The Academy Palace or Palace of the Academies ( ; or ) is a neoclassical palace in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. It was originally built between 1823 and 1828 for Prince William II of Orange. Nowadays, it houses five Belgian academies including the

Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association that promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

(RASAB). In English, it is also often called the Academy House. The palace is situated on the / in the

Royal Quarter The Royal Quarter ( or ; or ) is a quarter in the historic upper town of Brussels, Belgium. It is situated between Brussels Park, the Royal Palace, the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg and the Sablon/Zavel. It is an excellent example of 18th-ce ...

(eastern part of Brussels' city centre), next to the Place des Palais/Paleizenplein, the

Royal Palace of Brussels The Royal Palace of Brussels ( ; ; ) is the official palace of the Monarchy of Belgium, King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital, Brussels. However, it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family l ...

and

Brussels Park Brussels Park ( ; or ) is the largest urban public park in central Brussels, Belgium. The park was formerly known and is still sometimes colloquially referred to as the Royal Park ( ; ). It was the city's first public park, being originally ...

. This area is served by

Brussels-Central railway station Brussels-Central railway station (; ) is a railway and metro station in central Brussels, Belgium. It is the second busiest railway station in Belgium and one of three principal railway stations in Brussels, together with Brussels-South and ...

, as well as by the

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

stations Parc/Park (on lines 1 and 5) and Trône/Troon (on lines 2 and 6).

History

The Palace of William II

The rather austere neoclassical palace and its stables were built between 1823 and 1828 for Prince William II of Orange in recognition of his brilliant action on the battlefield at Waterloo, from funds granted by the nation. It was the joint work of two architects, and Tilman-François Suys, at a total cost of 1.2 million florins. The princely family of William of Orange and his princess, Anna Pavlovna, sister of tsars

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

and Nicholas I, occupied the palace a scant two years before the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

of September 1830 forced them to flee to the Netherlands. From 1830 to 1839, the palace was under sequestration by the newborn Belgian State, and a detailed inventory was drawn up. The public was allowed to tour the palace, and its interiors were considered the most sumptuous that had ever been seen in Belgium. An agreement on 5 November 1842 ceded the structure to the Belgian State, while its contents, adjudged the personal goods of William, were shipped to his Palace of Soestdijk in the Netherlands. After housing the 1st Regiment of Chasseurs-Carabiniers in 1848–1852, and having been refused by the

Duke of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Le ...

when offered to him in 1853, the palace remained in use for public festivities. The architect , a member of the ''Académie Royale de Belgique'' ("Royal Academy of Belgium"), was entrusted with transformations, finished in 1862, which fitted the building to house the ''Musée Moderne'' ("Modern Museum").

The Academy Palace (1876–present)

Through a

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

issued on 30 April 1876, the palace was put at the disposal of the two existing French-speaking Belgian academies: the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium ( , sometimes referred to as ' ) is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Community of Belgium. One of Belgium's numerous academies, it is the French-speak ...

(), which had been founded in 1772, and the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium () founded in 1841. In 1892, it was used as venue for that year's

International Monetary Conference The International Monetary Conference (IMC) is a non-profit organization that convenes a yearly gathering of senior financial industry executives. It has been described as "an annual conference of the CEOs of the largest banks around the world". O ...

. In 1925, the Academy of Medicine hosted in the ''Salle de Marbre'' the diplomatic negotiations of the second International Conference on the Unification of the Formulae for Potent Medicines which resulted in the Second Brussels International Pharmacopoeia Agreement. Three further academies came to share the space in the 20th century: the French-speaking Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium ( or ARLLFB) founded in 1920; the Dutch-speaking Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium () founded in 1938 and called since 1999 the

Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (, , abbr. KVAB) is an independent learned society of science and arts of the Flemish Community in Belgium. It is one of Belgium's numerous academies and traces its origin to 1772 when ...

( or KVAB); and the Dutch-speaking Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium (), also founded in 1938. Since 10 October 2001, the palace has been listed as a

protected monument In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

by the Monuments and Sites Directorate of the Brussels-Capital Region.

Garden

The Academy Palace is surrounded by a garden adorned with quite a few sculptures, including a statue of the astronomer Adolphe Quételet by Charles-Auguste Fraikin (1880), busts of the chemist Jean Servais Stas by Thomas Vinçotte on a

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

Victor Horta Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theoris ...

(1897), and the lawyer and politician Jules Destrée by (1937), as well as ''The Surprise'', a work with a dog and a turtle by Jean-Baptiste Van Heffen (1869). Around the pond, on the side of the /, there are three statues on high pedestals: a replica of '' The Discobolus'' by Mathieu Kessels (1867), ''The Victor'' by , and '' Cain Cursed'' by Louis Jehotte (1850). The garden is enclosed by a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

. At the entrance, two monumental

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

lion sculptures by Félix Bouré flank the entrance gates. A young

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

also contributed to the execution of the sculptural group on a pedestal, symbolising ''Science'', ''Trade'' and ''Agriculture'', by (1874). File:Bruxelles Palais des Académies 1002.jpg, ''Cain Cursed'' by Louis Jéhotte (1850) File:Wlovesmon 38.jpg, ''The Discobolus'' (1867), original by Mathieu Kessels (1824–25) File: Bruxelles Palais des Académies 1201.jpg, ''The Surprise'' by Jean-Baptiste Van Heffen (1869) File:Bruxelles Palais des Académies 1214JPG.JPG, Bust of Jean Servais Stas by Thomas Vinçotte (1897)

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

*
Le Palais des Académies/Paleis der Academiën
{{Authority control Palaces in Brussels City of Brussels Protected heritage sites in Brussels Neoclassical palaces in Belgium Culture of Belgium 1828 establishments in the Netherlands