~ Section 3 - Medieval Period, Styles & Epochs of Art ~

“Faith, Symbol, and the Enclosed Garden of the Soul”

After the ordered harmony of Classical Antiquity, Europe entered an age of faith. Between the fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance, the landscape turned inward. Monasteries, cloisters, and castle gardens became refuges of contemplation, where geometry served prayer and nature reflected divine creation.

© This article references early LASD Studio, Yura Lotonenko white-paper research (2011 – 2017) exploring intersections between Art and Landscape Philosophy

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Video Episode of Section 3 — The Medieval Period

In this chapter, LASD Studio explores how faith, symbolism, and craft shaped the medieval vision of landscape. Through monasteries, cloisters, and fortress gardens, we trace how spiritual geometry and ecological wisdom evolved into the foundations of European horticulture and moral design.

Discover how faith, symbolism, and monastic ecology shaped medieval gardens and sacred landscapes. Project by LASD Studio

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The Epoch Overview

Historical & Cultural Context

From the 5th to the 14th century, European art and architecture sought salvation rather than symmetry. The Romanesque and Gothic worlds shaped light and stone into metaphors of heaven. Within monastery walls, gardens offered order in chaos — a living reminder of Eden and the promise of renewal.

Fine Art & Aesthetic Principles

Illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, and mosaic floors replaced classical realism with symbolism. Space became vertical, aspiring toward the divine. The Gothic cathedral, flooded with color and sound, was itself a landscape — an ecosystem of light, proportion, and faith. Decoration carried meaning; every flower or fountain echoed Scripture.

Influence on Early Landscape Thought

The medieval garden, or hortus conclusus — “enclosed garden” — embodied purity and reflection. Quadripartite layouts mirrored the rivers of paradise; water and herbs healed body and soul. The garden was no longer a stage for philosophy but a sanctuary for devotion, where cultivated nature became prayer made visible.

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Key Artists, Philosophers & Landscape Designers

Monastic Builders — Cistercian and Benedictine Orders

The Cistercians distilled simplicity into form: stone, water, and field arranged in silent balance. Their abbeys united prayer with production, turning valleys and rivers into self-sustaining landscapes — a model of ecological stewardship centuries ahead of its time.

Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay – Medieval Monastic Landscape and Water Geometry

View of the Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay, France — founded in 1118. The abbey’s stone architecture, cloisters, and reflecting ponds express the Cistercian ideal of simplicity, self-sufficiency, and ecological harmony. Its hydraulic systems and spatial order prefigure sustainable landscape design.

Ruins of a Cistercian Abbey – The Poetic Decay of Medieval Architecture

Historic painting by Fernand Cuville depicting the ruins of a medieval Cistercian abbey. The image captures the serene austerity of monastic architecture — stone, light, and vegetation merging into timeless equilibrium. Symbol of renewal within decay.

Abbey of St. Gall – Medieval Urban Monastery and Ecological Order

Aerial view of the Abbey of St. Gall, Switzerland. The complex reveals the integration of worship, agriculture, and learning within a walled precinct. It stands as the oldest surviving example of a self-sufficient monastic urban ecosystem.

Cistercian Abbey of Beaulieu – Spiritual Landscape of Stone and Sky

Remains of the Cistercian Abbey of Beaulieu in Hampshire, United Kingdom. Its arched ruins and open lawns illustrate how medieval builders aligned architecture with landform and light — creating meditative landscapes of resilience and faith.

Reconstruction of St. Gall Monastery – Medieval Spatial Intelligence

Architectural illustration reconstructing the 9th-century Plan of St. Gall — the first known master plan of a European monastery. The drawing visualizes interconnected spaces for worship, production, and care, representing the birth of systematic landscape planning.

The Plan of St. Gall – The First Concept of Urban-Ecological Design

Original 9th-century parchment Plan of St. Gall, preserved in Switzerland. This visionary diagram unites church, gardens, workshops, and housing in a single organism — the earliest known example of integrated landscape and architectural planning.

Medieval Scholars and Illuminators

Writers like Hildegard von Bingen saw plants as sacred metaphors. In illuminated herbals, every leaf corresponded to virtue and healing. Art and botany intertwined, giving birth to the medieval understanding of the “healing garden.”

Hildegard von Bingen — Healing Plants from “Physica” (Medieval Herbal Manuscript)

Illustration from Hildegard’s Healing Plants, based on her 12th-century work Physica. Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, mystic, and natural philosopher, documented the sacred relationship between humans and nature. Her writings combined theology, herbal medicine, and ecological observation — seeing every plant as a reflection of divine harmony. This vision shaped the Medieval “healing garden” and continues to influence holistic and sustainable landscape design.

Islamic Garden Masters of Al-Andalus

Across the Mediterranean, Moorish Spain transformed geometry into paradise. At Alhambra and Generalife, courtyards and water channels united science, art, and spirituality. Their influence flowed into Europe, shaping the Renaissance vision that followed.

The Alhambra Palace, Granada – The Jewel of Al-Andalus Architecture

Panoramic view of the Alhambra palace complex in Granada, Spain. Rising above the Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra unites architecture, landscape, and water engineering in perfect harmony. Built between the 13th – 15th centuries, it reflects the scientific and spiritual ideals of Al-Andalus — geometry, proportion, and the paradise garden as living philosophy.

Hall of the Ambassadors, Alhambra – Geometry and Light in Moorish Design

Interior of the Hall of the Ambassadors in the Nasrid Palace, Alhambra. Carved stucco, arabesque arches, and patterned tiles form a visual language of infinite repetition. Light and shadow animate the walls, turning mathematics into atmosphere — the essence of Andalusian architectural poetry.

Hall of the Two Sisters, Alhambra – Muqarnas Dome as Celestial Geometry

Upward view of the muqarnas dome in the Hall of the Two Sisters, Alhambra. The honey-combed vault symbolizes the heavens rendered in geometry. Thousands of facets catch light like stars, merging structure and spirituality — the architectural metaphor of paradise.

Cloister of Monreale Cathedral, Sicily – Paradise Garden of the Mediterranean

Panoramic view of the Monreale Cathedral cloister near Palermo, Sicily. The courtyard garden framed by twin marble columns and arcades reflects the meeting of Islamic, Byzantine, and Norman aesthetics. Water, geometry, and greenery merge into a symbolic paradise — an early dialogue between architecture, art, and landscape.

View of the Alhambra from Albaicín – Fortress and Garden Above Granada

Distant view of the Alhambra across the valley from Albaicín Hill. The red fortress emerges from cypress groves, reflecting the dialogue between architecture and terrain that defines Andalusian landscape design. The site demonstrates how geometry, water, and vegetation create a unified ecological composition.

Fountain of the Monreale Cloister – Water Geometry and Spiritual Balance

Central fountain of the Monreale cloister, carved in marble and surrounded by patterned columns. The fountain represents purity and renewal — water as the living heart of paradise gardens. Its octagonal basin unites symbolic design with natural movement, echoing Moorish and Byzantine influences across Sicily.

Courtyard of the Lions, Alhambra – Water and Harmony in Islamic Landscape Design

Courtyard of the Lions, Alhambra Palace, with its marble fountain supported by twelve carved lions. Water channels divide the court into four axes — the chahar-bagh pattern representing paradise rivers. This masterpiece epitomizes the Al-Andalus vision of geometry, movement, and living water as art.

Monreale Cloister Capitals – Carved Narratives of Faith and Nature

Detail of sculpted capitals in the Monreale cloister. Figures, vines, and animals intertwine in intricate reliefs, symbolizing the union of human craft and divine creation. Each capital tells a story — a stone manuscript linking medieval theology with artistic mastery.

Generalife Gardens, Granada – The Living Paradise of Al-Andalus

Courtyard and water channels of the Generalife Gardens adjoining the Alhambra. Terraces, fountains, and cypress colonnades create a microclimate of shade and sound. Designed for contemplation and rest, the Generalife embodies the ecological intelligence of Islamic garden art — harmony between human spirit, architecture, and nature.

Colonnade of the Monreale Cloister – Rhythmic Harmony of Architecture and Landscape

Arcaded walkway of the Monreale cloister with alternating light and shadow. The geometric precision of the twisted and fluted columns transforms sunlight into ornament, embodying the Islamic idea of infinite pattern and the Christian pursuit of divine order.

Monreale Cloister Columns – Norman-Arab-Byzantine Synthesis in Stone and Mosaic

Close-up of polychrome marble columns decorated with mosaic inlays at Monreale Cathedral. Their spiraling rhythm and rich surfaces demonstrate the synthesis of Arab craftsmanship, Byzantine ornament, and Norman engineering — a visual metaphor for cultural coexistence in the medieval Mediterranean world.

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Main Landscape Architectural Features

Design Principles

Enclosure, axial cross, and symmetry guided by theology. Water symbolized purity; light and shade marked sacred time. The garden served as both microcosm and meditation.

Materiality & Plant Palette

Walled stone cloisters, gravel paths, fountains, and tiled basins. Lavender, sage, rosemary, rose, and lily — plants of healing, fragrance, and devotion. Materials were local, humble, enduring.

Evolutionary Interpretation

In LASD Studio’s view, the Medieval Period represents the first “closed loop system” in design history — an early ecology of meaning. Water was recycled, soil renewed, plants cultivated for medicine. The monastic landscape foreshadowed today’s sustainable cycles and regenerative design thinking.

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LASD Studio Interpretation & Works

Designing Landscapes as Evolutionary Systems

LASD Studio reinterprets medieval intimacy and ecological balance through contemporary courtyards, healing gardens, and urban sanctuaries. Spaces of silence, shade, and sensory connection become modern hortus conclusus — places where biodiversity and human reflection coexist.