City of arts: Brussels

Capital of Belgium, with over 1.1 million inhabitants, Brussels is founded in the 10th century and has prospered ever since.

In the 15th century the Burgundian Court settles in Brussels, thus increasing prosperity. The arts flourish when many patricians like to think of themselves as a patron. The upper middle-class too brings in numerous assignments.

A famous Brussels painter is Pieter Bruegel, who comes to Brussels in 1563 and dies there in 1569. Many of his most well-known works are made in Brussels. His residence in the Hoogstraat still exists.

Art & culture

The city is known for its many beautiful examples of art nouveau architecture, among which the Solvay hotel and the Palace of Fine Art by Victor Horta. Iron and steel, rounded forms, and rich ornaments are the main elements. Definitely worth your while is the Great Market (Grote Markt, Grand' Place) with its impressive town hall (1402-1450, Brabant gothic) and many fine baroque fronts, reconstructed after a French attack in 1695.

From an art historical point of view, the following are worth visiting:

Museum of Ancient Art, with Pieter Bruegel's Census at Bethlehem and the Adoration of the Kings. More work by the Flemish primitives Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Dirk Bouts and Hans Memling; Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Peter Paul Rubens and Antonie Van Dijck. This museum is one of four known as the Royal Museums of Fine Art of Belgium.
The Museum of Modern Art collects works from after 1748. Located - in part subterranean - in the same building as the museum for Ancient Art
Museum For Fine Art of Elsene (musée d'Ixelles): fine collection of 19th and 20th century art: impressionnism, expressionnism, fauvism, abstract art, surrealism.