What Was Gardening Like in the Middle Ages?

Getty medievalist Larisa Grollemond discusses plants and gardens of yore

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Manuscript page with Latin text on the top half, heavily embellished with vine illustrations, and the lower half illustrated with a brown butterfly, blue flower, leaves, and orange teardrop blossom

Speckled Wood, Talewort, Garden Pea, and Lantern Plant, 1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596, Joris Hoefnagel and Georg Bocskay. Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink, 6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. 20 (86.MV.527), fol. 16

By Larisa Grollemond, Sarah Waldorf

Jan 11, 2023

Are you a modern-day plant parent? 

Medieval Christians believed that plants, like everything in nature, were divinely created by God at the beginning of time.

An illuminated page with an elaborate border depicting Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden

Border with the Creation of Eve, about 1525-1530, Simon Bening. Ink, colored washes, and tempera colors, 6 5/8 × 4 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 83.MR.179.1v

A drawing of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Eve is handing Adam a red apple

The Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve Eating the Forbidden Fruit, 1469, Follower of Hans Schilling. Ink, colored washes, and tempera colors, 11 1/4 × 8 in. Getty Museum, 83.MR.179.1v

One of the most famous gardens in medieval times was the Garden of Eden, described in the Biblical book of Genesis as a terrestrial paradise: verdant, abundant, and bursting with life.

A colorful illuminated manuscript featuring a central image of a walled Garden of Eden

The Story of Adam and Eve, about 1413-1415, Boucicaut Master. Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink, 16 9/16 × 11 5/8 in. Getty Museum, 96.MR.17.3

An illuminated manuscript featuring an image of Adam and Eve being expelled from a walled Garden of Eden

The Expulsion from Paradise, about 1440-1450, Master of the Oxford Hours. Tempera colors, gold and silver paint, 14 1/4 × 10 3/4 in. Getty Museum, 83.MN.129.41

Medieval images of the Garden of Eden frequently show a walled, enclosed green space from which Adam and Eve are definitively expelled for their sin.

A medieval drawing of a well-organized garden extending from a large country house

The Nuremberg Residence and Garden of Magdalene Pairin, about 1626-1711, Georg Strauch. Tempera colors with gold and silver highlights, 14 13/16 × 10 1/4 in. Getty Museum, 83.MP.155.130bis

But Eden wasn’t the only famous garden of the medieval and early modern periods; there were plenty of well-planned and meticulously manicured gardens owned by wealthy people interested in the natural world. These gardens, even this one whose image was preserved in the genealogy manuscript of the Derrer family of Nuremberg, featured all manner of flowers and plants.

An illuminated manuscript with a wide yellow border featuring bugs, birds, and wildflowers

Decorated Text Page, about 1525-1530, Belgian. Tempera colors, gold paint, and gold leaf, 6 5/8 × 4 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 83.ML.115.124

A page with ornate text at the top and a still life of a Spanish Chestnut, English Iris, and European Filbert on the bottom

Spanish Chestnut, English Iris, and European Filbert, 1561-1562; illumination added 1591;1596, Joris Hoefnagel. Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink, 6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in. Getty Museum, 86.MV.527.52

Take a look at the image on the left. This 16th-century Flemish manuscript features naturalistic borders. Those images of nature anticipate the genre of still life, seen in the image on the right: a 16th-century manuscript that preserves a multitude of botanical specimens in careful detail.

All of these images are available to download for free by searching Getty’s Open Content Online Library. 

Want to learn more about life in the Middle Ages from medievalist Larisa Grollemond? Head to our Instagram page. 

And may your plants never be over- or under-watered!

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