Painting the Hortus Deliciarum—Medieval Women, Wisdom, and Time by Danielle B. Joyner (review)

The Hortus deliciarum, which translates into English as "the garden of delights," is an important twelfth-century manuscript because it challenges the traditional view that only men created texts in medieval European culture. The HD was made by women with an immediate female audience in mind beyond the wider audience of men. Danielle B. Joyner has produced a magnificent book on the creation and meaning of the HD. Her informed text connects perfectly with the beautiful images culled from the HD.

Unfortunately for medieval purists, the only surviving proof that the HD ever existed comes from later sources. In 1818, Christian Moritz Engelhardt portrayed medieval life as an interpretation of the HD. The mid-nineteenth century saw a study of this important work by Comte Auguste de Bastard. Baptiste Petit-Gerard also studied the codex, his notes only being published in the 1950s. Medieval scholars only have a partial facsimile of the HD, published in 1979 by the Warburg Institute. The facsimile, gathered from nineteenth-century sources, represents the recreation of nearly half of the imagery and two-thirds of the text of the original manuscript.

The history of the HD is closely tied to that of the history of the small monastic community of Hohenbourg, in Alsace. Duke Frederick II of Swabia invaded Hohenbourg in the early twelfth century. His son, Frederick Barbarossa, appointed Relinde as abbess and it was under her rule that the community was rebuilt, Augustinian rule was adopted, and work on the HD was presumably begun. In the early 1170s, Herrad succeeded Relinde as abbess and work on the HD continued. In the manuscript, Herrad is portrayed as producing the codex and directing the work of the nuns, yet nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century scholars were so biased by the mores of their times, they refused to consider that women were capable of such work. The existence of the HD challenged established male hierarchies. Today, however, there is no doubt, and it is openly recognized, that women in the twelfth century were indeed responsible for the production of this magnificent manuscript.

The content of the HD features themes from the Bible. It includes the following: fols. 1r–v: introductory texts; fols. 2r–66v: Old Testament visual and textual narratives; fols. 67r–84r: Old Testament textual recapitulation; visual and textual transitional material; fols. 84v–167r: visual and textual narratives of Christ's life; fols. 167v–199r: visual and textual narratives of apostolic missionary work; fols. 199v–241r: visual and textual narratives of moralizing allegories on the soul and Ecclesia; fols. 241v–263v: visual and textual narratives of prophetic end-times; fols. 264r–315v: textual recapitulation, texts on church synods, canon law; fols. 316r–322r: computus tables and texts; fols. 322v–323r: portrait of Hohenbourg past and present; fols. 323v–324v: concluding verses.

Chapter 1, "Feminae, Libri, et 'Hortus deliciarum'", places the HD in the context of its times. Herrad is portrayed as giving instructions on iconographies featured in both the Guta-Sintram Codex and the Rupertsberg Scivias. In addition, similar moralizing themes appear in an array of medieval manuscripts. On the topics of pride and virginity the HD is similar to works such as the Speculum virginum, the Liber floridus, and the Zwiefalten. Chapter 1 brings to light a number of further comparisons. Visual distinctions are noted between the HD and St. Albans Psalter. Yet, the HD stands apart from its brethren by its sophisticated imagery and by its use of visuals in places where text would normally be employed. Chapter 2, "Stellae et Tempora", examines the first folios of the manuscript which are devoted to the story of Creation. The addition of sin into the world is compared to the existence of the Trinity and the creation of times. Narrative imagery and diagrammatic images and texts are used to portray the story of Genesis in a display of fluid twelfth century style.

In Chapter 3, "Artes et Computus," the liberal arts...