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A bigger house for Fritz's collection

Museum and residence reunited

Museum Mayer van den Bergh is expanding. The adjacent corner house, once the parental home of art collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh and until 2021 Antwerp's district house, will become part of the museum. A new extension at the back of the building completes the whole. The museum will close from April 23, 2025, for necessary renovations, but don't worry, you can still visit (part of) the exceptional collection at the nearby Maagdenhuis. Reopening is scheduled for 2029.

Museum reunited with family residence

Museum Mayer van den Bergh is expanding. The museum of the future will include the adjacent corner house - once the childhood home of art collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh - and a new building. The preliminary design for the renovation and expansion is ready! 

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. 

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.  

Under restoration

Taking care of our collection

Museum Mayer van den Bergh ensures the proper preservation of the house and collection. But for some objects, good conservation is not enough. This is when we move on to restoration.

Helping hands

In TV shows like The Highest Bid and Four Rooms, buying and selling works of art seems easier than ever. In the time of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, things were a little different. How did Fritz still manage to build such an impressive collection, with work from all over Europe? And who helped him do that?

Masterpieces in prime condition: the Mayer van den Berghs and their art conservators

A large art collection also means a great responsibility. The archives of the Mayer van den Berghs show that Fritz and Henriëtte took the conservation of their collection extremely seriously. What did a proper restoration mean to them? How did they choose their select circle of conservators? What was it like dealing with them?

Iconic Italians in ink

The part of the Mayer van den Bergh collection that is perhaps least well represented in today's museum galleries are the drawings. There are conservatorial reasons for this. At the same time, it is quite unfortunate, because in Fritz's collection, art on paper plays an important role.