Painting in the Southern Low Countries in the 17th century is brilliantly represented. The museum also has a number of exceptional works by Jan Brueghel the Elder, the son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. His Still Life with Garland of Flowers and Cup is a genuine jewel. The most outstanding pieces, however, are the paintings by Rubens. We should mention both his great altar paintings displayed in the vast Rubens room (including The Martyrdom of Saint Livinus), as well as works of a smaller size. These include the twelve sketches inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses and designed to decorate the Torre de la Parada hunting lodge near Madrid, which are real masterpieces. They enable us to appreciate the artist's true virtuosity.

The art of Anthony van Dyck is represented by a number of portraits dating from his Italian and Antwerp periods. There may not be many of them, but they are of very high quality, such as the Portrait of the Sculptor François Duquesnoy. We should also note the splendid Jordaens room (The Allegory of Fertility) and a remarkable ensemble of paintings by David Teniers the Younger (Archiduke Leopold William in his Gallery of Italian Paintings). Connoisseurs can also enjoy less well-known small paintings by masters such as Adriaen Brouwer (Drinkers at Table) or the balanced compositions of painters from the Liège school, such as Bertholet Flémal.

The museum also has a collection of Dutch paintings from the 17th century, which are exceptional both in terms of quality and quantity. All of the genres of the Golden Age are represented by the greatest painters: biblical scenes by Abraham Bloemaert, portraits by Rembrandt (Portrait of Nicolaas van Bambeeck) and by Frans Hals, genre scenes by Adriaen van Ostade, Gabriel Metsu and Jan Steen (The Rhetoricians), landscapes by Jacob Isaacsz. van Ruisdael and Nicolaas Berchem, architectural paintings by Gerrit Berckheyde, seascapes by Jan van Goyen and Ludolf Bakhuizen, still lifes by Jan Davidsz. de Heem (Still Life with Fruit and Lobster).

From the 17th century Italian school, there is the masterpiece by Guercino (Giuseppe Gaetano Righetti (?) Presented to the Virgin by Four Saints) and the French school has great works by Claude Lorrain and Philippe de Champaigne (Presentation in the Temple).

For the 18th century, we should mention the charming paintings by Francesco Guardi and Hubert Robert. The famous painting by Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, like other works produced at the end of the 18th century, forms part of the collections of the Museum of Modern Art.