Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Paradiesgärtlein [Little Garden of Paradise]
  • Creator: Master of the Upper Rhine
  • Description: This scene combines the heavenly garden of Paradise and the castle garden of courtly romance literature. Here the Virgin and Christ Child lounge and play within a walled garden, accompanied by several saints. Mary sits at a table set with a bowl of fruit and a glass and tranquilly reads a prayer book. A woman picks cherries, which supposedly grew in Paradise and symbolize eternal life. The red-breasted robin on the wall and the goldfinch in the cherry tree symbolize Christ's Passion, as does the rosebush next to the tree. The lilies and iris symbolize the Virgin's purity and sorrow at the Passion. While the walled garden is a symbol for Mary's perpetual virginity and the fruit on the table simultaneously recalls the forbidden fruit of Eden and refers to the Eucharist, the saints' activities here recall courtly love scenes. St. Cecilia (patron saint of music) plays a psaltery with the Christ Child. St. George sits on the grass in conversation with the Archangel Michael as their miniaturized attributes (the dragon and the demon, respectively) lie languidly in the sun.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Birds Cecilia, Saint Flowers Gardens George, Martyr and Saint Glassware Mary, Virgin, Saint and Child Mary, Virgin, Saint as Reader Musical Instruments Rose
  • Geographic Area: Germany
  • Century: 15
  • Date: ca.1410
  • Related Work:
  • Current Location: Frankfurt-am-Main, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Inv. Nr. HM 54
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Paintings
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Wood; Oil; Tempra; Altarpiece panel
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 26.3 cm/33.4 cm/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: