A visit to the Cinquantenaire Museum is a fascinating journey around the work and through the centuries. The museum hosts hundreds of thousands of works of art and historical objects, ranging from prehistory to the twentieth century. The archaeological finds are not limited to Belgium, but also come from Egypt, the Near East, Iran, China, South-East and Central Asia, America and Classical Antiquity. The museum treasures include Hellenistic mosaics from Apamea (Syria), a statuette from Persepolis, funerary busts from Palmyra, and beautiful Merovingian jewellery. The museum also has the most important collection of handmade lace in the world and a large Art Nouveau collection.

The museum curators were assigned the difficult task of selecting the top hundred from the vast museum collection. The result is this publication, which brings together for the first time the absolute highlights from the collection of the museum. The high-quality illustrations and concise, clear commentary situate the works of art in their period and place as well as providing background information.