Groeninge Museum

This guide to the Groeninge Museum in Bruges opens on a chaotic exhibition day in June 1902, when thirty-five thousand visitors came expecting Hans Memling and left arguing about a different painter entirely. It centers on a 1436 panel Jan van Eyck made for the church canon Joris van der Paele, a dying man who commissioned it as proof his prayers were being heard. You'll hear about a small painted detail on the canon's own face that quietly reshaped how this city was seen. Stand close to study the kneeling patron at the Madonna's feet before you move on.