Rubens' garden

As a young boy, Peter Paul Rubens spent hours peering through the attic window of his house on the Meir in Antwerp, at the bleachery on the Wapper near his street. At the time he had no idea that 20 years later - in 1610 - he would suddenly became the owner of the large green plot he had always dreamed of. He purchased the plot together with his first wife Isabella Brant, as a home and also to house his studio there. The Rubens-Brant family moved into the estate in the autumn of 1615. Right in the middle of the renovation. Rubens spared no expense in transforming this residence on the Wapper into an Italian-style palazzo in the city.  

The garden was the centrepiece of Rubens' estate. Young apprentices and housekeepers crossed paths here on their way to their next errand. Rubens' children played here too, between gardeners Willem and Jaspar. And Rubens himself? He strolled around here with friends and family, and received royalty and other prominent figures. Intense conversations with the court and patrons could therefore be held in a tranquil setting. If only the garden could speak ...   

There was no shortage of inspiration for the design of the garden. As a child, Rubens' wife Isabella had always had a large garden at her parents' house in the Kloosterstraat. And Rubens' Italian tours were also evident in the final design of his courtyard. In Italy, he discovered the most original city gardens in Genoa, as well as magnificent gardens in Mantua, Florence and Rome.  

As a court painter, he was also privy to the expansive gardens of Archdukes Albert and Isabella at Coudenberg in Brussels. As such, the patch of greenery in the Rubenshuis was turned into a dazzling place to live. It was a green spot that Rubens loved and where, with all his curiosity, he had different varieties of local flora planted. Flowers, trees, bulbs, plants, animals and people. The garden belonged to everyone!    

Like the rest of the Rubenshuis, the greenery of course needed maintaining. For that, Rubens had three women and five men in his service, who formed his loyal entourage. Two of these were gardeners Willem Donckers and Jaspar Verbrugghen. They tended Rubens' garden as though it were their own.