Bruges’ premier fine arts museum, the Groeninge, holds a fabulous collection of early Flemish and Dutch masters, featuring artists such as the influential Rogier van der Weyden, Jan van Eyck, and Hans Memling. Hieronymous Bosch, famous for the strange freakish creatures of his moral allegories, is well represented too, as are Gerard David and Pieter Brueghel the Younger. These early works are displayed in the first ten rooms of the museum and beyond is a collection of later Belgian painters, most notably Paul Delvaux, and Rene Magritte. Originally built between 1929 and 1930, the museum is small and displays its collection in rotation.

The Groeninge is arranged on one level with a two-storey extension. The main entrance leads to a series of rooms displaying the early Flemish masters and twentieth century art. Works from the seventeenth century are exhibited in the extension which is reached through the back of the main gallery.