Brussels Belgian Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium - Museum and Arts

Art Gallery, Museum

Belgium's Royal Museum of Fine Arts (1875-81), one of the biggest and paramount art galleries in the world, extends for some distance alongside the Rue de la Régence (Regentschapsstraat) from the west side of the Place Royale. The museum grew out of an assortment first set up in 1797 and initially housed in the former palace of Charles of Lorraine. This was transferred to the lately established Musées Royaux in 1846. The entire collection was updated and divided into two parts, the Musée d'art ancien (15th to 18th C.) occupying the old building, and the Musée d'art moderne in the new section lit by a shaft opening onto the Place du Musée. The main doorway is in the Rue de la Régence.