Heritage brochure - Royal Museums of Fine Arts

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the royal museums of fine arts of belgium (mrbab), the oldest national museum

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rigin and development

As its name indicates, this is not one but a group of museums located on different sites. Near place Royale are the Old Masters Museum, with works from the 15th to 18th centuries; the Modern Museum, with works from the 19th and 20th centuries; the Fin-de-Siècle Museum, with works of art produced around 1900; and finally, the Magritte Museum, dedicated to the renowned Belgian surrealist painter, who died in 1967. Away from the city centre, there are two other sites in the suburbs of Ixelles: the Wiertz Museum (a 19th-century painter and sculptor) and the Meunier Museum (a 19th-century painter and sculptor from the social realism school).

Up to the 18th century, the outlying regions did not have a museum: the preservation of the country’s artistic heritage was the task of the church; the various buildings of the court also contained highly prestigious exhibition halls.

Although the history of the MRBAB dates back two centuries, the main building, which stands on the rue de la Régence and is home to the only museum of old masters, was opened to the public in 1880. Its architect, Alphonse Balat, was well known in Brussels as he was King Leopold II’s leading architect and designer of the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken.

However, the building was not given its current use until 1887. Originally, it opened as a «Palace of Fine Arts» and was intended to hold artistic events, with shows, temporary exhibitions, concerts and national ceremonies. Then, a few years after national independence, it became clear that there was a need for places for art exhibitions and collections. However, it was only in the 1870s that the plans were put into effect and it was decided to build a Palace of Fine Arts on rue de la Régence, on the former site of the Ministry of Justice. Construction work began in 1874 and was completed in 1880.

The roots of the Old Masters Museum go back to the time of the French presence in the country. The French regime opened a departmental museum in Brussels, in the former palace of Charles de Lorraine (situated on place de la Musée), which was used as the regional governor’s residence after the fire at the Coudenberg Palace in 1731. The museum is officially opened when Napoleon Bonaparte signs the “Arrêté Chaptal” in 1801.

This same period also saw the return of a certain number of works of art from the Louvre, iconic works from this area that had been sent to France some years earlier. After being municipal property for many years, it became the «National Museum» and the property of the Belgian State in 1842, as the «general public repository for state-owned works of art». However, the collections, which only took up a very small part of the space, were soon moved from the palace, mainly to the Duke’s Palace, the original residence of Prince William of Orange

during the Dutch period (now the Palace of the Academies, on place des Palais) and to the Church of the Augustinians on place de Brouckère.

In 1887, the Palace of Fine Arts became the Old Masters Museum and from that time on, as the Review of Fine Arts and Literature said, «Dead artists have taken the place of living artists».

Before receiving its current title of «Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium» (MRBAB in its French initials), the institution changed its name several times: Royal Museum of Painting and Sculpture; Royal Museums of Painting and Sculpture of Belgium; etc.

The construction of the Mont des Arts and, in particular, the site of the new Albert I Royal Library, led to the closure of the Palace of Charles of Lorraine, home to the Modern Art Museum at the time, in November 1959.

The solution was the Hotel Altenloh, which, after refurbishment, was able to house the collections of the previous museum. Purchased by the State in 1969, it is now the home of the Magritte Museum.

The area used for Museums increased again with the purchase by the State of the adjoining Argenteau and Gresham hotels in 1967. One opens on to rue de la Régence and the other on to place Royale and they became part of the MRBAB in said year.

In 1974, 53 new rooms were opened in an extension to the building built by Balat.

This major construction project, which started in 1978, left only the three façades on the place Royale and rue Montagne de la Cour standing and a new Modern Art Museum was built in a huge underground complex under place du Musée, no doubt to avoid the construction of a new building in this area of the city. The underground complex is these days largely occupied by the Muséee Fin-de-siècle, with the modern art pieces in both of the museum’s halls being regularly changed.

You have perhaps seen the garden on the left when facing the MRBAB. It is in fact a sculpture garden, situated between the side and back walls of the Museum of Ancient Art on rue de Ruysbroeck. Like the new sculpture gallery in the former underground shelters, it opened in 1992. 2009 sees the inauguration of the Magritte Museum and 2013 celebrates the opening of the Musée Fin-de-Siècle.

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rchitecture and decor

The imposing main building on rue de la Régence has an eclectic style with a mixture of elements borrowed from different styles, but with a preference for the classical aesthetic in terms of symmetry, geometry and relative simplicity.

The four massive pillars that greet visitors are topped by allegorical statues: from left to right, Music, Architecture, Sculpture and Painting.

The busts above the three entrance doors are, from left to right, Jean de Bologne, a 16th-century sculptor from French Flanders, Pierre-Paul Rubens, a 17th-century Baroque painter from Anvers, and Jean van Roysbroeck, a 15th-century architect from Brussels, known as the designer of the Gothic tower of the Brussels City Hall.

On the ends of the two angled pavilions you can also see the group sculptures of the «Teaching of Art» and the «Glorification of Art».

The Balat building and parts of the other buildings were listed as heritage sites in 2004.

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ours and detours

In the 19th century, rules concerning admission to the museums were very strict. The internal regulations of 31 March 1846 state that «entry to the museum is forbidden to errand boys, suspicious individuals and those who have been reported for causing a disturbance». «Errand boys» were numerous in Brussels at the time. Their job, whether official or otherwise, was to stand on street corners waiting for passers-by to ask them for a service or to run an errand. They often had somewhat rustic manners, including drunkenness and insulting behaviour... ! And free entry to the museum attracted all sorts of people, such as the «gentlemen of the night», who took advantage of the warmth and the soft benches to snore in peace! It was only in 1924 that an entry fee was legally established, the main reason being the «difficulty Belgium museums face in fighting foreign competition for works of art».

Brussels’ museums at the beginning of the 20th century did not have a curator, unlike most of Europe; they were run by a management committee.

When the First World War broke out, the establishment closed its doors at the beginning of August. But in December 1914, the German Authorities forced it to reopen and it did so in January 1915. The collections suffered no losses during the First World War. The invader, supremely confident of the future and the outcome of the conflict, saw no reason for making off with the collections. «The Germans took nothing from us! They were so convinced that Belgium would remain theirs!

The uniformed officials crammed into the ministries in Brussels held this conviction until the eve of the armistice. What good would it serve to take the works from the Belgian museums to Germany, since the museums would soon become German?» H. Fierens-Gevaert, a high-ranking official in the Science and Arts administration, member of the management committee and future head curator of the MRBAB. Aside from the museums themselves, the institution also includes a library, an archives department and a photograph library. It has a permanent offer of activities for all audiences and is a pioneer when it comes to digitalising artworks. It houses approximately 20,000 pieces and welcomes more than 700,000 visitors every year!

www.visit.brussels copyright: Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles