Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp is one of the largest museums in Belgium dedicated to fine art. Most of the exhibits were created by the artists who lived here, but there are also copies written by other European masters. The museum has an extensive collection of paintings from the 15th and 18th centuries, and there is a hall dedicated to the work of modern painters.

Collection History

Before the opening of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, the Guild of painters or the Guild of St. Luke appeared in 1382. Part of the guild was occupied by various houses and buildings in the city, and only in 1664 a part of the premises was allocated for their needs, and the Academy of Fine Arts was located there.

Until 1773, members of the guild donated their works to the Academy, thus forming an extensive collection. At the end of the 18th century, the guild was dissolved. Paintings and other objects remained in the premises of the former stock exchange until the beginning of the French occupation, when most of them were taken to France. The other part of the collection was collected from closed monasteries, and by 1797 both parts of it were sent to one of the monasteries in Antwerp. A little later, one of the burgomasters of the city donated to the Academy more than 100 canvases painted in the 15th and 16th centuries. The construction of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp began in 1880, led by Mayor Leopold de Wahl. And 10 years later, its grand opening took place.

The museum building

Architects Van Dyck and Jean-Jacques Winders designed a large-scale building in the spirit of neoclassicism, popular at the time. The spacious halls of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, full of air and light, filled with a variety of canvases. Wide staircases, tall columns and a sculpture depicting harnessed horses.

The interior of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp is impressive in scale. There is a huge exhibition hall on the ground floor, and the galleries on the second floor are decorated with arches and marble columns. The ceiling is decorated with light glazing, which only adds air, light and volume. There are a lot of paintings, and visiting an institution can take almost a whole day. The last major renovation of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp was completed in 2020.