Belgium’s finest art cities, from Antwerp to Brussels
30 Jul 2018
The region of Flanders boasts a number of beautiful Belgian towns, which are characterised by their sophistication and serenity.
While taking the time to explore the historic centres of Ghent, Antwerp and Bruges, it is all too easy to forget that for over a hundred years this small region was the heart of the Northern Renaissance, where an explosion of innovation at the beginning of the 15th century changed Western art for good.
In the early 17th century a single figure was to once again put Flanders on Europe’s artistic map. In this period, the immensely versatile Peter Paul Rubens spearheaded the Flemish Baroque movement and made his hometown Antwerp the triumphant beacon of the Counter-Reformation.
Our Flemish art tour traces the story of the region’s art, bringing it to life with the insight of an excellent lecturer.
Flemish Painting – Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels
1–6 July 2025.
When Jan van Eyck mastered the techniques of oil painting in the early 15th century, he began a golden age of art in Flanders. Our five-day tour takes in many of the masterpieces of that era, in Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels; among northern Europe’s loveliest towns.
The tour is led by Dr Sue Jones, Specialist in Netherlandish art between the 14th and 16th centuries. She was Assistant Curator at the National Gallery in London, a Fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago, and she has taught widely in both the US and the UK. In recent years, she was a member of the ‘Verona’ project at the KIK-IRPA in Brussels, which published a new technical imaging of Jan van Eyck’s paintings.
