Biblical Gardens - The Annunciation in Gardens - Illuminated Manuscripts

Illustrated manuscripts and early depictions of landscapes in portrayals of Biblical gardens give us a glimpse of gardens familiar & imagined during the periods the images were created.

The Annunciation in a Garden, Book of Hours (Bodmer Hours), ca. 1400–1410 Michelino da Besozzo (Italian, act. 1388–1450)

Renaissance (about 1400–1600) manuscript artists depicted gardens in a variety of texts, and their illustrations attest to the Renaissance spirit for the careful study of the natural world. In a society then dominated by the church, gardens within the miniature & in the margins surrounding were also integral to a Christian visual tradition.

Psalter Annunciation in Garden, 1180. (National Library of theNetherlands) The Annunciation ca 1450, Book of Hours

 The Annunciation in a Garden from the Book of Hours,  Flanders c.1460

The Annunciation to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, with Anne Boleyn's note in the lower margin (London, British Library, MS King's 9, f. 66v).

The Annunciation in a Garden, about 1469

Biblical Gardens - The Old Testament Outdoors - Illuminated Manuscripts

Illustrated manuscripts and early depictions of landscapes in portrayals of Biblical gardens give us a glimpse of gardens familiar & imagined during the periods the images were created. Gardens are often mentioned in the Bible. In the language of the Hebrews, every place where plants & trees were cultivated with greater care than in the open field, was called a garden. Fruit & shade trees, with aromatic shrubs, sometimes constituted the garden; though roses, lilies, & certain gardens were used only for flowers & table vegetables, Genesis 2:8-10 15:1-21 1 Kings 21:2 Ecclesiastes 2:5,6.

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c  Creation

This collection of illuminations for Old Testament Bible stories are from St. Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, VadSlg Ms. 343c.  History Bible from the workshop of Diebold Lauber, Volume 1: Old Testament.  Mid 15C

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c  Noah and the Arc

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c Tower of Babel

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c Carrying Moses to the river

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c Rebecca at the Well

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c  Moses and the Burning Bush

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c Moses receives the Tablets and Law

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c  Moses receives the Law from God

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c  Battle of Jericho

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c David and Goliath

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c c 178R David and Bethsabe in bed

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c  Daniel in the Lion's Den

History Bible, Diebold Lauber, Vol 1 Old Testament  St Gallen, Canton Library, Vadianische collection, Vad Slg Ms. 343c  261v Judith has head of Holofernes in sack.

Biblical Gardens - The Garden of Eden & Creation - Illuminated Manuscripts

Illuminated Manuscript, Bible (part), Creation of the world, and Eve, Walters Manuscript W.805, fol. 6v detail
Illustrated manuscripts and early depictions of landscapes in portrayals of Biblical gardens give us a glimpse of gardens familiar & imagined during the periods the images were created. Gardens are often mentioned in the Bible. In the language of the Hebrews, every place where plants & trees were cultivated with greater care than in the open field, was called a garden. Fruit & shade trees, with aromatic shrubs, sometimes constituted the garden; though roses, lilies, & various gardens were used only for table vegetables, Genesis 2:8-10 15:1-21; 1 Kings 21:2; Ecclesiastes 2:5,6.

Genesis 2:8 “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed...And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

Animals & Humans Emerging from the Earth Together; from an illustrated manuscript version of Augustine's City of God, c. 1475 (The Hague, RMMW, 10 A 11, fol. 300v)

Secrets d'histoire naturelle Centre-ouest de la France, vers 1480-1485  Bibliothèque nationale de France, Manuscrits, Français 22971 fol. 15v

Genesis, The Creation of the Animals.  Oxford MS. Douce 135 fol-017v

God Creating the Birds and Animals Vatican Library Collection

French illuminated manuscript, Image du Monde, attributed to Gautier de Metz, portraying God creating animals and birds; Harley 344, folio 1. British Library

 Adam and Eve in The Garden pf Edem Eating the Forbidden Fruit (detail), by Willem Vrelant, early 1460s

The Garden of Eden, Paradise Garden, The Temptation of Adam and Eve (detail) in Concerning the Fates of Illustrious Men and Women, about 1415, Boucicaut Master. J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. 63, fol. 3

Jesus as Gardener - Christ Reveals Himself to Mary

1368-70, Probably by Jacopo di Cione(c 1325-after 1390) an Italian painter in the Republic of Florence. - Resurrection Noli me tangere.   Jesus holds a hoe.

The Gospel of John 20:1-13 (NIV) contains a narrative of an empty garden tomb including the appearance of Jesus:
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb & saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter & the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, & said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, & we don't know where they have put him!" 
So Peter & the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter & reached the tomb first. He bent over & looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived & went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw & believed. 
Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb & saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head & the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "& I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around & saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, & I will get him."  Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him & cried out, "Rabboni!" ("Teacher"). Jesus said, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, & say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, & your Father; & to my God, & your God." 
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

13C Fresco - in Lower Basilica in Assisi Noli Me Tangere

Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 - 1337). Resurrection Noli me tangere - on North wall of Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua. 1305-1306

1460 The Meister des Göttinger Barfüßeraltars Resurrection Noli me tangere. Jesus holds a shovel. The wattle fenced flowery mead follows Boccaccio's model.

Fra Angelico, Noli Me Tangere 1440-42 Jesus and Mary Magdalene in a walled Garden

1460-90s Master of the Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand (German; 1460 - 1470; fl. c.) Christ appearing as a gardener to St Mary Magdalene within a garden with wattle fencing.Jesus holds a shovel.

1469 Noli me tangere in Prayer Book of Charles the Bold, Lieven van Lathem. J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. 37, fol. 46v. Jesus holds a shovel in a wattle-fenced mead.

Martin Schongauer German, c. 1450-1491. Noli me tangere. Here Jesus holds a staff but the garden is surrounded by a wattle fence.

1473 Martin Schongauer (1450–1491) Noli Me Tangere. This garden appears to be enclosed with a wattle fence, and roses grow in the background. Birds perch in the trees.

c 1500 Perugino, Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci 1445-1523) Resurrection Noli me tangere. Here Jesus holds a garden tool.

1506 Fra Bartolomeo (1472–1517) Noli Me Tangere. Depicted at the tomb with Christ holding a garden tool.

c 1500 by Master of the Chronique scandaleuse, illuminator (French, active about 1493 - 1510), Noli me tangere, French. Here Jesus & Mary Magdalene meet on a garden path.

1512 Titian (1490–1576) Noli Me Tangere. Christ appears holding a garden tool.

1500s Greek Icon Μη μου άπτου Crete Resurrection - Noli me tangere. Here Jesus & Mary Magdalene are in a flowery mead.

Alessandro Magnasco (Italian (Genoese), 1667 - 1749), Noli Me Tangere, Italian. Jesus with a hoe stands in a formal garden ground.

1526 Hans Holbein the Younger (1498–1543) Noli Me Tangere. Depicted at the tomb on a flowery mead.

1534 Antonio da Correggio (1489-1534) Noli Me Tangere. Christ appears as a gardener holding a hoe.

1539 Hans Baldung (c.1484 - 1545) Resurrection Noli me tangere.Jesus holds a garden shovel.

1548-53 Lambert Sustris (Dutch artist, c.1515-1520-c.1584) Noli Me Tangere
This image includes formal gardens used as the background for a Biblical scene. These gardens are primarily from the Italian Renaisance.  The trellis walkways & arbors were built to provide both shade & privacy. Planners raised beds to prevent plants becoming waterlogged. Gardens were used for recreation, relaxation, & sport. The garden consists of geometric beds of interlacing patterns designed to be seen from windows & hills above & is filled with herbs & favorite flowers. A fountain sits in the farthest parterre. Statues & symbolic ornaments are spread throughout the grounds.

1560-70 Unknown German artist. Christ appears here as a gardener to Mary Magdalene; part of a town beyond the garden & three crosses on the hill behind at left. Jesus holds a garden shovel in a bedded garden surrounded by a wooden fence.

Agnolo di Cosimo usually known as Bronzino or Agnolo Bronzino, Italian Mannerist painter, 1503-72) Resurrection, Noli Me Tangere Jesus holds a shovel, and a walled garden of flowers blooms just behind them.

1581 Lavinia Fontana Resurrection Noli me tangere. Jesus holds a shovel in a defined garden area.

1620 Abraham Janssens (1567–1632) painted figures & Jan Wildens (15841586–1653) painted the landscape Resurrection Noli me tangere.Jesus holds a shovel & the fruits of the garden are on the earth.

1630-35 Pedro Núñez del Valle (Spanish, 1597-1649)Noli me tangere. A garden of formal beds defined by a wattle wall appears to be growing food.

Ciro Ferri 1670-80s (1634-1689) Resurrection Noli me tangere.Jesus holds a shovel in a garden protected by a wood fence.