Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Title: Mary of Guelders in Hortus Conclusus
  • Creator: Master of Mary of Guelders, painter
  • Description: Mary of Guelders, wife of Renaud III, duke of Guelders, stands within a small walled garden, or hortus conclusus, and reads a prayer book. This setting suggests that Mary is presented in the guise of the Virgin Mary, her patron and namesake. The hortus conclusus was a symbol for the Virgin's purity. Above, God the Father sends down the dove of the Holy Spirit, as in standard Annunciation iconography. An angel to the left bears a scroll that reads, "O milde Maria" [O Mary mild]. Erwin Panofsky has argued that this image served as a visual prayer from the childless Mary that she also might miraculously conceive. She, however, remained childless.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public Domain
  • Subject (See Also): Books of Hours Donor Portraits Duchesses Flowers Gardens Hortus Conclusus, Symbol of Mary's Virginity Literacy Mary of Guelders, Wife of Renaud III, Duke of Guelders Mary, Virgin, Saint- Representation as Mary, Virgin, Saint- Annunciation
  • Geographic Area: Low Countries
  • Century: 15
  • Date: 1415
  • Related Work: The Hours of Mary of Guelders
  • Current Location: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS Germ. qu. 42, 19v (MS now unbound, folio loose)
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Manuscript illuminations
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Vellum (parchment); Paint; Gold leaf
  • Donor: Laywoman; Mary, Duchess of Guelders (1449-1460)
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 18 cm/13.4 cm/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: