16C Garden -Woman in an Enclosed Formal Garden

1505 Jan Provoost (1462-c 1525) Portrait of a Female Donor.  Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. 

Portraits with landscape backgrounds, especially formal gardens, were not common during this period, and the artist may or may not have gone outdoors to paint these outdoor backgrounds. Early depictions of both real & fanciful gardens give us a glimpse of gardens familiar & imagined during this period of time.

Garden of Love - A 16C soldier apparently recently home from the wars

1520 Garden of Love. Soldier embracing a woman in a fenced garden by a wooden bench. They are near an apple tree with birds flying; & another amorous couple is seated underneath a tree, while a dog eats their food. In addition to serving different functions, Renaissance gardens also carried a range of associations, both literary & biblical. The Garden of Love, dedicated to the goddess Venus, was a primarily a pleasure garden offering both virtue & vice.

15C A Gentleman's Garden Tasks for Spring

April & May from The Shepherd's Great Calendar, 15C 

Flowers & planting seem to be the most important tasks for these Spring months. And, of course, having an admiring young lady nearby fashioning the gentleman a garland doesn't hurt.