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15-16C-Flowrs-art - 9/15/09

 

"Floral Arrangements of the 15th and 16th Century" by Senora Dorothea Manuela Ponce.

 

NOTE: See also the files: flowers-msg, Gillyflower-art, p-seed-trade-msg, roses-art, A-Med-Garden-art.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.

 

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.

 

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

 

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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Floral Arrangements of the 15th and 16th Century

by Senora Dorothea Manuela Ponce

Floral decorations have played an important part in art.  Flowers have been shown to be a never failing inspiration in Architecture, utensils, and other objects of daily use.  

 

There are floral vases dating clear back to 2500 B.C. Egypt.   Egyptian stone relief tombs show these vases with Lotus Blossoms and buds.  Flower arrangements, wreaths, and garlands have been used in religious ceremonies, like weddings, as well as to decorate and scent Churches and homes, as part of everyday life.

 

Monks inside monastery walls maintained medieval gardens mostly for medicinal purposes. They used cut flowers in clay pottery jars and jugs that they brought indoors. We can see that the monks also painted pictures of their floral arrangements in illumination and scroll work.

 

Art primarily belonged to the Church during the Renaissance period.  It showed up in stained glass windows, mosaics, tapestries, sculpture, paintings and illuminated books to illustrate Christian faith.  Nobility hired artists to decorate their castles and manor homes.  By the beginning of the 13th Century, painters started including floral decorations in their paintings.   The Master of Flemalle, believed to be Robert Campin, surrounded his subjects with everyday and natural looking objects, which included floral arrangements.

 

German artist Hans Holbein the Younger, on his first visit to Britain in 1521 to 1529, painted a portrait of Sir Thomas More and his family which features 3 vases of identifiable flowers, decorating the room.  Knowledgeable books on flowers and horticulture were first printed in mid 15th century and imported to Britain by the 16th century. A great example of this is Thomas Tusser's A Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie, published in 1557.  This book provides the first ever written mention of flowers being used for decoration in the home.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Bibliography

                                                                                                                                                                 Title:  History of Flower Arrangement

Author: Julia S. Berrall

Publisher: The Studio Publication

 

Title: A History of Flower Arranging

Author: Dorothy Cooke & Pamela McNicol

Publisher: Heinemann Professional Publishing

Published in association with the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies

ISBN: 0-434-90252-7

 

Title: Flora Domestica: A History of British Flower Arranging 1500-1930

Author: Mary Rose Blacker

Publisher: The National Trust

Distributor: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

 

Title: A Hundred Goode Points of Husbandrie

Author: Thomas Tusser

Publisher: Richard Tottel, The Sygne of the Hand and Starre, Temple Barre, Fleete Strete,   London, England  

                  

Title: The Culture of Flowers

Author: Jack Goody

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

ISBN: 0 521 41441 5

Title: A Manual of Church Decoration and Symbolism

Author: Rev. Ernest Geldart, Rector of Little Braxted

Imported by Thomas Whittaker 2 & 3 Bible House, New York

Title: Table Decoration: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Author: Georgiana Reynolds Smith

Publisher: Charles E. Tuttle, Inc

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 68-21113

Title: The Complete Guide to Flower & Foliage Arrangement

Edited by Iris Webb

Publisher: Webb & Bower Limited, Exeter, England

ISBN 0-385-15119-5

Title: Glass Houses: A History of Greenhouses, Orangeries, & Conservatories

Author: May Woods & Arete Swartz Warren

Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications Inc. New York, NY

ISBN: 0-8478-0906-4

 

Title: Europe and the New World

          History of Floral Design

Website: http://aesop.rutgers.edu/- greenmachine/COMM_FL_DESIGN/HISTORYOFFLORALDESIGN

 

Title: Historical Aspects of Floral Design

Website: http:/www.hort.vt.edu/faculty/McDaniel/hort2164/R2HistoricalAspects.htm

 

Title: Period Flower Arrangement

Author: Margaret Fairbanks Marcus

Publisher: M. Barrows & Co., New York

 

Dianne Noland

Horticulture Instructor

Horticulture Advising Coordinator Academy of Excellence

Host: WILL-TV Illinois Gardener

University of   Illinois

1027 Plant Sciences Lab12201 S. Dorner Drive

Urbana, IL 61801

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Copyright 2008, 2009 by Dorothea Manuela Ponce. <senoradorothea at hotmail.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.  Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

 

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
All other copyrights are property of the original article and message authors.

Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org