In the 19th century, it was customary to give the contemporary art of the day a place in the Royal Palace. After king Leopold II, that tradition petered out. But things changed again when Paola became the new queen of the Belgians. Her Majesty has an avid interest in contemporary art. Consequently, she commissioned Jan Fabre for a work in the Royal Palace.*

It was decided that Jan Fabre's work would be located in the palace's Hall of Mirrors. Originally, this hall had been conceived as an ode to the Congo, but that project remained unfinished after both its patron, King Leopold II, and its architect, Henri Maquet, died in 1909.

Fabre soon decided he would work with the given of the missing ceiling frescoes. He covered it with a one and a half million iridescent jewel-scarab wing cases, which have a sheen that ranges from bluish to greenish. It took a team of 29 young artists and restorers months to complete. The wing-case mosaic, applied according to Fabre's instructions, displays a variety of shapes and figures. Seen from the floor, it makes for a dazzling spectacle of green and blue motifs and patterns that change all the time, depending on the incidence of light and the angle of observation. In this respect, Heaven of Delight can be interpreted as an ode to painting. The work can be seen as a picture made using light itself instead of paint, and the spectators' gaze instead of a brush. What you see is a constantly shifting, overwhelming spectacle, at the mercy of the spectator's imagination.

The work's title, Heaven of Delight, refers to the well-known Hieronymus Bosch painting Garden of Delight.** Here, Fabre refers to the tradition of painting and the place occupied by ceiling frescoes. A ceiling fresco is a form of painting that both hides and represents the heavens. An ideal world is put in the place of a real sky, with the intention of offering the spectator a transcendental experience. Stefan Hertmans points out that Fabre has adopted and expanded on this concept. By using millions of beetles instead of paint, Fabre puts back sensuality in the reflection on the transcendental. Thanks to the play of light, man may once again sense the transcendental reflex. The work revolves around the reflection on the human existence on earth and man's aspirations with regard to the hereafter. These aspirations and hopes are translated into the many patterns we can discern, or believe to discern, in the beetle's wing cases. Heaven of Delight is our projection screen par excellence.**

* Fabre, J. & D. Braeckman (eds.) (2002) Jan Fabre. Heaven of Delight. Koninklijk Paleis Brussel. Palais Royal Bruxelles. Brussels: Mercatorfonds.
** Hertmans, S. (2002) Schilderen met licht. (Apotheosse van de scarabee)