The major international exhibition Garden of Delights unveils the meaning and power of flowers at the Kadriorg Art Museum

This autumn, the Kadriorg Art Museum in Tallinn presents Garden of Delights: The Seventeenth Century in Bloom, a major exhibition organised in collaboration with The Phoebus Foundation (Antwerp). From 30 August 2025, more than 300 works from the Foundation’s collection will be on view in Tallinn, offering an unprecedented exploration of nature and flowers in seventeenth-century art of both the Northern and Southern Netherlands.

It is the fourth time that the Art Museum of Estonia and The Phoebus Foundation have joined forces. After From Memling to Rubens and Crazy about Dymphna (both 2021) and History and Mystery: Latin American Art and Europe (2024), Tallinn once again becomes the stage for masterpieces rarely shown outside Belgium. The exhibition combines artistic highlights with the latest research, underscoring the long-standing partnership between the Art Museum of Estonia and The Phoebus Foundation.

With works by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Clara Peeters, Anna Maria Janssens, and Jan Davidsz. De Heem, the exhibition takes visitors into the fascinating world of flowers, gardens and still lifes. What begins as a reflection of divine creation soon evolves into stories of smuggled tulip bulbs, scientific experiments, ambitious women, and forbidden pleasure gardens.

Curator Dr Katharina Van Cauteren, executive director of The Phoebus Foundation: ‘I once thought flower painting was a predictable genre, decorative but tame. Until I looked more closely. Suddenly, those bouquets turned out to be pure rock ’n’ roll: they tell stories of research and experiment, of status and desire, of profit and loss. And more than that: they hold up a mirror. Just like those flowers, we are vain, fragile, and mortal. Before you know it, we too have faded.’

The exhibition is also the outcome of years of technical and art-historical research at The Phoebus Foundation’s conservation studio. This project was led by Sven Van Dorst, head of the studio:‘Scans revealed how Daniël Seghers began his bouquets with almost abstract bulbs of colour, transforming them layer by layer into roses and lilies. Technical analysis quite literally allowed us to look over the painters’ shoulders. And it led to surprising discoveries: beneath the portrait of a deceased child, we found an entire hidden bouquet, and in another still life real butterfly wings had been pressed into the paint.’

The scenography of Garden of Delights has been developed by Antwerp fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck. Oversized model flowers, specially designed carpets and contemporary silhouettes by Dries Van Noten, Comme des Garçons, Richard Quinn and Van Beirendonck himself create a striking dialogue with the old masters.

‘I have always been fascinated by animals, plants and flowers,’ Van Beirendonck explains. ‘When I was invited to work with these paintings, I immediately agreed. Showing old masters and contemporary fashion side by side may create a clash, but in the end it is always about beauty.’

The setting of the exhibition is the Kadriorg Art Museum, part of the Art Museum of Estonia. Its historic halls provide the ideal backdrop for this dialogue between seventeenth-century painting and contemporary design, and for a collaboration that brings Flemish and Dutch masterpieces to a Baltic and international audience.

Practical information
Garden of Delights: The Seventeenth Century in Bloom
Kadriorg Art Museum, Tallinn (Estonia)
30 August 2025 – 25 January 2026
More information:
www.phoebusfoundation.org
https://kunstimuuseum.ekm.ee/en/

Curator: Dr Katharina Van Cauteren (The Phoebus Foundation)
Exhibition design: Walter Van Beirendonck (Belgium)
Graphic design: Paul Boudens (Belgium) and Ott Metusala (Estonia)
Scientific research: Sven Van Dorst (The Phoebus Foundation)
Coordinators: Aleksandra Murre (Art Museum of Estonia) and Jasper Joris (The Phoebus Foundation)

Did you know…

• … blue tulips do not exist, but Jan Brueghel the Elder painted one? Researchers have shown how tulip stems placed in coloured water absorbed the dye, turning petals blue.
• … a painted butterfly can have real wings? Nicolaes Van Verendael pressed delicate butterfly wings directly into the wet paint. Under the microscope, the shimmering scales are still visible today.
• … a mourning portrait once concealed a bouquet? Infrared scans revealed that beneath the portrait of little Pieter van Delen lay a fully drawn flower still life, later painted over after the boy’s death.
• … Jan Van Kessel used real gold for his insects? Thin fragments of gold leaf gave his beetles a metallic sheen, admired by seventeenth-century collectors with a magnifying glass. 

About Kadriorg Art Museum / Art Museum of Estonia
The Kadriorg Art Museum is housed in the summer palace built by Tsar Peter the Great in 1718 for his wife Catherine. Surrounded by baroque gardens, the museum is dedicated to European art from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. It forms part of the Art Museum of Estonia (Eesti Kunstimuuseum), which also includes the Kumu Art Museum, the Niguliste Museum, the Adamson-Eric Museum and the the Mikkel Museum. As one of the leading cultural institutions in the region, the Art Museum of Estonia actively collaborates with international partners to bring world-class exhibitions to Tallinn. 

About The Phoebus Foundation
The Phoebus Foundation is a Public Benefit Foundation based in Antwerp (Belgium). Its mission is to collect, preserve, research and share art with the widest possible audience. The collection spans many centuries and cultures, ranging from Flemish Old Masters to Latin American art, from modern Belgian works to archaeological textiles. The Foundation shares its research through exhibitions, publications, loans, symposia, podcasts, and educational initiatives. More information: www.phoebusfoundation.org

With the support of the companies of Katoen Natie – Indaver Group and the publisher Hannibal Books.