Nine new ‘Master’s Tours’ will guide art and heritage lovers through key works of the Flemish Masters. Launched on Wednesday at the Message Chapel in Heverlee, the routes are part of Flemish Masters in Situ, an initiative by Visit Flanders to highlight artworks in their original locations.
Since summer 2023, the Flemish Masters in Situ project has sought to present these masterpieces as their creators intended, allowing visitors to see them in the same lighting and surroundings for which they were designed. The network has grown to include 106 locations, ranging from churches and castles to chapels, artist homes, and even steam trains.
These sites showcase the legacy of Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, James Ensor, and their contemporaries, whose works shaped Belgian and European art history.
The newly introduced routes connect these locations more seamlessly, linking them to existing cycling and walking trails while also leading visitors past restaurants and cafés.
Full experience
According to Peter De Wilde, CEO of Visit Flanders, simply mapping the locations was not enough. Visitors, he said, are looking for a complete experience, which led to the development of routes that tie the sites together.
The nine trails are spread across Bruges, Ghent, Kortrijk, Mechelen, Antwerp, the Diest region, the Leie region around Sint-Martens-Latem, the coastal area, and Leuven.
Visit Flanders is also considering the creation of a tenth route in South-West Flanders, alongside three additional thematic routes focusing on Anthony van Dyck, reliquaries, and artist homes.
