1601 - Preparing the Spring Garden

1601 Gardener Preparing the for the Spring Garden - Die Hausbücher der Nürnberger Zwölfbrüderstiftungen. Here the gardener is expanding the cultivated landscape beyond the traditional geometric garden beds in the background, Calendars in the Later Middle Ages began to change garden illuminations for the Spring of peasants digging, ploughing, pruning & chopping their way through shrubbery & undergrowth, with the majority of those workers preparing for pleasure gardens & planting flowers. The pleasure garden had long been an important part of the houses & grounds of the elite. Now, however, it also became a joy for townsfolk & perhaps even peasants. Decorative flowers were planted everywhere.

During the early medieval period, gardens were primarily about food for the table & medicinal herbs. Calendars in the Later Middle Ages began to change garden illuminations for the Spring of peasants digging, ploughing, pruning & chopping their way through shrubbery & undergrowth, with those of people preparing for pleasure gardens & planting flowers. The pleasure garden had long been an important part of the houses & grounds of the elite. Now, however, it also became a joy for townsfolk & perhaps even peasants. Decorative flowers were planted everywhere.

Medieval Garden Myth & Reality - Spring - Preparing the Garden

1607 Gardener with a spade Die Hausbücher der Nürnberger Zwölfbrüderstiftungen

During the early medieval period, gardens were primarily about food for the table & medicinal herbs. Calendars in the Later Middle Ages began to change garden illuminations for the Spring of peasants digging, ploughing, pruning & chopping their way through shrubbery & undergrowth, with those of people preparing for pleasure gardens & planting flowers. The pleasure garden had long been an important part of the houses & grounds of the elite. Now, however, it also became a joy for townsfolk & perhaps even peasants. Decorative flowers were planted everywhere.

18C Allegory of Spring in a Garden

1758 Spring from The Four Seasons  After Nicolas Lancret by John Simon. 

Here is a garden with a fountain with putti atop & a birdbath lying on the ground, where a young man holding a spade talks to a young woman holding a basket of flowers, while another woman is watering plants. Just a bit of romance perhaps.

17C Spring Boating Party Gathering Green Branches

Sebastian Vrancx (Flemish artist, 1573-1647) The Four Seasons - Spring Boating Party Gathering Green Branches to decorate their homes.  

Celebrating our Earth.  Holding on to the Sweet Divine - “The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it.”  Genesis 2:15.

1671 Allegories of Spring- In a Garden with Putti

1671 Spring from The Four Seasons by Matthias Scheits (German artist c 1625 - 1700) Landscape with 5 putti in a landscape playing with birds. 

Celebrating our Earth.  Holding on to the Sweet Divine - “The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it.”  Genesis 2:15.

17C Allegory of Spring with Putti in a Garden

1650s Spring from The Four Seasons by Jonas Umbach (German artist c 1624 - 1700) Four putti in a garden with a fountain in background: one putti is being crowned with a flower wreath.  

Spring is the perfect time to celebrate Earth's Beauty & Bounty.  Flowers gave beauty & inspiration to mankind's basic struggle to live & to populate & to protect his home-base, The Earth.  Holding on to The Sweet Divine - The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it...Genesis 2:15.

16C Spring Landscape by Lucas Van Valkenborch (c 1530-1597)

1587 Lucas Van Valkenborch (Flemish painter, c 1530-1597) Landscape in Spring Detail

Lucas van Valckenborch or Lucas van Valckenborch the Elder (c. 1535-1597) was a Flemish painter, mainly known for his landscapes. He also made contributions to portrait painting & allegorical scenes. Court painter to Archduke Matthias, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands in Brussels, he later migrated to Austria & then Germany where he joined members of his extended family of artists who had moved there for religious reasons.