Event: Belgium - Brugge

Flemish Art Collection at the Groeninge Museum Bruges

When:	Daily; not Mon
Where:	Groeningemuseum
Costs:	€8; students and seniors €6; under 13s free
Opening Hours:	Tue-Sun 9.30am-5pm; closed major holidays

The collections of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent and the Groeninge Museum in Bruges have come together to form the Flemish Art Collection. The partnership aims to increase accessibility to the collections, while allowing each museum to maintain its individuality and local ties, and to improve the conservation and promotion of Flemish masterpieces. Here, Groeninge showcases a series of works by Flemish Primitives.

Together, the collections represent a comprehensive picture of fine arts in the Southern Netherlands from the 15th century up to the present day. Made up of over 6500 paintings and 40,000 drawings, visitors can explore over 500 years of art history showcased in at least 12 exhibitions a year.

The Groeninge Museum offers a fascinating overview of no less than six centuries of visual arts in Belgium. Highlights include the world-famous collection of works by the Flemish Primitives, paintings by various Renaissance and Baroque masters, stunning pieces from the Neo-classical and Realistic periods of the 18th and 19th centuries, milestones from the Symbolist and Modernist movements, masterpieces by the Flemish Expressionists and a varied selection of Post-1945 modern art. Artists such as Bram Bogart, Hieronymus Bosch, Paul Delvaux, James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, Hans Memling, Constant Permeke, Jan van Eyck and many others are all exhibited in regularly changing displays.

To celebrate the Flemish Art Collection partnership, the Groenige Museum investigates how the Flemish Primitives, or Low Countries painters of the 15th and 16th centuries, dealt with exotic elements and incorporated them into their work. Conceived as a documentary, the exhibition takes a look at the way exotic places, foreign products, unfamiliar animals and subjects with other races and religions were depicted by the masters of the time. Towards the end of the 15th century, the discovery of the New World opened up medieval man's view of the universe. This small exhibition shows us how the Flemish Primitives reacted to this revelation.

A Combiticket, which gives you access to the permanent collection of all three museums and is valid for three years, is available for €12, and can be purchased at the information desks in any of the museums. Exclusive winter discounts - 3 nights for the price of 2 - can be obtained by visiting the Winter in Bruges link.