USE Mythical Gardens - Adam & Eve in The Garden of Eden - Illuminated Manuscripts

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

In Western iconography the early Christian garden is usually defined by the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, the original lovers thrown out of paradise for tasting forbidden fruit, and cast into the wilderness to define their own lives & gardens. Before the Western printing press, illustrated manuscripts and early depictions of landscapes in portrayals of Biblical gardens give 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."

See:

Creation of Adam

Michaelangelo. Creation of Adam. Fresco. Vatican, Sistine Chapel. Pietrangeli et al. The Sistine Chapel. New York: Harmony Books, 1986. P. 139

Creation of Adam. Sculpture,13th century. Chartres, North Porch. Kraus, The Living Theatre of Medieval Art, pl. 30

Boucicaut Master and Workshop. God gives Adam a soul. 15th C. Illumination. Paris, Bibl. Nat., fr. 9141, f. 29v. Meiss, Millard. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Boucicaut Master. London: Phaidon, 1968. Pl. 448

Creation of Eve

The Creation of Eve. Biblium Pauperum, 14th Century. Lee, Laurence. Stained Glass. London: Artists House, 1982. P. 26.

The Creation of Eve. Early 13th C. Illumination. Psalter of Saint Louis and Blanche of Castille. Paris, Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, MS 1186, f. 10. P. D'Ancona & E. Aeschlimann. The Art of Illumination. London: Phaidon, 1969. plate 73

Michaelangelo. The Creation of Eve.Vatican, Sistine Chapel. Pietrangeli et al. The Sistine Chapel. New York: Harmony Books, 1986. Pp. 144 45.

Creation of Adam and Eve. Mid 14th C. Illumination. Holkham Bilble Picture Book. London, British Library, MS Add. 47682, f. 3. P. D'Acona & E. Aeschlimann. The Art of Illumination. London: Phaidon, 1969. Plate 90.

God presents Eve to Adam. 15th C. Illumination. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, ms. 251, f. 16. Meiss, Millard. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Boucicaut Master. London: Phaidon, 1968. Pl. 457

Adam and Eve.15th C. Illumination.Paris, Bibl. de l'Arsenal, ms. 5193, f. 8v. Meiss, Millard. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Boucicaut Master. London: Phaidon, 1968. Pl. 381

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. ca 1460. Illumination,17 1/8 x 12 in. Les sept ages du monde. Department of Manuscripts, Royal Library of Belgium, MS 9047, f. 1v,L.M.J. DeLaisse. Medieval Miniatures. London: Thames and Hudson, 1965. Plate 35.

Jean Colombe. Adam and Eve.1480-85. Illumination. Hours of Anne of France. New York, Morgan Library. Gill, D. M.Illuminated Manuscripts. New York: Brockhampton Press and Barnes and Noble, 1996. p. 47

The Fall

The Creation and Fall. The Bedford Book of Hours, ca. 1423. The British Library. Postcard, museum shop.

Masolino. The Fall of Man. Florence, Brancacci Chapel.Casazza, Ornella. Masaccio. Florence: Scala, 1990. pl. 40

Michaelangelo: The Fall of Man. Rome, Vatican, Sistine Chapel. Pietrangeli et al. The Sistine Chapel. New York: Harmony Books, 1986. Pp. 146-47

John Thornton of Coventry. The Fall of Man. Stained glass. York Minster, Great East Window. Lee, Laurence. Stained Glass. London: Artists House, 1982. p. 87

The Fall of Man. Norwich Cathedral, wood carving (ceiling boss). Card, cathedral shop.

The Fall of Man. Illumination, late 13th century. British Library, Hebrew MS. Add. 11638, f. 520v. Postcard, museum shop.

The Limbourg Brothers. The Fall. Chantilly, Muse Cond. Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.Cazelles. Illuminations of Heaven and Earth. New York: Abrams. p. 70-71

Guilio Clovio. The Fall of Man Illumination, The Hours of Cardinal Alesssandro Farnese, 1546. New York, The Morgan Library, MS 69, f. 28. Harthan, John. The Book of Hours. New York: Park Lane, 1977. p. 163

The Expulsion from the Garden

Masaccio. The Expulsion. Florence: Brancacci Chapel. Casazza, Ornella. Masaccio. Florence: Scala, 1990. Pl. 21.

God creates Adam and Eve, the Fall and Expulsion. 834 843, Tours. Illumination. Moutier-Grandval Bible. London, British Library, MS Addit. 10546, f. 5v. Beckwith, John. Early Medieval Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1964. Pl. 46.

Boucicaut Workshop. Adam and Eve, Eve addressed by angel as she spins, Adam delving. Early 15th C, before 1413. Illumination. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, fr. 3810, f. 157v. Millard Miess. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Boucicault Master. London: Phaidon, 1968. Plate 94.

Adam Delving. Late 12th C. Stained glass. Canterbury Cathedral, west window, nave. Keates, Jonathan. Canterbury Cathedral. London: Scala/Philip Wilson, 1980. p. 60