Labor of the Month of April: Women Planting a Garden in Quadrants

Order characterized the medieval garden: herbs and flowers were planted in a level place, organized in a grid by type (for example, fragrant and medicinal herbs in one section, flowering plants in another), and exposed to the sun. Here, an elegantly dressed lady holding a rosary gestures toward a garden, where a second lady plants (or perhaps harvests) herbs and flowers. The garden's geometric design is characteristic of medieval European gardens, which derived from the ordered quadrants favored in Persian garden design.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Unknown Spanish owner [1], 19th century. Léon Gruel, Paris, ca. 1850-75 [2]. Peter Marié [ca. 1825-1903], New York, late 19th century; Peter Marié Sale, New York, 1903, lot 567. George Richmond, New York; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

[1] Inscriptions in lower margins on fols. 47v ("S. Catalina") and 54v ("Sancta Magdalen") indicate Spanish ownership
[2] Stamped in red capitals on front endleaf: GRUEL