The Bouwlust and Vrederust district has been brightened up with a mural by the French artist Julien de Casabianca.
The street art artist from Paris was commissioned by the Mauritshuis to create a 75 square meter mural, inspired by the painting Old woman and boy with candles by Peter Paul Rubens.
The artwork is located on the side wall of a four-storey flat on Vrederustlaan. It is the second so-called mural that the Mauritshuis has had developed in the city. On the occasion of its 200th anniversary, the museum has asked street art artists to create four life-size works in the city, based on paintings from the museum. In May, the first wall was unveiled in the Morgenstond neighbourhood, made by the Dutch duo Colin van der Sluijs and Super A.
In Rubens’ painting, an old woman stares ahead and dims the candlelight with her hand, while the boy behind her holds his candle to light it. Julien de Casabianca says of his choice: ‘The beauty of old people is almost never depicted in street art, not even in public space. This artwork can pay tribute to the universal values of family’.