Description
Book SynopsisDuring the Late Middle Ages a unique type of ‘mixed media’ recycled and remnant art arose in houses of religious women in the Low Countries: enclosed gardens. They date from the time of Emperor Charles V and are unique examples of ‘anonymous’ female art, devotion and spirituality. A hortus conclusus (or enclosed garden) represents an ideal, paradisiacal world. Enclosed Gardens are retables, sometimes with painted side panels, the central section filled not only with narrative sculpture, but also with all sorts of trinkets and hand-worked textiles.Adornments include relics, wax medallions, gemstones set in silver, pilgrimage souvenirs, parchment banderoles, flowers made from textiles with silk thread, semi-precious stones, pearls and quilling (a decorative technique using rolled paper). The ensemble is an impressive and one-of-a-kind display and presents as an intoxicating garden. The sixteenth-century horti conclusi of the Mechelen Hospital sisters are recognized Masterpieces and are extremely rare, not alone at a Belgian but even at a global level. They are of international significance as they provide evidence of devotion and spirituality in convent communities in the Southern Netherlands in the sixteenth century. They are an extraordinary tangible expression of a devotional tradition. The highly individual visual language of the enclosed gardens contributes to our understanding of what life was like in cloistered communities. They testify to a cultural identity closely linked with mystical traditions allowing us to enter a lost world very much part of the culture of the Southern Netherlands. This book is the first full survey of the enclosed gardens and is the result of year-long academic research.
Table of ContentsEssays œ Barbara Baert, Jan Van der Stock, Lieve Watteeuw The Enclosed Gardens of Mechelen. History of Research and Exhibition œ Hannah Iterbeke Catalogue of the Seven Enclosed Gardens of Mechelen œ Anouk Stulens en Wim Hüsken Early Sixteenth-Century Mechelen and the Enclosed Gardens œ Barbara Baert Making — Meaning — Method. The Paperolles in the Enclosed Gardens as pars pro toto œ Lieve Watteeuw Materiality and Materials in the Enclosed Gardens - Historical Mixed Media œ Hannah Iterbeke Historical Sources of the Enclosed Gardens œ Andrea Pearson Panel Paintings of the Mechelen Enclosed Gardens œ Fanny Cayron & Delphine Steyaert Poupées de Malines in the Mechelen Enclosed Gardens œ Frieda Sorber Silk Flowers - Production œ Kathryn Rudy Relics in the Enclosed Gardens œ Marjolijn Kruip Pilgrim Insignias in the Mechelen Enclosed Gardens œ Joke Vandermeersch — Hilde Weissenborn — Lieve Watteeuw and team of conservators The Conservation and Preservation of the Mechelen Enclosed Gardens Short Statements œ Bart Stroobants The Augustinian House in Mechelen, home of the Enclosed Gardens in the 16th century œ Rob Faesen Inscriptions in the Garden of the Unicorn œ Jan Van der Stock The Patacon of the Holy Hunt œ Hannah Iterbeke Saint Anthony — A Print in the Enclosed Garden of Daniel œ Caroline van Cauwenberge The Angus Dei of the Garden of Saint Ursula œ Judy De Roy An Alabaster Sculpture in the Enclosed Garden of Daniel œ Christina Currie and Hilde Weissenborn The Infrared Reflectography Examination of the Wings of the Garden of Saint Anna œ Marina Van Bos Pigment analyses through Xrf mapping of the of the Wings of the Enclosed Garden œ ArtGarden team Long-Term Preservation of Mixed Media - the Enclosed Garden
