_Follow Rue St. Catherine (continuation of Rue Notre-Dame, beyond the Hospital), then take Rue de la Vigne (third on the right) leading to Place de la Vigne. Immediately on the right, behind the Béguinage Bridge over the Reye, at the end of Minnewater Lock, is_ the Renaissance porch (1776) of the entrance to the +Béguinage Convent+ _(photo, p. 105 and sketch below)_. A grassy courtyard shaded with slender elms and bordered by low white cottages, neat and clean like those of a Dutch village, breathes monastic calm and peace. The tiny church, dating from the beginning of the 17th century, was built on the site of the 13th century edifice (destroyed by fire). The Béguinage was founded by Countess Jeanne of Constantinople. The northern door is the only remaining vestige of the former building. In the interior are several paintings and tombs of Nuns ("Béguines"). Adjoining the house of the Supérieure (Grande Dame), is a 15th century chapel containing a carved tabernacle, a brass tablet with a 16th century effigy, and painted vaulting. [Illustration] _On the right, at the other side of the bridge is +the Minnewater+ (Photo, p. 105 and sketch opposite)._ The Minnewater was formerly a navigable basin constructed at the point where the Reye enters the city. The original wooden bridge, flanked with two towers of masonry, was replaced in 1470 by the present structure. The eastern tower no longer exists, but the round western one still stands at the head of the bridge, and commands a charming view--often reproduced pictorially--of the town, with its towers and the Béguinage Convent in the foreground. [Illustration: +Entrance to the Béguinage.+] _Follow Rue de l'Arsenal, turning left into Rue St. Catherine, at the corner of which stands the +Musée de Peinture+ (See sketch, p. 104)_. ☙ ☙ ☙ [Illustration: +The Minnewater.+ _In the background:_ +Tower of Notre-Dame.+] [Illustration: +Entrance to the Musée de Peinture.+] The Musée de Peinture. This Museum contains a collection of early Flemish masterpieces. At the entrance are two famous paintings by Gérard David (1498): _The Judgment of Cambyses_ and _The Chastisement of the Unjust Judge_. Next come: _The Last Judgment_, by Jean Prévost (1525); _The Baptism of Christ_, a triptych by Gérard David (1507), with portraits of the donor and his family; _The Virgin and Child_, _St. George_ and _St. Donatian_, with a fine portrait of the donor, _Canon Van der Paele_, by Jean van Eyck (1436); a triptych by Memling (1484); _St. Christopher, St. Maurus and St. Giles_, with a portrait of the donor, W. Moreel, his wife, five sons and eleven daughters (St. George and John-the-Baptist are depicted on the folding leaves); _The Last Judgment_, by Van den Coornhuuse, a master-painter of Bruges; two miniatures, by G. David; two paintings, by Lancelot Blondeel (1545): _St. Luke_ and _The Legend of St. George_; also paintings by Pourbus, Clayessens, Claeys, Van Oost and Van Goyen.