Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium is a federation of six museums in the heart of Brussels, collectively representing one of the most significant cultural institutions in the country. The complex was established in the late eighteenth century during the French Revolutionary period and has grown steadily over the centuries to encompass an extraordinary breadth of art and artistic periods. The six constituent museums include the Museum of Ancient Art, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Magritte Museum, the Fin-de-Siècle Museum, the Wiertz Museum, and the Meunier Museum. Together they house more than twenty thousand works spanning five centuries of artistic production. The collection of Flemish Primitives and Old Masters is particularly celebrated, featuring major works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, and Anthony van Dyck. Peter Paul Rubens is also well represented, with a substantial body of paintings from across his career. The Magritte Museum is one of the most visited individual attractions in Brussels, dedicated entirely to the surrealist master René Magritte and housing over two hundred of his works across three floors. The Fin-de-Siècle Museum explores the golden age of Belgian art and design from 1868 to 1914, a period of extraordinary creativity. Throughout the year the museums organise temporary exhibitions, family workshops, guided tours, and academic events. The complex also houses a specialist art library, a restaurant, and a bookshop.