Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
richest, most cosmopolitan, andmost cultured city.New ideas, fads, andpainting techniques
wereimportedandexportedwitheachshipload.Beautiful paintingsweresoonanaffordable
luxury,like fancyclothes orfurniture. Internationally knownartists setupstudiosinBruges,
producing portraits and altarpieces for wealthy merchants from all over Europe.
While there's plenty of worthwhile modern art, the Groeninge's highlights are the vivid
and pristine Flemish Primitives. (“Primitive” here means “before the Renaissance.”) This
early Flemish style, though less appreciated and understood today than the Italian Renais-
sance art produced a century later, is subtle, technically advanced, and beautiful. Flemish art
isshapedbyitsloveofdetail, itsmerchant patrons'egos,andthepoweroftheChurch.Lose
yourself in the halls of Groeninge: Gaze across 15th-century canals, into the eyes of reassur-
ing Marys, and through town squares littered with leotards, lace, and lopped-off heads.
Cost and Hours:
€8, Tue-Sun 9:30-17:00, closed Mon, Dijver 12, tel. 050-448-743,
Thechurchstandsasamemorial tothepowerandwealth ofBrugesinitsheyday.Adelicate
Madonna and Child
by Michelangelo is near the apse (to the right if you're facing the altar).
It'ssaidtobetheonlyMichelangelo statuetoleaveItalyinhislifetime (thankstothewealth
generated by Bruges' cloth trade). If you like tombs and church art, pay to wander through
the apse.
CostandHours:
Therearofthechurchisfreetothepublic.Togetintothemainsection
costs €4; church open Mon-Sat 9:30-17:00, Sun 13:30-17:00, Mariastraat,
www.brugge.be
.
The former monastery/hospital complex has a fine museum in what was once the monks'
church. The museum offers a glimpse into medieval medicine, displaying surgical instru-
ments,documents, andvisualaidsasyouworkyourwaytothemuseum'sclimax: several of
HansMemling'sglowingmasterpieces.Memling'sartwastheculminationofBruges'Flem-
ish Primitive style. His serene, soft-focus, motionless scenes capture a medieval piety that
wasquicklyfading.ThepopularstylemadeMemling(c.1430-1494)oneofBruges'wealth-
iest citizens, and his work was gobbled up by visiting Italian merchants, who took it home
with them, cross-pollinating European art. His
Mystical Wedding of St. Catherine
triptych is
a highlight, as is the miniature, gilded-oak shrine to St. Ursula.
Cost and Hours:
€8, includes good audioguide, Tue-Sun 9:30-17:00, closed Mon, last
entry 30 minutes before closing, across the street from the Church of Our Lady, Mariastraat
38, Bruges museums tel. 050-448-713,
www.brugge.be
.
