ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — The city palace of Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens will partially reopen this weekend, allowing Antwerp to showcase the life and work of perhaps its most famous citizen.
The Rubens House may not have as many paintings as the Prado Museum in Madrid or the canvases scattered around the Cathedral of Our Lady in the port city. But if there is one place where Rubens himself felt more at home, it was his own house in Antwerp overlooking his garden.
While the core of the house will remain closed until at least 2030 due to ongoing renovations, the dazzling new welcome center and redesigned garden will open their doors on Friday.
What the house lacks in real paintings – a self-portrait is the only major work on display during the renovation – is intended to be made up for by an atmosphere that exudes the spirit of the master who bought the house in 1610 and made it his studio and workshop, where many of his masterpieces were created.
The garden forms an outdoor area between the reception centre and the main house – a path that allows visitors to move between past and present and contemplate the world of Rubens. It includes almost 17,500 plants and, in reference to Belgian fashion, Antwerp-based fashion designer Dries van Noten was consulted for the colour scheme.
Restoring the original Rubens Garden was a difficult undertaking for garden conservator Klara Alen, as the original plans have not been preserved. One source of inspiration could be the painting “The Walk in the Garden” by Rubens and his workshop from 1640, which shows him walking with his family near the garden pavilion.
Some of his letters mentioned orange and lime trees, as well as figs, Alen said. “We also looked through historical documents to see what was planted at the time, but also wanted to uncover new information, and that’s how we came across tulips.”
“The best of this garden is yet to come,” she added. “We have planted over 1,000 heritage tulip bulbs that we will see in the spring.”
The garden offers visitors a new palette of colors every season: the bright tulips of spring, the green of summer, and the gold of fall. The current garden includes marigolds, roses, magnolias, figs, black oaks, and a variety of citrus trees.
