The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (French: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, pronounced [myze ʁwajo de boz‿aʁ də bɛlʒik]; Dutch: Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, pronounced [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə myːˈzeːjaː voːr ˈsxoːnə ˈkʏnstə(ɱ) vɑm ˈbɛlɣijə]) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium.

The Royal Museums contain over 20,000 drawings, sculptures, and paintings, covering a period extending from the early 15th century to the present, such as those of Flemish old masters like Bruegel, Rogier van der Weyden, Robert Campin, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, and Peter Paul Rubens, making them the most popular art institution and most visited museum complex in Belgium.

[3] Later, during the Dutch period, King William I of the Netherlands sponsored an expansion of the collection (1817 and 1819) and had two wings built on the current Place du Musée/Museumplein (the so-called Palace of National Industry, opened in 1830).

In 1845, it was decided, by royal decree,[4] that the museum was to receive works of art of deceased and living Belgian artists.

Other members were Gustaf Wappers, François-Joseph Navez, Guillaume Geefs, Eugène Simonis, Tilman-François Suys and Luigi Calamatta.

Until 1878, the Brussels Salon, a periodic exhibition of works by living artists, took place in the former apartments of Charles Alexander of Lorraine.

In 1851, the exhibition was held in a temporary construction in the courtyard, before returning to its traditional location until 1881, when the first rooms of the new Museum of Fine Arts could be used.

The works of the Old Masters (French: vieux maîtres, Dutch: oude meesters) were finally moved from the Palace of Charles of Lorraine to the Rue de la Régence/Regentschapsstraat in 1887, giving a new purpose to Alphonse Balat's Palace of Fine Arts (French: Palais des Beaux-Arts, Dutch: Paleis voor Schone Kunsten), which had opened in 1880 (not to be confused with the current Centre for Fine Arts).

[3][6] Other important acquisitions included the Delia Faille de Leverghem (1942) donation, as well as the Delporte-Livrauw (1973) and Goldschmidt (1990) bequests.

The Museum of Modern Art was closed in 1959 and the "Old Court" was partially demolished in 1960 for the construction of the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR).

At the same time, in 1978, the construction of the underground part of the Museum of Modern Art began, with an entrance via the Hôtel Altenloh.

The painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, long-attributed to Bruegel, is located there and forms the subject of W. H. Auden's famous poem Musée des Beaux Arts, named after the museum.

[11] Artists represented in the museum's collection include Constantin Meunier, James Ensor, Henri Evenepoel, Fernand Khnopff, Leon Spilliaert, Jusepe de Ribera, Jacques-Louis David and George Minne.

The life and work of Antoine Wiertz are honoured in the artist's former studio at 62, rue Vautier/Vautierstraat in Ixelles, in the heart of the Leopold Quarter, near Brussels-Luxembourg railway station.

This unique museum offers a striking view of the monumental paintings, statues and sketches marked by the Belgian romantic movement.