Anyone with a successful business in 17th and 18th century Bruges likes nothing more than to display their riches. Not only the old, noble families, but also wealthy traders and artisans decorate their homes lavishly. They follow the latest European trends, especially those originating from the French court, and eagerly purchase all kinds of novelties.

The style and tone become more light-hearted, frivolous and a little more exotic. During the 17th century, walls were still adorned with sober still lifes, but in the 18th century brightly painted outdoor scenes bring the world into their homes. Furniture is designed with more flowing lines. Tables are decked with centrepieces in opulently-decorated silver and porcelain. And, of course, fashionable novelties such as coffee, tea and chocolate need their own serving pots...

In this room you are introduced to the refined lifestyle of the wealthy citizens of Bruges. We start with a painting depicting ten people: three men and seven women of various ages. It is oil on canvas dating from 1778, measuring approximately 60 cm by one metre. The scene plays out in their home.

We have a glimpse of the busy salon of the Veranneman-De Massiet family. It is five minutes to four, according to the 17th-century clock on the right. A servant is bringing in the afternoon tea, right on the dot. The lord of the manor leads a priest inside. He has a magnificent walking stick with a beautifully decorated knob! Perhaps there is something to discuss? Could it be the marriage of one of the daughters?

The lady of the house is busy with the linen, and the rest of the company is embroidering and mending. Maybe they are the daughters, or other family members. We do not know for certain. They are all wearing a dress in a different colour. The women and men's clothes are decorated with exquisite lace.

This is everyday life for the elite in Bruges, and elsewhere for that matter, in the 18th century. Citizens imitate the lifestyle of the nobility, who, in turn, are keen to mimic the style of the French royal court.

In this room you will discover objects that could have been taken right out of the painting. They were made by the artisans of Bruges. In the previous room you were introduced to their craftsmanship. In the next room you will learn more about the lace that adorned their clothes.

We invite you to take a seat on the salon chair in front of you. There you can relax, just like these citizens did at home: playing cards, and other games. And enjoying the gossip rags or catching up with the latest news. The magazines are lying on the table or on the chair. The playing cards and other attributes are displayed under the glass tabletop. A little further along in this room is a spinet, an instrument from the family of the harpsichord, from 1591.

In this painting it's like peering through a window, at a sunny garden under a blue sky with a few scattered clouds. Paintings such as this allowed citizens in the 18th century to bring the sunny outdoors into their salons. Not to mention their proud city. In the background the Bruges skyline catches the eye, with its three towers: that of the Church of Our Lady, the Belfry and the tower of the St. Salvator Cathedral. Not far from the left edge of the painting, next to the Church of Our Lady, you find this very museum with its tower. On the right, behind the hedge, the Eekhout Abbey orchard is in full bloom. Today, it houses the Groeninge Museum, Bruges' Museum of Fine Arts. In the foreground people are busy in the vegetable garden.

But the real showstopper is the private ornamental garden in the centre of the painting, which is partially in shadow. People are taking a stroll there. It is a beautiful example of a French-style garden: with rectangular parterres, small monuments, symmetrical landscaped lawns, flowerbeds, low-growing fruit trees and so on. We also know who the owners are: this is the garden of Bruges councillor François Willaeys and his wife Anne-Thérèse Vleys, as it looked in 1759.

The painting was created by Jan Anton Garemijn, who also painted Afternoon Tea, which we previously discussed (under number 33). This one is oil on canvas and is almost a metre wide and one metre eighty high.

This large tapestry also brings us to the 17th and 18th century. The interest in science is gaining ground. The tapestry belongs to a series of seven about the so-called liberal arts. These include mathematics, music, grammar ... and the science presented here, astronomy. Another tapestry from the series hangs in the museum hall, above the entrance to the first room. The tapestry in front of you is made from wool and silk and is almost four metres high and over three metres wide.

In the centre of the tapestry is a female figure with wings, wearing a flowing robe. At her feet sits a man with a child next to him. The tapestry’s borders suggest abundance and wealth, with their fruit and flower motifs. But what does it all mean? The Latin text provides a clue. It says: 'Studying the heavens, she teaches us to plough the earth and explore the sea.' ‘She’ is the winged woman with the crown of stars around her head and a sceptre in her left hand. With her other hand she is pointing to a celestial globe.

This woman is the personification of Astronomy, the study of celestial objects and phenomena, and one of the seven liberal arts. In the sky, the Greco-Roman god Apollo passes by in his sun chariot. And so, we find classical mythology integrated in an artwork that sings the praises of science. This too is typical of the 17th and 18th centuries.

You could almost say, ‘Dinner is served!’. Here, we discover how wealthy citizens, or at least their servants, set their table in the 1600s and 1700s. You are standing in front of a large table covered in a white linen tablecloth. On the table are two large glass structures. They are shaped like a capped pyramid. The table has been laid underneath the glass.

But first, let’s go briefly back in time, to the 1500s: during this period people eat from wooden or earthenware bowls or tin plates, and they use a spoon and usually a knife as well. A lot has changed over the two centuries that follow.

Indeed, new habits emerge in the 17th century. Everyone has his or her own plate. Made from earthenware, tin, porcelain or silver, depending on your wealth and on the occasion. You spoon your portion onto your plate and increasingly eat with a fork, spoon, and knife. There are more glasses on the table too. We can see from the tables, also here in Bruges, that the world is getting bigger. More and more exotic fabrics and objects appear, such as imported porcelain and Venetian glass. The nobility serves as the model and prosperous citizens follow their example.

In the 18th century, everything acquires a permanent place and dinner services and the range of cutlery expand. Think of dessert forks, butter knives, fish knives, soup tureens and so on. And everything matches beautifully. This trend is influenced by French dining etiquette.

At the end of room 10, where we are now, there are two smaller rooms. We start in the room on the left, room 11.