Garden of Delights. The Seventeenth Century in Bloom
From 26 September 2026 to 29 March 2027, The Phoebus Foundation presents Garden of Delights: The Seventeenth Century in Bloom at Museum De Lakenhal, an exhibition exploring a period when flowers became far more than simply a popular artistic subject. They stood at the crossroads of art and science, global trade and collecting, reflecting a society that observed, documented and admired the natural world with remarkable curiosity.
As Antwerp, Amsterdam and Bruges grow into international centres of trade and learning, new plants from Asia, Africa and the Americas arrive in the Low Countries. They find their way into botanical gardens and cabinets of curiosities, are studied by scholars, and immortalised by artists with extraordinary precision. Flowers become commodities and status symbols, scientific specimens and religious metaphors. Behind every bouquet lies a story of wealth, ambition, faith, and the ever-changing relationship between people and nature.
Bringing together an exceptional selection of paintings, prints, drawings, natural history specimens and decorative arts, Garden of Delights immerses visitors in the visual culture of the seventeenth century. Every object offers a different perspective on the era’s fascination with nature, revealing how beauty, knowledge and discovery became inseparable.
The exhibition’s striking scenography by Antwerp fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck places this rich visual world in a contemporary setting. His distinctive design creates a rhythm of its own, bringing art, nature and fashion into conversation.
Garden of Delights: The Seventeenth Century in Bloom is on view at Museum De Lakenhal from 26 September 2026 to 29 March 2027. For more information and tickets, visit lakenhal.nl.
Museum De Lakenhal
Museum De Lakenhal is het museum voor kunst en geschiedenis van de stad Leiden in Nederland. Het museum is gevestigd in de voormalige Leidse lakenhal, een gebouw dat uit 1640 dateert. De collectie bevat hoogtepunten van oude meesters als Lucas van Leyden, Rembrandt van Rijn en Jan Steen, naast werken van moderne en hedendaagse kunstenaars als Theo van Doesburg, Claudy Jongstra en Erwin Olaf. Het roemruchte verleden van Leiden komt aan bod in collectiepresentaties als Het Beleg en Ontzet van Leiden (1574) en Zeven eeuwen Leids Laken.
Publication
Those who wish to explore the subject further after visiting the exhibition will find the perfect companion in Forever Flowers – Mastery and Meaning of Flower Paintings in the Low Countries (1600-1700). In this richly illustrated publication, conservator-restorer and researcher Sven Van Dorst takes readers beyond the surface of the floral still life. With a keen eye for technique, materials and detail, he reveals how artists not only depicted nature, but also studied, classified and, at times, idealised it.
Drawing on recent research, exceptional close-up photography and a rich selection of illustrations, the book invites readers to look at these paintings in a new way. What first appears to be a simple bouquet reveals itself, on closer inspection, as a carefully composed world where observation, craftsmanship and meaning come together.
Forever Flowers – Mastery and Meaning of Flower Paintings in the Low Countries (1600-1700) is available at the museum shop, through The Phoebus Foundation’s online shop, and via Hannibal Books, in both Dutch and English.
