The Town Hall and Palace of Justice contain several important pictures, and both buildings are architecturally instinctive; the former is very highly decorated Gothic, with a fine façade, and several statues of the Flemish counts. There is a library in the town hall with a beautiful roof. Here are some missals and manuscripts, and a large collection of books. The Palace of Justice has been restored, but parts of the older building remain. It has a spacious hall, and an elaborate fireplace, with statues of some of the rulers of Burgundy. La Chapelle du Saint Sang is finely decorated, and has an ancient crypt, containing early treasures. We must now visit the academy of painting, and inspect the pictures, though not without regret that there are so few works of the illustrious artists of Bruges, the brothers Van Eyck, in the collection. There is, however, one of J. Van Eyck's greatest pictures in the academy. This is the famous "Portrait of his Wife," a rarely finished piece of work, with a singular history, for it was found in one of the markets of Bruges, thickly coated with filth. The permanent quality of the colour used by the Flemish artists of this period is instanced in the case of this portrait, which has been most successfully cleaned. The tints are in splendid preservation. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the art of Flanders flourished, and the brothers Van Eyck were the pioneers of oil painting. Many painters had tried oil as a medium, but none succeeded till Hubert and Jan Van Eyck discovered a suitable oil. Working with this new medium, they produced wonderfully durable pictures. It is supposed that the medium was a mixture of oils and resin, which dried rapidly. The colours of our modern artists cannot compare with those of the old Flemish school in respect to durability, which is seen in some of the works of the Victorian period in England. The other paintings by Jan Van Eyck are "The Virgin and Child, with St George and St Donatus," and "A Head of Christ," dated 1440. Of these two pictures, the former is by far the more representative of the painter's genius. J. Van Eyck died, and was buried in Bruges, in a church which the French destroyed. There is a poor statue of the painter on the ground whereon the church stood. Memling's altarpiece is in the collection, a much restored painting of "St Christopher and the Infant Jesus." For other works of this artist, we must visit the Hospital of St John, which stands near to Notre Dame. The pictures are very remarkable and marvellously preserved. "The Adoration of the Magi," "The Virgin and Child," "The Head of Zambetha," "The Virgin," and other examples are in this collection.