Crafting Sacred Blooms: Late Medieval Mystical Floriculture as Tactile Devotion
Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies November 6, 2024 Jiyun Kim, Sooyun Sohn
Abstract:The Besloten hofes (enclosed gardens) of Mechelen are cabinet-shaped altarpieces that feature miniature garden spaces filled with an assortment of handmade silk flowers, devotional images, and relics. This article examines the process of creating these silk flowers and their impact on the presumed crafters or restorers—the professed nuns at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwegasthuis (Hospital of...