Tag Archives: Mediaeval

Natural History: “to be alive is to be watchful”

Posted on 22/07/2023 by The Garden History Blog

Whose 2000th birthday should we be celebrating this year?   Here’s a clue. He was a workaholic military officer and civil servant for the Emperor Vespasian,  and the author of the first book that resembled an encyclopaedia. Usually known as Natural History … Continue reading →

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The royal gardens of Amboise – past and present

Posted on 15/07/2023 by The Garden History Blog

I helped lead a Gardens Trust tour last autumn round gardens of the Loire Valley.  Almost our last port of call was the great early Renaissance chateau of Amboise where a series of  new gardens have  been installed in recent … Continue reading →

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The Annunciation and its Gardens

Posted on 25/03/2023 by The Garden History Blog

Today, March 25th, is the feast of the Annunciation which, according to the Gospel of St Luke, marks the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he tells her she has been chosen to  be the … Continue reading →

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Heavens above! There’s a nun in the garden

Posted on 11/03/2023 by The Garden History Blog

I’m sure lots of you are as familiar with this painting  by Charles Collins as I am. It’s one of those well known, if slightly unusual, pictures  that you wonder why anyone painted it.  What I hadn’t realised until I … Continue reading →

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Painting the Gardens of History with Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale

Posted on 19/11/2022 by The Garden History Blog

What’s in a name? Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale sounds like an escapee from a Victorian 3-volume bodice-ripper or maybe the wicked governess in a  1920s girls comic – well that’s what I thought when I first saw her name.  That will … Continue reading →

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