Originally, the gallery was part of the Marché de la Madeleine/Magdalenamarkt complex, a covered market also designed by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer.

[1][2] The façade on the Rue de la Madeleine/Magdalenastraat, in a Flemish Baroque style, antedates the construction of the gallery behind it.

This front dates from 1763 and was recovered from the Hôtel des Grandes Messageries, a town house situated on that site.

Starting from the Hôtel des Grandes Messageries, located on the Rue de la Madeleine, the gallery passed along the rounded southern end of the market hall on the level of its first floor, and ended on the Rue Saint-Jean.

[3] The Madeleine market was demolished in 1957 and replaced by a modern event hall, leaving only the original façade in place.