The Garden of Love (right portion)

Description

The Garden of Love gathers fashionable couples around a fountain in this right-hand portion of a drawing developed by Peter Paul Rubens and his workshop. Columns rise behind the company, while flowers and flying cupids turn the gathering into an allegory of affection. The figures form a broad, flowing band, so that individual conversations and gestures become part of a larger rhythm. Architecture provides a setting for sociability rather than competing with it.

Made around 1633–35, the sheet was a model for Christoffel Jegher’s woodcuts. Rubens established the design in black chalk, while a workshop assistant carried out much of the ink, wash and gouache treatment. The drawing adapts a composition into a frieze-like format, bringing the figures forward and dividing the larger scene into two parts. This portion can be enjoyed through that concentrated arrangement, while its material handling also reveals the collaborative process behind the design.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Peter Paul Rubens collection.