Klara Alen

The garden of the Rubens House is a hidden gem in the heart of Antwerp. This is the place where the world-famous artist lived with his family and entourage and could relax. The garden has been reconstructed and, thanks to advice from fashion designer Dries Van Noten, provides year-round colour, season after season. The design hearkens back to plant species from Rubens’ time, including columbine, marigolds and citrus plants. This book presents the results of years of archive research that went into the reconstruction of The Rubens Garden, describes the historical context and provides an overview of the main flowers and plants and their story. With beautiful details from floral still lifes and other works of Rubens and his contemporaries, this richly illustrated book reveals the beauty of the unique garden of the Rubens House in Antwerp. In addition, it offers a glimpse of little-known historical material about this magical garden and city gardens in Antwerp in the time of Rubens.

Kukka-asetelmat kehittyivät omaksi taiteenlajikseen 1500-1600-lukujen vaihteessa. Taiteilijat piirsivät tunnistuskuvia kasvitieteellisiin julkaisuihin ja osallistuivat näin luonnontutkimukseen ja sen havainnollistamiseen. Suomen puutarhahistorian alkuvaihe liittyy luonnontieteilijöihin Pehr Kalmiin (1716-1779) ja hänen opettajaansa Carl von Linnéhen (1707-1778). Puutarhataiteen ja kasvitieteellisen tutkimuksen kytkös oli vahva. Floral arrangements evolved into their own art form at the turn of the 17th century and were very popular. Artists also drew accurate images for botanical publications and thus participated in natural research and its illustration. A proper history of gardens in Finland begins with the work of two naturalists, Pehr Kalm (1716-1779) and his teacher Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). At the time there was a strong link between botanical research and garden art.