In early April, I was excited to join a press trip to Antwerp. It’s a place that I’ve always wanted to visit for its museums and a long tradition of printing and design culture. Something I hadn’t fully appreciated was that Belgium’s second city has horticulture in its DNA. New discoveries are being made all the time, confirming a rich botanical heritage and strong links to the ‘Tulipmania’ of the Golden Age.
The main focus of our trip was the home and garden of the Baroque artist and diplomat Peter Paul Rubens. The Rubenshuis, in the city centre, is currently undergoing a programme of restoration and renovation, but the first phases are now complete. The newly landscaped garden reopened to the public in summer 2024. I felt so privileged to see it as it unfurls for its first spring, the elegant parterres planted with delicately speckled fritillaries, stately crown imperials, lime green euphorbia, bright anemones and a kaleidoscope of tulips.
But this is so much more than a beautifully designed garden. It is a complete reworking of the area, based on painstaking historical research from archives and libraries, bringing a special insight into the plants of Rubens’ era. It can be enjoyed simply as an oasis in the city centre, or visitors can delve into the intriguing backstory, which offers insights into the artist’s life and times.
We entered the garden through a new visitor centre, with a flamboyant vase of flowers at the reception area which would not be out of place in one of the master’s paintings.
Rubens’ home was very important to him. He raised a large family there with his first wife Isabella, and his second wife Helena. He ran a studio and workshop on the site, he entertained enthusiastically, mixing with royalty and nobility, and he fully indulged his passions for architecture and gardens. When he first acquired the property and land in 1610, Rubens designed it to combine old Flemish style with an Italian Renaissance influence. Although the stunning portico and garden pavilion have survived, no plans of the original garden have been found, so the project to create an authentic design, true to the spirit of Rubens, relied on painstaking research lead by garden curator Klara Alen.
Details of the original garden proved elusive. Although he wrote many letters, Rubens only referred to it once in 1638. “Also, remind Willem the gardener that he is to send us some Rosile pears and figs when there are some, or any other delicacy from the garden.”
The most representative source is thought to be his painting, The Walk in the Garden, which depicts several parterres separated by gates, a flowering tulip meadow, a fountain and a large collection of citrus trees in pots and tubs. One thing was certain: this was not a botanical garden, it was a show piece, a status symbol for a powerful and popular man.
A period of horticultural detective work began. Klara had access to botanical books, records and documents from the time, many of which are held in the nearby Plantin-Moretus Museum. She studied floral paintings from Rubens’ collection and made lists of all the flowers used (in one single painting, Brueghel had included 130 different varieties). She ran the flower names through a database and compared them to ones found in the archives. “It was a painstaking process to piece together the flowers which may have been present,” she told us.
As part of our visit, we viewed some of the books Klara had consulted. These were accessible in the reading room at the Plantin-Moretus Museum. One in particular, the Hortus Eystettensis, produced by apothecary and botanist Basilius Besler, is known to have been in Rubens’ personal library (though not the actual copy that we saw). It has played a key part in the project to create the new garden.
It’s an enormous and impressive tome, with 367 engraved plates. It took 17 years to create. To own one would have been a status symbol in itself. The first edition printed just 300 copies and a copy of the book recently sold for £2 million at Christie’s.
It is an awe-inspiring sight and as a botanical art lover, it was a dream to come so close to it. The body of the book is printed, but hand lettered copperplate writing has been added to some plates.
Other books in the museum’s collection were the source of key details in the reimagining of Rubens’ garden, providing information around citrus cultivation and of course, tulips.
Klara uncovered evidence that Antwerp played a part in the Tulipmania which notoriously swept cities such as Amsterdam, Haarlem and Leiden in the Dutch Golden Age (around 1634 to 1637). She found that tulip traders met just 200m from Rubens’ house, in the present day Graanmarkt, and the names of wealthy bulb purchasers were found in the archives, many of whom had close links to the artist. Was Rubens among the customers? Archival evidence may not exist (so far), but it seems very likely. How could this mover and shaker have resisted the ultimate fashionable flower?
It was clear that tulips had to be included in the new vision for the garden, and many will flourish here between early April and mid-May. They were already starting to unfurl on our visit, and included some of the ‘broken’ tulips made famous by painters of the time. These varieties are distinctive for their striped and variegated petals, which is actually the result of a plant virus, a happy accident.
We enjoyed some early evening cocktails as we wandered along the paths absorbing the wealth of detail. These glazed terracotta pots, sourced in France by Klara, are very similar to the ones from Rubens’ time. And aren’t they the perfect vessel for a citrus tree!
Larger trees are planted in oak barrels made by a Belgian couper, just as they would have been in Rubens’ day.
Beautiful oak barrels
The large marble vase and bluestone fountain which create striking focal points are carefully positioned to reflect Rubens’ painting A Walk in the Garden.
This is a meticulously curated garden with so many references to enjoy and explore.
Image credit: Visit Flanders
The Museum Plantin-Moretus is close to Rubenshuis and worth a half day visit (at least!). It is the only museum in the world to be recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site, and is based in the home and workshops of the Plantin-Moretus family. It was established in the 16th century. Christophe Plantin and his son in law Jan Moretus were revolutionaries: the first printers to work on an industrial scale.
Here you can see the world’s oldest printing press, and so many wonderful books, prints and art works.
And just look at this wooden printing block …
Our second day in Antwerp took us to another amazing garden. A hortus conclusus – an ‘enclosed garden’ or as we might call it, a walled garden. These happen to be my favourite gardens. Large or small, humble or grand, I am drawn to the sense of seclusion, of a hidden sanctuary tucked away from the eyes of the world. And this garden, created over the last seven years by landscape architect and designer Ronald van der Hilst, is a very beautiful example.
Seclusion and beauty.…
Ronald mixes spring bulbs with perennials
Boundaried by the tall presbytery wall of St George’s Church in the historic centre of Antwerp, the garden reinterprets the ancient principles of the hortus conclusus and the Garden of Eden, both of which have a symbolic meaning in various religions. The enclosed garden is traditonally seen as a fertile place, with a water source. Ronald has interpreted this with a long, narrow rill, ‘Paradise River,’ as he called it. At one end, skinny cypress trees stretch upwards, referencing a connection between heaven and earth. The routes around the the garden suggest the never ending path of contemplation and meditation, a concept often found in monasteries. It might sound a little esoteric, but this is a garden with a warm and hospitable atmosphere. We were greeted by the sight of a floral table laid for lunch under the trees, and offered cups of delicate pink tulip tisane poured from a golden tea pot by Ronald’s husband, Marcel Vissers.
The table was set with vintage linens, china and cutlery and a vase of beautifully floppy tulips.
“You are not just looking at tulips today, you are going to eat tulips…” smiled Marcel. And it was true. Our appetisers were served on petals, which have a nutty, mildly spicy flavour. I felt as if I was living a floral dream. Asparagus, egg salad and home made quiche followed as we sat chatting in the early spring sunshine.
Ronald tends the garden single-handedly, raising many historic tulip varieties as well as carefully chosen perennials. I loved seeing the horticultural housekeeping aspects of the garden. This gardener runs a very orderly potting bench!
The garden is private, but it opens to visitors annually, around Easter. There is also an Airbnb overlooking it, although access is not included in a stay there. However, Ronald has the most beautiful shop I think I’ve ever seen, just across the street. Côté Jardin at Mechelseplein 21, is open at selected times, with a carefully curated collection of plants, terracotta pots, garden antiques and some of Ronald’s sculptural vases – he is famous for his tulipières.
This shop and residence was enchanting. www.ronaldvanderhilst.com
Like stepping into a stage set….
If I could have squeezed this antique French étagère into my suitcase, along with a couple of those handmade square terracotta planters, believe me, I would! And look at that original floor….swooning.
Between garden visits, we walked a lot, passing vibrant squares, the famous gothic Roman Catholic Cathedral (which contains major work by Rubens), and strolling through the Botanical Gardens.
The streets are straightforward to navigate. But remember – no jaywalking! It can be met with a fine.
There are many cafes and brasseries to choose from. I can recommend the langoustine croquettes for lunch at Horta Grand Café. For dinner, we went to buzzy brasserie Bourla in Graanmarkt which was packed and very atmospheric. Flemish beef stew was on the menu, braised in dark beer, along with plenty of vegetarian and vegan options, and of course, a wide selection of Belgian beers.
Time to step back on to the train to Brussels to catch the Eurostar home. Feet were aching, but my head was full of horticultural and historical wonders. I’m already plotting a return trip, to spend more time in the printing museum, and another trip to Ronald’s wonderful shop, this time with a bigger bag!
