Brussels City Museum

Brussels' Town Hall was erected in stages, between 1401 and 1455, on the south side of the Grand-Place/Grote Markt, transforming the square into the seat of municipal power.{{sfn|State|2004|p=147}} To counter this, from 1504 to 1536, the Duke of Brabant ordered the construction of a large Flamboyant edifice across from the city hall to house his administrative services.{{cite web |title=History of the Grand Place of Brussels |url=http://www.ilotsacre.be/site/en/curiosities/grand_place-brussels.htm |publisher=Commune Libre de l'Îlot Sacré |accessdate=25 August 2009 }} It was erected on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, which were no longer in use.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=19}}

The building was first called the Duke's House ({{langx|dum|'s Hertogenhuys|link=no}}), but when Charles V, Duke of Brabant since 1506, was crowned King of Spain in 1516, it became known as the King's House ({{langx|dum|'s Conincxhuys|link=no}}). It is currently known as the {{lang|fr|Maison du Roi}} ("King's House") in French, although no king has ever lived there, though in Dutch it continues to be called the {{lang|nl|Broodhuis}} ("Bread House"), after the market whose place it took.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=19}} During Charles' reign, the building was completely redone by his court architect {{ill|Antoon II Keldermans|nl|Antoon II Keldermans}} in a late Gothic style very similar to the contemporary design, although without towers or galleries. The projects were presented in 1514 and the construction took place between 1515 and 1536.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=17}}

In 1568, two statesmen, Lamoral, Count of Egmont and Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn, who had spoken out against the policies of King Philip II in the Spanish Netherlands, were beheaded in front of the King's House.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=122–123}}{{sfn|De Vries|2003|p=36}}{{sfn|Heymans|2011|p=16}} This triggered the beginning of the armed revolt against Spanish rule, of which William of Orange took the lead.

File:Broodhuis 1640.jpg|The King's House in Brussels, designed by {{ill|Antoon II Keldermans|nl|Antoon II Keldermans}} in 1514

File:Bor-Nederlantsche-Oorloghen 9150.tif|Execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horn in front of the King's House in 1568

File:Floris Carousel.jpg|Carousel in front of the King's House in 1565 to mark the wedding of the Duke of Parma and Maria of Portugal

The King's House suffered extensive damage in 1695 from the bombardment of Brussels by a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy. The building was then roughly restored by the architect Jan Cosijn in 1697.{{sfn|Des Marez|1918|p=34}} A second more thorough restoration followed in 1767 when it received a neoclassical portal and a large roof pierced with three oeil-de-boeuf windows. The statues of saints accompanying the Virgin Mary were replaced by those of an imperial eagle and a heraldic lion. This also led to the disappearance of the fountain from the portal.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=44–45}}

In the late 18th century, the building served as a {{lang|fr|Maison du Peuple}}/{{lang|nl|Volkshuis}} ("House of the People") during the occupation of Brussels by French Revolutionaries.{{sfn|Des Marez|1918|p=34}} Having become national property, it was ceded to the City of Brussels, which sold it in 1811 to the Marquis {{ill|Paul Arconati-Visconti|nl|Paul Arconati-Visconti}}. The latter did not keep it long; he resold it in 1817. The new owner rented it for the most diverse uses: from a court, to a temporary prison, a storage space for the British cavalry after the Battle of Waterloo, a rehearsal room of the School of Dance of the Theatre of La Monnaie, and a library.

In 1864, a new fountain made by the sculptor Charles-Auguste Fraikin was installed, topped with statues of the Counts of Egmont and Horn, on the site of their execution.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=123}}

File:NIND MVB-Bombardement ISO200.jpg|The Grand-Place in flames during the bombardment of Brussels in 1695. The King's House is on the right.

File:Bombardement Bruxelles 1695 04.jpg|The King's House burning during the bombardment

File:Richard van Orley (II), Augustin Coppens - Ruins on part of the Grand Place from the corner of the Heuvelstraat to St Nicholas.jpg|The surroundings of the King's House after the bombardment

File:Maison du Roi 1860.jpg|The building following the neoclassical restoration

By the mid-19th century, the state of the building had deteriorated and a comprehensive renovation was sorely needed. Under the impulse of the city's then-mayor, Charles Buls, it was reconstructed once again between 1874 and 1896, in its current neo-Gothic form, by the architect {{ill|Victor Jamaer|fr|Victor Jamaer}}, in the style of his mentor Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. On that occasion, Jamaer built two galleries and a central tower. He also adorned the façade with statues and other decorations. At the rear, he added a new, much more sober wing in Flemish neo-Renaissance style. The new King's House was officially inaugurated in 1896.{{fact|date=March 2024}}

During the works, the fountain-sculpture of the Counts of Egmont and Horn was moved to the Square du Petit Sablon/Kleine Zavelsquare, where it now has its back to the Egmont Palace.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=123}} Despite the fountain's move, the memory of the martyrs is still present at the site of their execution through commemorative plaques in French and Dutch, present since 1911 on either side of the entrance to the building, and replacing a previous plaque written only in French and sealed in the sidewalk.{{fact|date=March 2024}}

The current building, whose interior was renovated in 1985, has housed the Brussels City Museum since 1887.{{sfn|State|2004|p=147}} From 1928, the entire building was assigned to the museum's collections. After transformations, it reopened its doors in 1935 on the occasion of the Brussels International Exposition. On 9 March 1936, it was designated a historic monument, at the same time as the Town Hall.{{Cite web|url=http://www.irismonument.be/fr.Bruxelles_Pentagone.Grand-Place.29.html|title=Bruxelles Pentagone - Maison du Roi - Grand-Place 29|website=www.irismonument.be|access-date=2019-05-12}} It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 as part of the registration of the Grand-Place.

File:Broodhuis.JPG|The building before the neo-Gothic reconstruction campaign

File:Bruxelles. Maison du Roi LCCN2017659124.tif|The building in the late 19th century, after reconstruction

File:(Belgium) Brussels City Museum Aug 2009 (crop).jpg|The building as it appears today

The Brussels City Museum features more than 7,000 items, including artefacts, paintings and tapestries from Brussels' history, such as the Town Hall's original sculptures.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=44–45}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.brusselsmuseums.be/en/museums/brussels-city-museum|title=Brussels City Museum|last=Fun|first=Everything is|date=2017-03-10|website=Brussels Museums|language=en|access-date=2019-05-30}} There are two dioramas of the city of Brussels in its early days and as it began to flourish in the 1500s. The museum's painting collections include works by the Flemish Primitive Aert van den Bossche (15th century) and the French historical painter Charles Meynier (18th century).

The original statue of Manneken Pis is on view on the top floor. Many items of the statue's wardrobe, consisting of around one thousand different costumes, could also be viewed in a permanent exhibition inside the museum until February 2017, when a specially designed museum, called Garderobe MannekenPis, opened its doors nearby at 19, {{lang|fr|rue du Chêne|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Eikstraat|italic=no}}.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belgium-mannekenpis-museum-idUSKBN15I1DW|title=New Brussels museum displays costumes of Manneken Pis statue|date=2017-02-03|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-05-30|language=en}}

The City Museum is open every day except Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On the first Sunday of every month, admission to the museum is free.

File:Aert van den Bossche - Martyrdom and Beheading of Saints Crispin and Crispinian (Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian)(2).jpg|Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, Aert van den Bossche, 1490

File:Aert van den Bossche - Martyrdom and Beheading of Saints Crispin and Crispinian (Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian).jpg|Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, Van den Bossche, 1490

File:NIND MVB-Bombardement ISO200.jpg|The Grand-Place on fire during the night of 13th to 14th August 1695, Anonymous; 146 x 180 cm

File:NIND MVB-heraldicLion ISO200.jpg|Heraldic lion, end of the 18th century

File:Meynier Bonaparte premier consul.jpg|Bonaparte first consul, Charles Meynier, 1804

File:NIND MVB-JardinBotanique ISO200.jpg|The Botanical Garden, Paul Vitzthumb, 1828

File:NIND MVB-1887GrandPlace ISO200.jpg|Brussels' Town Hall and the Sunday market, Cornelis Christiaan Dommersen, 1887

{{Portal|Belgium}}

• List of museums in Brussels
• History of Brussels
• Culture of Belgium
• Belgium in the long nineteenth century

{{Reflist|20em}}

• {{cite book|last1=Culot|first1=Maurice|last2=Hennaut|first2=Eric|last3=Demanet|first3=Marie|last4=Mierop|first4=Caroline|title=Le bombardement de Bruxelles par Louis XIV et la reconstruction qui s'ensuivit, 1695–1700|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=AAM éditions|year=1992|isbn=978-2-87143-079-7}}
• {{cite book|last=De Vries|first=André|title=Brussels: A Cultural and Literary History|location=Oxford|publisher=Signal Books|year=2003|isbn=978-1-902669-46-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sh4H3m-ztBAC}}
• {{cite book|last=Des Marez|first=Guillaume|title=Guide illustré de Bruxelles|volume=1|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Touring Club Royal de Belgique|year=1918}}
• {{cite book|last=Hennaut|first=Eric|title=La Grand-Place de Bruxelles|series=Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire|volume=3|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Éditions de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale|year=2000|url=http://patrimoine.brussels/liens/publications-numeriques/versions-pdf/bvah/la-grand-place-de-bruxelles}}
• {{cite book|last=Heymans|first=Vincent|title=Les maisons de la Grand-Place de Bruxelles|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=CFC Éditions|year=2011|isbn=978-2-930018-89-8}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|first=Paul F.|last=State|title=Historical dictionary of Brussels|volume=14|series=Historical dictionaries of cities of the world|location=Lanham, MD|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8108-5075-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LErne3-05qoC}}
• {{cite book|ref={{harvid|Mardaga|1993}}|title=Le Patrimoine monumental de la Belgique: Bruxelles|volume=1B: Pentagone E-M|location=Liège|language=fr|publisher=Pierre Mardaga|year=1993|url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/files/cities/1000/documents/02-vol-b-fr-def_k.pdf}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Museum of the City of Brussels}}
• [https://www.brusselscitymuseum.brussels/en/ Official website]

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