Housed in the former Royal Palace on Revolution Square, this is Romania's most important art collection. The European gallery holds works by El Greco, Rembrandt, Rubens, Tintoretto, and Monet, while the medieval Romanian section is the best survey of Wallachian and Moldavian religious art anywhere — gilded icons, embroidered vestments, and entire reconstructed church interiors.
The modern Romanian gallery covers the great names: Grigorescu's pastoral landscapes, Aman's salon paintings, Brâncuși's early figurative sculptures, and the modernists of the inter-war period. Allow at least half a day; the building itself, with its grand staircase and ceremonial halls, is worth the entry fee alone.