Musée d'Art Ancien/Museum voor Oude Kunst

   The Musée d'Art ancien, now incorporated into the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium), has its origins in the late 18th century in an exhibition of art works assembled in the Palais de Charles de Lorraine in 1797. Amid much popular interest, in 1801, Napoléon Bonaparte decreed the official establishment of an art gallery, and he endowed the Musée de Département de la Dyle with high-quality tableaux, including works from the Louvre. The museum opened in 1803 and ownership was transferred to the city in 1811. Collections grew during the Dutch regime. Aroyal decree in 1835 created a national museum for Belgian art. Ownership reverted to the state in 1842. During the first half of the 19th century, individual patrons supplied most of the additions to the collections, but, by the middle of the century, museum administrators began purchasing exhibits. Overcrowding at the Musée de Palais de Nassau led to construction of a new gallery on the rue de la Régence built in the neoclassical style to designs by Alphonse Balat. The museum was inaugurated in 1887 and a new wing (53 rooms) was added in 1974. Renovation of space housing works of the 17th and 18th centuries was completed in 1984. The museum displays pre-19th century representative works.

   See also Musée d'Art Moderne.