This Royal Museum of Fine art is actually two museums in
one, an ancient art museum and a modern art museum. The collection is well
stocked with works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rubens and the Belgian
Surrealists. In the entrance hall several sculptures can be seen of Belgian and
international sculptors, including Meunier, Lambeau, and Rodin. The main
accent, however, lies on the collection
of old masters with its 1200 paintings. On the first floor are the
masterpieces of the 15th and 16th century. Among the famous names are the
master of Flémalle, Rogier van der Weyden, the master of Aix, Barend van Orley,
Dirk Bouts, Hieronymus Bosch, Lucas Cranach and Quentin Metsys. The pride of
the museum’s vast collection is Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
Waterloo
No trip to Brussels
would be complete without a visit to the Waterloo
battlefield, a few kilometers to the south of the city. Here, on a ridge line
back by a forest, a motley army of British, Dutch, and Germans under the Duke
of Wellington met Napoleon’s Grand Army and fought it to a stand still. With
the arrival the Prussian Army, Napoleon was put to flight and with it his
dreams of conquest.
While visiting the battlefield, don’t forget to visit the Wellington
Museum, built in the inn where the
Duke made his headquarters, and the Caillou
Museum, where Napoleon made his
headquarters. The Lion Hill is the spot where the Prince of Orange, leading the
Dutch contingent, was wounded and is the main monument of the battlefield. The Hougoumont
Farm and the Haie Sainte Farm were strong points in Wellington’s
defense that were the scenes of desperate fighting during the battle. The Wounded
Eagle Monument
marks the place where the Imperial Guard made its last stand. The Gordon
monument and the Hanover Monument
are also worth a visit,