Museum Mayer Van den Bergh

Museum Mayer Van den Bergh Review

Pieter Bruegel the Elder's arguably greatest and most enigmatic painting, Dulle Griet, is the showpiece here (room 9). Often referred to in English as "Mad Meg," it portrays an irate woman wearing helmet and breastplate—a sword in one hand, and food and cooking utensils in the other—striding across a field strewn with the ravages and insanity of war. There is no consensus on how to read this painting. Some consider it one of the most powerful antiwar statements ever made. Others claim that it denounces the Inquisition. Either way, nothing could be further from the Bruegelian villages than this nightmare world. In 1894, Mayer Van den Bergh bought Dulle Griet for 480 Belgian francs. Today it is priceless. The museum also has a set of Bruegel's witty, miniature illustrations of Twelve Proverbs, based on popular Flemish sayings.

Mayer Van den Bergh was a passionate art connoisseur who amassed a private collection of almost 4,000 works in the 19th century. The collection includes treasures such as a life-size polychrome statue from about 1300 of St. John resting his head on Christ's chest (room 6). It is, however, the Bruegels that make this small museum a must. There's an English-language pamphlet on sale for €2.50 that reviews part of the collection.