Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts

The Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts - École supérieure des Arts de la Ville de Bruxelles (ARBA-ESA), in Dutch Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Brussel, is the Belgian art school, established in Brussels in the Kingdom of Belgium. It was founded in 1711. At the beginning housed in a single room in the city hall, in 1876 the school moved to a former convent and orphanage in the Rue du Midi, rehabilitated by the architect Pierre-Victor Jamaer, where the school still operates.

The Bombardment of Brussels by French troops in 1695 was the most destructive event in the history of this town. After the reconstruction of the Grand Place in Brussels there was a turning point for the history of art in the Netherlands. In 1711 the City of Brussels gave the artists guilds a place for training. One room in the city hall (Hôtel de Ville) was freed. The guilds of painting, sculpture, weaving and other art areas should have its own training center. On October 16 of the same year the establishment of a new school took place. Model was the Accademia del Designo to Florence. In 1752 they moved to the hostel d'Golden Head . In 1762 the Duke Charles Alexander of Lorraine took over the school after a long crisis. Henceforth, their line was in his hands. His attention rested mainly on the architecture. In 1768 Barnabé Guimord established the first architecture class. Through sales and issue of shares additional funds were made available. A year later the school returned to the town hall. In 1795, the Academy was closed after the conquest of Brussels by the French revolutionary troops.

In 1829 the school moved into the Granvelle Palace on. One year later François-Joseph Navez became director. There was new life in the Académie, while the sculpture has been strongly promoted. He organized the school and expanded it. In 1832 it went to the basement of the left wing of the Industrial Palace. From 1835 til 1836 the plans of Navez were implemented. In 1836 it was awarded the privilege to wear "royale" as part of their name. The panel painting was declared to another important department. This was based on the old painting of the first golden age of Dutch painting. However, there was some time tensions at the Academy to the yet propagated Style of Neo-Classicism. In addition to painting and sculpture architectural education became more important. Only they never achieved the status of a pioneering teaching and training facility.

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