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Mayer van den Bergh Museum
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When:
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Daily; not Mon
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Where:
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Mayer van den Bergh Museum
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| Costs: |
Tue-Sun 10am-5pm; closed public holidays
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| Opening Hours: |
€4; concessions €2; under 19s free
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The Mayer van den Bergh museum is the collection of just one man and its paintings, statues, drawings and many other works have found a permanent home in an attractive 16th century-style building.
A large number of magnificent works from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were brought to Antwerp through van den Bergh's efforts. Each room exudes his refined taste, exceptional knowledge and keen eye for quality.
He was also instrumental in uncovering some forgotten work, among them Mad Meg by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, found in 1897 at an auction in Cologne. No one seemed interested in this eerie landscape and van den Bergh bought it for next to nothing. It was to become one of the Flemish Master's most important works.
Van den Bergh died prematurely at 43. His mother, Henriëtte, always supported his passion for art and upon his death she had a purpose-built museum erected to preserve and to perpetuate his life's work. Its late-Gothic and renaissance façade is a nod to Antwerp's Golden Age and to van den Bergh's most favoured period.
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