after the reconstruction of the " grand place in brussels " there was a turning point for the history of art in the netherlands. in 1711 the city of brussels gave the artists guilds a place for training. one room in the city hall (hôtel de ville) was freed. the guilds of painting, sculpture, weaving and other art areas should have its own training center. on october 16 of the same year the establishment of a new school took place. model was the accademia del designo to florence. in 1752 they moved to the hostel " d'golden head ". in 1762 the duke charles alexander of lorraine took over the school after a long crisis. henceforth, their line was in his hands. his attention rested mainly on the architecture. in 1768 barnabé guimord established the first architecture class. through sales and issue of shares additional funds were made available. a year later the school returned to the town hall. in 1795, the academy was closed after the conquest of brussels by the french revolutionary troops.