What is the Magritte Museum?

The Magritte Museum is a dedicated museum within the RMFAB complex, holding the world's largest collection of works by surrealist painter René Magritte — around 230 original paintings, drawings, gouaches, and sculptures. It is housed in the neoclassical Place Royale building adjacent to the main museum.

Is the Bruegel collection really the largest in the world?

Yes — the RMFAB holds more works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder than any other museum in the world, including iconic paintings not on loan to any other institution.

How long does a visit take?

The full complex — six museums — would take a full day. Most visitors focus on the Museum of Ancient Art and the Magritte Museum, which together take 2–3 hours.

Europe

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Brussels · Belgium · Founded 1801

Belgium's premier art museum — home to the world's largest collection of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and a sweeping survey of Flemish and European art from the 15th century to the present.

About Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels form one of the oldest and largest museum complexes in Europe, housing six distinct museums under one institution. The Museum of Ancient Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Magritte Museum, the Wiertz Museum, the Meunier Museum, and the Fin-de-Siècle Museum together span six centuries of Belgian and international art.

The collection's greatest strength lies in Flemish painting: the museum holds the world's largest collection of works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder — including The Fall of Icarus, The Census at Bethlehem, and The Adoration of the Magi. The museum also holds masterpieces by Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Anthony van Dyck, Peter Paul Rubens, and Jacques-Louis David.

Collections & Highlights

World's largest Bruegel the Elder collection — The Fall of Icarus, The Census at Bethlehem

Rubens — The Martyrdom of Saint Lieven and other major works

Jacques-Louis David's Death of Marat

Six distinct museums including the Magritte Museum and Fin-de-Siècle Museum

Frequently Asked Questions

Brussels, Belgium

Magritte Museum

A small ask before you go

You've just explored one of humanity's greatest collections of beauty. Art has the power to move us, inspire us, and change how we see the world. But millions of people will never see beauty like this — not because the art isn't there, but because they can't see at all.

Preventable blindness, caused by conditions like cataracts and trachoma, affects people of all ages across the world's poorest communities. A small gift — for the cost of a museum ticket — can provide a simple surgery to restore someone's sight and transform their life.

Donate to restore sight