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Similarly, illuminated manuscript illustrations are invaluable for
providing documentary evidence of mediaeval gardens. While our
funds do not run to original texts, we can still enjoy the colour,
detail and liveliness of mediaeval life through reproductions. The
Tres Riches Heures du Duc de
Berry (ca. 1409-1416) illuminated by Pol de Limbourg and his
brothers provides the earliest surviving representations of actual
mediaeval gardens, and the Hours
of Etienne Chevalier (ca. 1453) illuminated by Jean Fouquet
depicts a sunken garden and bowers in detail. The Grimani Breviary (ca. 1510)
illustrated by artists of the school of Ghent and Ruges has long
been acclaimed for its realistic detail of contemporary
gardens. |
