• Ga naar hoofdinhoud
  • Ga naar zoek
  • Hof van Busleyden
  • Visit Mechelen
en
  • nl
  • fr
  • de
  • en
  • es
  • close
  • Visit the museum
      • Opening Hours
      • Getting there
      • Admission prices and tickets
      • Silent Visit
      • Group Visits
      • De Garage
    • Populair
      • Visit the museum
      • De Garage
      • Getting there
      • Opening Hours
      • Admission prices and tickets
  • Exhibitions
      • Previous Exhibitions
        • DE GARAGE | HILDE OVERBERGH
        • Ricardo Brey - Gap in the Clouds
        • DE GARAGE | WILLIAM LUDWIG LUTGENS
        • A lavish past
        • DE GARAGE | MICHIEL CEULERS
        • Paul Casaer: All we can get
        • Hans Demeulenaere | Doppelganger
        • Rein Dufait | One Enormous Second
        • Renaissance Children
        • Back to Black
        • Maen Florin | Playing at being human
        • Stefan Serneels | A way in a space with neither here nor there
        • Xavier Noiret-Thomé | No More No Less
        • Sergio De Beukelaer | -...
        • It almost seemed a lily
        • Cindy Wright | Eye to eye
        • The Neverending Park
      • Current Exhibitions
        • Hidden Gems
      • Upcoming Exhibitions
        • CON10UR
    • Populair
      • Hidden Gems
      • Cindy Wright | Eye to eye
      • Back to Black
      • Hans Demeulenaere | Doppelganger
      • DE GARAGE | MICHIEL CEULERS
  • About the museum
  • Collection
      • Museum treasures
        • Saint Lucy
        • Enclosed Garden with Calvary and hunt of the Unicorn
        • Enclosed Garden with the Calvary, Virgin Mary and Sint John the Evangelist
        • Dance of the Virtues
        • The Judgement of Solomon
        • Mechelen's beguines at work
        • The Moneychanger and his Wife
        • The Explosion of Zandpoort
        • A Triptych depicting Charles V as King of Spain
        • Charles The Bold's camp during the Siege of Neuss in 1475
        • Suleiman The Magnificent
        • Christ Child Blessing
        • Saint Roch of Montpellier
        • Calvary
        • Mechelen Choirbook
        • Fortuna
        • Blazon of "The Violieren"
        • Ceremonial opening of the Parliament of Mechelen
        • Portrait of John The Fearless, Duke of Burgundy
        • Portrait of Philibert II, Duke of Savoy
        • Scenes of the conquest of Tunis
        • The Spanish Fury
        • Portrait of Rombaut Heyns
        • Plus nulz regretz
        • Puppetry at the court of Margaret of Austria
    • Populair
      • Christ Child Blessing
      • Mechelen's beguines at work
      • Scenes of the conquest of Tunis
      • A Triptych depicting Charles V as King of Spain
      • The Moneychanger and his Wife
  • Contact
  • Press

Museum Hof van Busleyden | Museum in Mechelen

Enclosed Garden with Calvary and Hunt of the Unicorn

  • Home
  • Collection
  • Museum treasures
  • Enclosed Garden with Calvary and Hunt of the Unicorn

Volg ons op

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram

As of March 2022, the Museum Hof van Busleyden will be undergoing restoration. The permanent exhibition will therefore not be accessible for some time. More information .

Enclosed Garden with Calvary and Hunt of the Unicorn

anonymous

1520-1530
 
 
 
‘You are like a garden, abounding with delights and many precious things, never corrupted or stained, from which the restored flower of mercy comes forth’, reads the inscription on the tiny fence at the bottom of this Enclosed Garden. The words reveal the various layers of meaning of this Garden. Here the garden serves as a metaphor for the Virgin’s womb whereas the flower refers to the Christ Child.
 
 
 
The virgin birth of Jesus and his resurrection are also the theme of the two groups of polychrome figures in the Enclosed Garden. The former illustrates the Hunt of the Unicorn. This legendary creature was described as a wild, untameable animal, which could not be captured. According to tradition, it could only be humbled by a virgin maiden. The theme of the hunt symbolises the Incarnation. God, the Word, could only become flesh in the womb of Mary, the purest virgin. This message is underscored by the inscription on the bottom of the hortus: “The unicorn, which has left the celestial palace for a powerful reign, has been tamed in the Virgin’s womb, purifying us from the poison of sin.’
 
The second group consists of a crucified Christ on an altar. He is flanked by Saint John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene, who can be identified by their attributes, namely a poisoned chalice and an alabaster jar.
 
 

 
__
 
INFORMATION
 

Title: Enclosed Garden with Calvary and Hunt of the Unicorn

Object type: Enclosed Garden

Maker: anonymous, collaboration

Date: 1520-1530

Medium: mixed media

Dimensions: 125,8 × 159,2 × 33,6 cm

Inventory number: GHZ BH0001

Origin: From the collection of the Mechelen hospital sisters, where it was cherished for almost 500 years. On loan since 1999 to the City of Mechelen
 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 

Barbara Baert, Late Medieval Enclosed Gardens of the Low Countries: Contributions to Gender and Artistic Expression. Leuven, 2016.

Hannah Iterbeke and Lieve Watteeuw, De Besloten Hofjes van Mechelen: Laatmiddeleeuwse paradijstuinen ontrafeld. Veurne/Amsterdam, 2018: 22-23; 76-77.

Camille Poupeye, ‘Les Jardins clos et leurs rapports avec la sculpture malinoise’, Bulletin du Cercle archéologique, littéraire et artistique de Malines 22 (1912): 51-114.

Jan Van der Stock, Op zoek naar Utopia. Leuven, 2016: 214-217.

 
Hof Van Busleyden logo

Museum Hof van Busleyden

Frederik de Merodestraat 65
2800 Mechelen
Opening hours

Extra

  • Sitemap
  • Cookie preferences
Tobania