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    The Groeninge Museum: Six Centuries in Six Rooms
    Culture· 4 min·28 March 2026

    The Groeninge Museum: Six Centuries in Six Rooms

    The Groeningemuseum is one of those places where the collection is far better than the building suggests. It's tucked away on a side street off the Dijver, easy to walk past. Inside: six centuries of Flemish and Belgian art, from the Primitives to the Surrealists.

    The stars of the show are Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling. Van Eyck's "Madonna with Canon van der Paele" (1436) is here — look at the reflections in the armour, the texture of the fabrics, the absolute obsession with detail. This was painted 600 years ago and it still looks impossibly precise.

    Memling's "Moreel Triptych" is across the room. He was technically van Eyck's student's student, and you can trace the lineage in the way he handles faces — serene, idealised, calm.

    In the modern wing, look for the Belgian Surrealists. There's work by Paul Delvaux and René Magritte, and some less-known pieces by Marcel Broodthaers that are worth seeking out.

    The museum is small enough to see in an hour, which is part of its appeal. No museum fatigue. Entry is €14. Go on a weekday morning and you might be the only person in the van Eyck room.