Renaissance art & Early modern art museums in Belgium

The Museum of the Holy Blood tells the story of the relic of the Holy Blood that Count Thierry of Alsace is said to have brought with him from the Holy Land (1150). Showpiece of the museum is the reliquary of the Holy Blood, made by the Bruges goldsmith Jan Crabbe (1617), with thirty kilos of gold a

Six centuries of Belgian visual arts in one location, with work by Flemish primitives such as Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling and Gerard David, neo-classicism by Joseph Odevaere and Joseph Ducq, Flemish expressionism, and 20th century modern art by René Magritte, Roger Raveel, Raoul De Keyser.

Museum of Fine Arts Ghent is one of the oldest museums in Belgium. The museum displays a collection of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, drawings and graphics. It owns two works by Hieronymus Bosch and etchings of James Ensor. In addition, it displays works by Maarten Van Heemskerck, Pieter Breughe

The Van Buuren Museum is a "house museum," a 1928 Dutch-style art deco home furnished by several reputable interior designers, decorators and the owners: banker and patron David van Buuren and his wife Alice. The museum also features a collection of paintings from the 15th to the 20th century. Among

The Curtius Museum (Musée Le Grand Curtius) is a museum of archaeology and decorative arts. The building that houses the museum was a private mansion for Jean Curtius, a Belgian manufacturer who provided gunpowder to the Spanish army. It was built somewhere between 1597 and 1610 in the typical regio

The Snijders&Rockoxhuis is an early-17th-century historic building. Nicolaas Rockox (1560 - 1640) bought the property in 1603. The museum is located on the ground floor which is a good example of 17th-century Flemish living culture. The collection includes furniture, sculpture, porcelain, pottery an

The Museum of St. Salvator's Cathedral is housed in the 1912 neo-Gothic chapter house. The museum displays objects from St. Salvator's Church, the demolished St. Donaas Church and the monasteries abolished in the French era. Visitors walk through some 13 centuries of art history, from early Romanesq

Museum Félicien Rops is housed in a bourgeois house from the early 18th century. The museum is dedicated to the Belgian graphic artist, painter and caricaturist Félicien Rops (1833 - 1898). It provides an overview of all aspects of the artist and his work. Among other things, the museum pays attenti

Museum Mayer van den Bergh shows artefacts collected by Belgian art collector and art historian Fritz Mayer van den Bergh. His collection consists of more than 3,000 artefacts. The museum displays paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, drawings and tapestries. Among others, the museum displays work by

One of Europe's oldest preserved hospital buildings with masterpieces by the Flemish primitive Hans Memling and surprising contemporary artworks by artists such as Berlinde De Bruyckere and Patricia Piccinini. The Museum St John’s Hospital extends a warm welcome to all of its visitors. Step inside

M - Museum Leuven is housed in a building designed by the Belgian architect Stéphane Beel where historic buildings are combined with contemporary architecture. The museum displays combinations of ancient and contemporary art. In addition to a historical collection, it has temporary exhibitions of ol

Housed in the Norbertine Abbey at Tongerlo, the Da Vinci Museum is a one-art museum. The abbey owns one of the most faithful replica of the Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the dining room of the Santa Maria delle Grazie cloister in Milan. The original fresco is in bad shape because Leon

The Musée Wiertz Museum (Antoine Wiertz Museum) is dedicated to the Belgian painter, sculptor and author Antoine Wiertz (1806-1865). The museum is located in his 1850s studio. The museum displays not only his paintings, inspired by the great masters of the past, but also his numerous small sketches.

The Stedelijk Museum Wuyts-Van Campen and Baron Caroly derives its name from two bequests, of Jacob Joseph Wuyts in 1887 and of Baron Georges Caroly in 1935. The museum displays paintings and other art objects. The most important collection consists of paintings from the 16th to the 20th century. Hi

The Charlier Museum is a house museum. Owned by patron and art collector Henri Van Cutsem, the house was remodeled by Victor Horta, and in 1904 sculptor Guillaume Charlier inherited it. The house is still decorated as before, with furniture and decorative arts, including silverware, porcelain, carpe

The Musée Oldmasters Museum (Museum of Ancient Art) displays works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rubens and Jordaens, among others. It also displays works by Flemish primitives and the other artists of the Southern Netherlands.

The Court of Busleyden is one of the buildings in Mechelen that dates back to the early 16th century. It was commissioned by Hieronymus of Busleyden, a member of the Great Council. Jeroen van Busleyden was also the founder of the Collegium Trilingue at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, breeding gr

The Salons is a monumental mansion that presents a picture of art history from the 16th to the 20th century. The museum's collection includes works by "old" painters, including Peter Paul Rubens, Lambert Lombard, Sebastiaen Vranckx, Willem Claeszoon Heda and Joos de Momper, and newer painters, inclu

Wittert - Collections artistiques de l'Université de Liège includes some 40,000 works of art, including prints and drawings old paintings of the 15th and 16th centuries, coins, medals, African art and sculptures.

The John Selbach Museum consists of two sections. The first department includes a collection of paintings dating back to the 16th century and running through the early 20th century. A variety of paintings are displayed, including still lifes, landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, interiors, depictions

Museum Het Zotte Kunstkabinet is located in the historic rooms of 't Vliegend Peert. On display are mainly paintings from the 16th century. The name of the museum refers to the theme of the paintings: satirical-moralizing, also called Sot.

Museum De Reede focuses on the work of 3 masters in graphic art: Edvard Munch, Francisco Goya and Félicien Rops, alongside temporary exhibitions.

On the Hunnegem site, several museums are housed; The Museum Huge is housed in Hunnegem's Romanesque church and in the adjacent neo-Gothic Pax Hall. Besides the genesis of the town and the monastic community, specific themes are highlighted; monastic life, Marian devotion, Benedict, education, the

The Bal - Musée des Beaux-Arts de Liège gives an overview of the artistic creations that originated in the French-speaking part of Belgium. The museum displays works of art from the Renaissance to the present day. Special attention is paid to Liege artists. Exhibitions are arranged chronologically,

The Maagdenhuis Museum is housed in Antwerp's maagdenhuis, a former orphanage for girls from the 16th to 17th centuries. Among the items on display are foundling and orphan care, including samplers with cross-stitch decorations, a model of the foundling shuffle, foundling garments and other records.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Tournai is housed in a building designed there by Belgian architect Victor Horta. The museum depicts the history of painting from the 15th century to the present. The collection consists mainly of old paintings from the bequest given to Tournai by the Belgian art collector

BAM - Musée des Beaux-Arts Mons is housed in a modern building in the historic center of Mons. The museum features a large selection of Cobra works, Pop art, installations and other modern visual arts. It also has an old collection of Belgian and mainly Walloon works of art from the 15th to 19th cen

The Provincial Museum of Ancient Arts of Namur - Treasure of Oignies is housed in an 18th-century mansion, the Hôtel de Gaiffier d'Hestroy. The museum has a collection of artifacts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Among other things, it holds the treasure of the former priory of Oignies, on

Musée communal des beaux-arts et de la ceramique (Municipal Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics) is housed in the former "Hôpital Nouveau" built in 1661. The museum displays a collection of European painting from the 14th to the 19th century, modern and contemporary Belgian painting, engravings of the

Museum of Louvain-La-Neuve is a university museum that displays over 20,000 works from the fields of art and civilizations. The collection is displayed in changing arrangements. The museum focuses on three themes. In "History of Civilizations," ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, traditional

The Spoelberch Museum displays a collection donated to KU Leuven after the death of Charles-Victor de Spoelberch (1836-1907). The collection includes the ancestral portrait gallery, showpiece furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries and pieces of family silver. But perhaps the most important item