Gardens of Paradise, Gardens Desolate

Gardens of Paradise, Gardens Desolate: Nature and Landscape in Historical and Contemporary Illustration

Curator: Barbora Müllerová

What did early modern herbaria, atlases, and lapidaries look like, and what do the best ones look like today? The exhibition, which we have prepared in cooperation with the National Library in Klementinum, takes visitors through the rich book culture depicting nature and landscapes, from late medieval herbariums to richly illustrated cabinets of curiosities of highly learned doctors, to contemporary illustrators whose work pays tribute to medieval illuminations and old prints. Seven personalities of Czech illustration (from the established to the student) have looked into the archives of the National Library and retrieved books that appeal to them artistically. In visual dialogues between books of the late medieval or early modern period and contemporary illustration, illustrators and graphic artists with a similar eye and passion across the centuries meet here. It is a visual celebration of gardens, both cultivated and desolate, from seed to mountain range, from the Middle Ages to today.

Where: Národní knihovna ČR – Galerie Klementinum (vchod B2), Mariánské nám. 5, Praha 1

Opening hours Tuesday – Sunday 10.30–18.00

When: Vernisage 15. 8. 2024, 18.00, exhibition 16. 8. 2024 – 29. 9. 2024

With the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the State Cultural Fund of the Czech Republic and the Prague 1 District