Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts (Royal Museums of Fine Arts)

Frommer's Review

The city's premier collections of both historical and modern art are together in a single institution. These two museums -- the Musée d'Art Ancien (Museum of Historical Art) and the Musée d'Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art) -- combine under one roof (connected by a passage) a memorable panoply of art, from some of the finest works of Flemish old masters, such as Brueghel, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Frans Hals to Magritte, Delvaux, and Permeke. The collection shows off works, most of them Belgian, from the 14th to the 20th centuries. It starts in the historical section, with Hans Memling's portraits from the late 15th century, which are marked by sharp lifelike details; works by Hieronymus Bosch; and Lucas Cranach's Adam and Eve. You should particularly seek out the subsequent rooms featuring Pieter Brueghel, including his Adoration of the Magi, and Fall of Icarus. Don't miss his unusual Fall of the Rebel Angels, with grotesque faces and beasts. But don't fear -- many of Brueghel's paintings, like Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters and those depicting Flemish village life, are of a less fiery nature. Later artists represented include Peter Paul Rubens, Antoon Van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, Frans Hals, and Rembrandt.

Next door, in a circular building connected to the main entrance, the modern-art section has an emphasis on underground works -- if only because the museum's eight floors are all below ground level. The overwhelming collection includes works by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dalí, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and local boys Renée Magritte, Paul Delvaux, James Ensor, Félicien Rops, Pierre Alechinsky, Henri de Braekeleer, Constant Permeke, and more.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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