The region of modern-day Belgium hasn’t just produced some of the most famous artists in history, it’s also home to museums with incredible fine art collections. Most major museums in Belgium can be found in the major cities, Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent, to name just a few. You can find artworks there ranging from the …

If you would ask me to name my favorite landscape painters in history, then this English artist would definitely be on top of my list. John Constable (1776-1837) enjoyed painting the scenery of the place he grew up in, and that’s why it’s now referred to as “Constable Country.” You can literally sense how much …

The history of the main opera house in Belgium is significantly longer than the country itself. The current Neoclassical building, however, was erected several decades after the country was established and has been altered several times. Better yet, only the magnificent auditorium and the entrance hall of the building date back to the initial construction …

One of the oldest museums in Poland has a history that goes back to the personal collection of fine arts of a Polish princess in the late 18th century. This collection was initially housed in Pulawy, a city in the eastern part of the country, but was moved to Kraków following the Franco-Prussian War in …

What would be a great deterrent for government officials to restrain from being corrupt during their tenure? This was something that the officials of Bruges thought about when they commissioned a scary painting that was hung inside the city’s town hall. Gerard David (1460-1523) was the Early Netherlandish painter who completed this remarkable work of …

When it comes to painters from Antwerp, the first names that come to mind are Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). Both these Flemish artists made a name for themselves abroad. The same can’t be said about Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678), a man who lived and worked in this city in modern-day Belgium …

The heart of the Belgian capital city is home to an area that not just looks picturesque, but also has an extended history. The Mont des Arts or Kunstberg, which translates to “Art Mountain,” is a hill in Brussels that got its name from the museums that are located here. In the 19th century, this …

Turkey is a large country in the utmost southeastern part of Europe that features both a European and an Asian part. The largest city in the country (not the capital) is Istanbul, formerly Byzantium and Constantinople, which majestically separates both continents. Art has been produced here since the ancient Greeks and Romans arrived in this …

What appears to be a jolly bunch during one of the popular carnivals of the late 19th century actually has a much deeper meaning. James Ensor (1860-1949) was a Belgian artist who pioneered grotesque imagery. This type of art was quite revolutionary at the time. Even though he is sometimes labeled as an Expressionist artist, …

When you visit Florida or California, you’re bound to discover several buildings that incorporate Mediterranean Revival architecture. This eclectic style borrows elements from various other types of architecture, predominantly Spanish Colonial architecture, Renaissance architecture, Venetian Gothic architecture, and Beaux-Arts architecture. With so many influences, it’s fairly clear that this isn’t a uniform style as it …