Yet another beautiful day in Brussels. I decided to go along to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Rue de la Régence to see The British Royal Collection, on the second-last day of the exhibition.

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I thought it would be crowded, but it was amazingly quiet.

About fifty of Queen Elizabeth’s private collection of fifteenth and sixteenth century paintings by Flemish and Dutch masters have been brought over to be displayed alongside the Museum’s own collection. The collection is famous for works by Rubens and van Dyck, but the painting that impressed me most was Bruegel the Elder’s ‘Massacre of the Innocents’. It is inspired by the Biblical story of King Herod, who, having heard the news of the birth of the King of the Jews, ordered the massacre of all male children under the age of two.

In a protest against foreign oppression, Bruegel transposed this atrocity to a severe winter scene, in which he depicted the Spanish cavalry tearing children away from their mothers and murdering them. Shortly afterwards, the painting was bought by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph in Prague. It was considered too violent, so the babies and toddlers were painted over and replaced by animals and bundles. Their shadows can still be seen beneath the alterations. The changes in the painting are considered to be an important part of its history, so restorers left them in.

In the exhibition the painting was displayed beside a copy by Bruegel’s son, Pieter Bruegel the Younger, which shows the original, tragic scene.

To see the painting, click here: http://www.abcgallery.com/B/bruegel/bruegel113.html