ABSTRACT

The early sixteenth-century Enclosed Gardens or horti conclusi of the Augustinian Hospital Sisters of Mechelen form an exceptional world heritage collection from the late medieval period. The flowers and the embroidered wrappings around objects like stones, medallions and relics in the Enclosed Gardens were created by the religious with subtle refinement and an astonishing range of effects. The Dutch word hof means not only 'court' or 'courtyard' but also 'garden', and hence is associated with the archetypal paradise, which in turn has semantic roots in the Persian language and culture. Some of the most remarkable elements of the mixed-media texture of the Enclosed Gardens are their silk flowers. These flowers can be studied as a pars pro toto for a better understanding of the production and function of the Enclosed Gardens. The connection between physical work and spiritual labour can also be found as a topos within sixteenth-century devotional literature.