée Magritte and scene of the Archangel Gabriel announc ing the
from there, the Musée Fin de Siècle, impending birth of the Messiah in a homely,
via the escalator behind the contemporary setting, with daily objects an
museum’s restaurant. apparent contrast to the momentous event.

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 24th April 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm