De aderen van het klooster (The veins of the convent)

Giuseppe Penone thanks the nurses of the St John's Hospital for their efforts in caring for the body and soul of everyone who has ever stayed here. And because Penone is an Italian artist, with a great fascination with nature besides, he does so with verve and grandeur. A marble island rises up out of the water in front of the door of the former nuns' convent. You can discern the original dark veins on the white marble. Penone exposed and accentuated them. They give the stone life, just as human veins pump life into the body, and the nurses kept many a poor soul alive with their good care. In addition, the black-and-white of the artwork refers to the nurses' habit. Next to the island, a few oak trees rise up, with the foremost partly wrapped in bronze oak bark. Water is slowly dripping from an overhanging bronze branch. It causes a soft rippling effect and expands outward to the source. A symbolic reference to the circle of life. Sober, heart-warming, timeless. Something to stop and consider.