We’re all familiar with it: fake news. Often indistinguishable from the real thing. Journalism is under pressure, public trust is waning, and verifying sources is becoming increasingly difficult. But is misleading information really as modern as we think? The clear answer is no. From 20 September 2025 to 4 January 2026, Het Noordbrabants Museum presents the exhibition Garden of Deception (Om de tuin geleid), which demonstrates through masterpieces full of gardens from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that deception and deceit are timeless phenomena.
Jump to:
Paintings by artists such as the Brueghel family, Peter Paul Rubens and Lucas Cranach the Elder reveal that the human quest for truth has long been a central concern. By exploring themes such as security, love and inclusion versus exclusion, the exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on their own truths and examine how visual narratives have evolved from then to now. The museum is transformed into a lush green world filled with deception. Will visitors believe what they see – or is there more to the story?
Peter Paul Rubens, Adam and Eve, 1598 - 1600, RH.S.164, Collection City of Antwerp, Rubenshuis
Trickery and Temptation
Deception is always lurking. Paintings overflowing with verdant greenery aim to warn us, offering possible answers to the dilemmas we face in life. The theme of the exhibition is strongly echoed in the metaphor of the Tabula Cebetis: those who make the ‘right’ choices circle inward, drawing closer to the core – the Garden of Paradise. Those who choose poorly . . . remain led astray.
The exhibition features works that are not what they seem. Some painters portrayed themselves more favourably than they really were, or intentionally misled the viewer. Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705), for example, lived in the city, yet painted himself and his family against the backdrop of a leafy country estate – the kind owned by his patrons. Garden of Deception also includes a selection of trompe l’oeil (optical illusion) paintings from the JK Art Foundation collection.
Adriaen Coorte, Green Gooseberries on a Plinth, 1705, oil on canvas, 31,4 x 24 cm, Collection Het Noordbrabants Museum, on loan from the JK Art Foundation
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Venus with Cupid Stealing Honey, 1530, Statens Museum for Kunst, the National Gallery of Denmark, SMK photo Jakob Skou-Hansen
The Garden as Symbol
All the life lessons explored in Garden of Deception take place in or near a garden. These lessons also offer insights into the evolving relationship between humans and nature. In art, gardens often served as settings and symbolized ‘the world’. At the same time, they were miniature slices of nature reflecting our inner selves – a notion as relevant today as it was then. The works of art show how perceptions of the world shifted in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: from divine creation to objects of scientific inquiry. Garden of Deception invites visitors to remain curious and open to new insights – ones that can guide us in the twenty-first century.
