Brugge, Belgium

A splendid and very valuable collection of Flemish masters is the pride of the Groeninge Museum. First of all, there are two works by Jan Van Eyck, the first and most important 'Flemish Primitive'. The museum's masterpiece is 'The Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele', which Van Eyck painted in 1436. The rich detail of the clothes of the personae on this painting make it one of the true treasures of early Flemish medieval painting. A second work by Van Eyck is the portrait of his wife 'Margareta Van Eyck'.
Other medieval Flemish masters from the 15th century are represented here with some of their masterpieces: 'Death of the Holy Virgin' by Hugo van der Goes, 'The altar of Saint Christopher' by Hans Memling, 'The Justice of King Cambyses' and 'The baptism of Christ' by Gerard David. These are only the highlights of the entire collection which comprises also several anonymous Masters from Bruges.
In 1985 the museum acquired the Herbert collection with a beautiful set of Flemish expressionist paintings from the school of Sint-Martens-Latem (Georges Minne, Albert Servaes, Gustave van de Woestijne, Constant Permeke, Gustave De Smet, Frits van den Berghe). Finally, the collection closes with representatives from the period after 1945 (the Cobra movement, Roger Raveel, Raoul de Keyser and Marcel Broodthaers).