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Restoration Dulle Griet reveals unseen wealth of colour and fresh discoveries

Peter Bruegel the Elder’s Dulle Griet has regained its spectacular original appearance with the rediscovery during restoration of a blue-green sky. Click here for more info

Dulle Griet & Twelve Proverbs on Plates

Dulle Griet (‘Mad Meg’) is one of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s most enigmatic works. For 125 years now, the painting has been the star attraction in the collection of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, who rediscovered it.

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The sculptural group of Christ and St John the Apostle gets make-over

Christ and St John the Apostle (± 1300) by Master Heinrich von Konstanz, one of the museum's masterpieces and outright public favourite, is currently being examined and restored at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels. A team of specialists have been studying the wooden sculpture from top to bottom, which has produced some surprising results.

Christ on the Cross with Donors regains colourful splendour

The monumental triptych 'Christ on the Cross with Donors' painted by Quintin Massys (1456/66-1530) is once more on display in our museum for visitors to admire. Until late February 2024, the work could be seen in the successful exhibition of artistic masterpieces entitled ‘Rare and Indispensable’ in the MAS in Antwerp. Before that, it had undergone essential restoration work at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels. The masterpiece has now regained its original wealth of colour and can now be seen as Massys intended.  

The story of a museum and family residence

Historical background

In 1862, the Mayer van den Bergh family moved into the city palace on the corner of Lange Gasthuisstraat and Arenbergstraat. Fritz was raised to have a love of art. After his death, his mother Henriëtte had a museum built next to the family home. 

Stories from the Archives

In addition to a valuable art collection, the Museum Mayer van den Bergh houses an extensive historical archive. The core of this was bequeathed by Henriette Mayer van den Bergh, the museum's founder. The archive contains a wealth of information about the works of art in the collection, the foundation of the museum, and the eventful lives of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, his mother Henriette, and the family. In this web dossier, we recount some of these stories.