Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire

Sunday, museum time. I've been meaning to visit the Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire in Parc Cinquantenaire for some time now and today was the day. I wasn't too sure what to expect (apart from the obvious, given the title - I had a feeling art and history might feature) and indeed it was massive.

I was taken on a whirlwind tour of Egypt, Greece, Syria, northern Canada, Malaysia and saw everything from antique sleighs from the Low Countries to mosaic ballroom floors from Syria. Although I have stepped inside a church a grand total of about 4 times in my life, I was especially taken with a Baroque altar depicting - rather gruesomely - the demise of St. George. How one can 'carve' flames (lapping at poor St George's slim frame, natch) in a way which makes them look intricate and frightening at the same time I do not know, but Flemish sculptor Jan Borman managed to succeed. He created this piece in Leuven in 1493, and it is one of the pieces he's best known for. Rightly so, this has accomplished the incredible feat of getting me interested in visiting another church or cathedral sometime soon for more altar-snooping!