Forever Flowers

Sven Van Dorst (1990) gained his master’s degree in conservation and restoration from the Royal Academy/University of Antwerp. After working at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, he completed his training at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, a department of Cambridge University. In 2016, he founded the conservation studio of The Phoebus Foundation. As head of the studio, Sven assembled a team of passionate conservators and conservation scientists who manage the Foundation’s collection on a daily basis. Among the paintings he has treated are works by masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Anthonis Mor and Michaelina Wautier. Between 2017 and 2020, Sven led the research and restoration project of the panels of the Dymphna altarpiece by Goossen Van der Weyden. His fascination with the painting technique and materials of Baroque flower painters has already led to two editions – on Daniel Seghers and Jan Brueghel I – of the Phoebus Focus series.

• Foreword 7Out of the Garden, Into the LabTo start with...A Bouquet of Stories 17Chapter 1Virgin and Child with Crown Imperial and Llama 29Chapter 2In Search of a Blue Tulip 85Chapter 3Jesuit Garlands in Antwerp 133Chapter 4New Buds on Old Stems 177Chapter 5Transient Flowers 207Chapter 6True-to-Life Butterflies 251Chapter 7Foreign Flowers from Amsterdam 295Chapter 8Fertile Soil in the New World 341And to end with...The Circle is Closed 393