After delivering my paper in Brussels, I had the opportunity to visit some of the various museums, churches, and gardens of the city. The Musée royaux d’art et d’histoire has a wonderful, wide-ranging collection of art and artifacts, including finds from Apamea in Syria and Medieval Brussels and the surrounding region. At the Musée Fin-de-Siècle, I fell in love with the work of Constant Montald. The ethereal colors and compositions evoked the power of water—a subject I think of quite often these days, such as La Fontaine de l’Inspiration (1907) and Dancing Nymphs (1898).

Constant Montald, La Fontaine de l’Inspiration (1907) (Image from the Musée royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique.)