Flowers paint beauty and transience alike
Tuin der lusten brings seventeenth-century flower still lifes together with research into their materials. Museum De Lakenhal shows how flowers could depict beauty, science, desire and transience all at once.
In a flower still life a bouquet stands still, yet the subject carries time within it. With paintings and objects from The Phoebus Foundation, Tuin der lusten (Garden of Delights) shows how flowers depicted beauty, science, desire and transience.
The exhibition presents work by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Clara Peeters, Anna Maria Janssens and Jan Davidsz. De Heem, among others. Paintings and objects from The Phoebus Foundation show different ways of depicting flowers.
Numerous flower still lifes have undergone technical material analysis. This brought hidden compositions to light and showed that real butterfly wings have been incorporated into some of the painted insects.
The scenography is by the Antwerp fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck. His design creates a dialogue between seventeenth-century art and contemporary fashion.
Tuin der lusten – De zeventiende eeuw in bloei (Garden of Delights – The Seventeenth Century in Bloom) can be seen from 26 September 2026 to 29 March 2027 at Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.