ALMOST a century ago a Belgian knight named Fritz Mayer van den Bergh began collecting art objects. He concentrated on Northern Renaissance examples, amassed some 1,000 pieces of high quality before his death in 1901. To hold the collection as a memorial, his mother founded the Mayer van den Bergh Museum. Tucked away in Antwerp's banking district and unchanged in 55 years, the museum is open every day except Monday in the summertime, and on even-numbered days all winter, charges only 5 francs (10ยข) admission. Yet the number of visitors annually is under 5,000. Art historians love the place, but few...
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