Oldmasters Museum

About

The Oldmasters Museum (French: Musée Oldmasters; Dutch: Oldmasters Museum) is an art museum in the Royal Quarter of Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to Old Master European painters of the 15th to the 18th centuries, with some later works. It is one of the constituent museums of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. The museum has a large and internationally important collection of Netherlandish art, mostly from the Southern Netherlands that mostly equate to modern Belgium. For example, there are valuable panels by the Flemish Primitives (including Bruegel, Rogier van der Weyden, Robert Campin, Hieronymus Bosch, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens). There are also significant paintings and sculptures from other parts of Europe. The museum was founded in 1801 by Napoleon. It was formerly called the Royal Museum of Ancient Art (French: Musée royal d'Art ancien; Dutch: Koninklijk Museum voor Oude Kunst), an over-literal translation of the French, as none of the collection is or was "ancient" in the English meaning of the word. It is housed in the main building of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts (Palace of Fine Arts) located at 3, rue de la Régence/Regentschapsstraat. This site is served...

The museum is commonly referred to as the Oldmasters Museum in Dutch and English, and Musée Oldmasters in French, officially expressed in the Belgian bilingual style as Musée Oldmasters Museum. The title uses the compound term Oldmasters without a space, reflecting the branding adopted by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in the early 21st century for several of its constituent museums. Traditionally, the collection had been referred to in French as the Musée d'Art ancien ("Museum of Ancient Art") and in Dutch as the Museum voor Oude Kunst ("Museum of Old Art").

The term Old Masters (French: vieux maîtres, Dutch: oude meesters ) generally refers to European painters active before the end of the 18th century, particularly from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo periods. The museum's name highlights the historical core of its collection, which includes works by early Netherlandish and Flemish painters such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, and Anthony van Dyck.

Further information: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

The museum is part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (French: Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Dutch: Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België ), a management body controlling several museums in Brussels, to which all reproduction rights belong, so that that name appears in publishing credits. However this has never been a place.This institution was founded on 1 September 1801 by Napoleon and opened in 1803 as the Museum of Fine Arts of Brussels (French: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, Dutch: Museum voor Schone Kunsten van Brussel ), occupying fourteen rooms of the former Palace of Charles of Lorraine, known as the "Old Court".

The first collection, the core of the current collections of Ancient Art, consisted of a selection of "old deposits", works of art seized by the French Republic but abandoned (1798), increased by two shipments from Paris (1802 and 1811), and returned works taken away by the Republic (1815). Later, during the Dutch period, King William I of the Netherlands sponsored an expansion of the collection (1817 and 1819) and had two wings built on the current Place du Musée / Museumplein (the Palace of National Industry, opened in 1830). Bought by the Belgian state from the City of Brussels, these collections form the embryo of Belgian artistic and literary heritage that will gradually be concentrated in the area.

The works of the Old Masters were finally moved from the Palace of Charles of Lorraine to the Rue de la Régence / Regentschapsstraat in 1887, giving a new purpose to Alphonse Balat 's Palace of Fine Arts, which had opened in 1880 (not to be confused with the current Centre for Fine Arts ). On that occasion, the museum was renamed to the Royal Museum of Ancient Art (French: Musée royal d'Art ancien, Dutch: Koninklijk Museum voor Oude Kunst ).

The Palace of Fine Arts, the museum's second (current) location, in 1910 Interior of the Palace of Fine Arts in 1910 The museum continued to expand in subsequent years, benefitting from increases through purchases, donations or bequests. In 1914, the De Grez donation enriched the collection with more than 4,000 drawings dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, notably by Hendrick Goltzius, Jacob de Gheyn II, and Rembrandt, to name a few. Other important acquisitions included the Delia Faille de Leverghem (1942) donation, as well as the Delporte-Livrauw (1973) and Goldschmidt (1990) bequests.

The museum's redevelopment by the architect Albert Van Huffel [ fr ] from 1923 to 1930 allowed a new presentation of the collections. The extension of the Museum of Ancient Art combined with that of the National Archives of Belgium, behind the façades of the former Palace of National Industry, allowed the creation of a new set of rooms and an auditorium. Planned in 1962 by the architects Roland Delers and Jacques Bellemans, it was inaugurated in phases in 1972 and 1974. Towards the Place Royale, the Hôtel Argenteau, the Hôtel Gresham and the Hôtel Altenloh were incorporated in turn in 1965, 1967 and 1969 respectively. An in-depth renovation of Balat's palace was carried out in successive stages from 1977. The complex was inaugurated in 1984.

By the 2020s, the museum had been renamed again to the Oldmasters Museum. The appropriation and inventive reshaping of the English two-word term "Old Masters" was thought to work well in a Belgian context, and for anglophone tourists, as the museum's collection is rich in the Netherlandish paintings from before 1800 for which the term was coined.

The museum is part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (French: Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Dutch: Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België ), a management body controlling several museums in Brussels, to which all reproduction rights belong, so that that name appears in publishing credits. However this has never been a place.This institution was founded on 1 September 1801 by Napoleon and opened in 1803 as the Museum of Fine Arts of Brussels (French: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, Dutch: Museum voor Schone Kunsten van Brussel ), occupying fourteen rooms of the former Palace of Charles of Lorraine, known as the "Old Court".

The first collection, the core of the current collections of Ancient Art, consisted of a selection of "old deposits", works of art seized by the French Republic but abandoned (1798), increased by two shipments from Paris (1802 and 1811), and returned works taken away by the Republic (1815). Later, during the Dutch period, King William I of the Netherlands sponsored an expansion of the collection (1817 and 1819) and had two wings built on the current Place du Musée / Museumplein (the Palace of National Industry, opened in 1830). Bought by the Belgian state from the City of Brussels, these collections form the embryo of Belgian artistic and literary heritage that will gradually be concentrated in the area.

The works of the Old Masters were finally moved from the Palace of Charles of Lorraine to the Rue de la Régence / Regentschapsstraat in 1887, giving a new purpose to Alphonse Balat 's Palace of Fine Arts, which had opened in 1880 (not to be confused with the current Centre for Fine Arts ). On that occasion, the museum was renamed to the Royal Museum of Ancient Art (French: Musée royal d'Art ancien, Dutch: Koninklijk Museum voor Oude Kunst ).

The Palace of Fine Arts, the museum's second (current) location, in 1910 Interior of the Palace of Fine Arts in 1910 The museum continued to expand in subsequent years, benefitting from increases through purchases, donations or bequests. In 1914, the De Grez donation enriched the collection with more than 4,000 drawings dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, notably by Hendrick Goltzius, Jacob de Gheyn II, and Rembrandt, to name a few. Other important acquisitions included the Delia Faille de Leverghem (1942) donation, as well as the Delporte-Livrauw (1973) and Goldschmidt (1990) bequests.

The museum's redevelopment by the architect Albert Van Huffel [ fr ] from 1923 to 1930 allowed a new presentation of the collections. The extension of the Museum of Ancient Art combined with that of the National Archives of Belgium, behind the façades of the former Palace of National Industry, allowed the creation of a new set of rooms and an auditorium. Planned in 1962 by the architects Roland Delers and Jacques Bellemans, it was inaugurated in phases in 1972 and 1974. Towards the Place Royale, the Hôtel Argenteau, the Hôtel Gresham and the Hôtel Altenloh were incorporated in turn in 1965, 1967 and 1969 respectively. An in-depth renovation of Balat's palace was carried out in successive stages from 1977. The complex was inaugurated in 1984.

By the 2020s, the museum had been renamed again to the Oldmasters Museum. The appropriation and inventive reshaping of the English two-word term "Old Masters" was thought to work well in a Belgian context, and for anglophone tourists, as the museum's collection is rich in the Netherlandish paintings from before 1800 for which the term was coined.

The Oldmasters Museum has an extensive collection of European paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The bulk of the collection is formed around Flemish painting from the 15th to the 17th centuries and is presented in chronological order. The museum houses a small but comprehensive collection of early Netherlandish paintings with works by masters such as Robert Campin ( the Master of Flémalle ), Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Hugo van der Goes, Dirk Bouts, Hans Memling and Hieronymus Bosch. The Italian and French schools are also represented, notably by Carlo Crivelli, and the Master of the Annunciation of Aix-en-Provence (possibly Barthélemy d'Eyck ).

Lamentation of Christ, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1455

Portrait of Antoine, 'Grand Bâtard' of Burgundy, Van der Weyden, c. 1460

Justice of Emperor Otto III, Dirk Bouts, c. 1473–1475