Bamberg New Residence Palace
The Garden of Paradise Ceiling
Painting
in Bamberg's Michelskirche
in Bamberg's Michelskirche
The Michelskirche in Bamberg (Michael's Church) was part of a monastery until 1803. In the early 1600's , the inside of the church was ornamented with "The Garden of Paradise" - a painted ceiling that portrays over five hundred different types of plants, when possible in flower or bearing fruit, in incredible and realistic detail. There are exotics such as pineapple, cotton, pomegranate, and tobacco as well as trees, shrubs, and grasses that are native to Bamberg, such as the apple, pear, blackberry, or beech. We have writings from the early 1600's in which locals referred to the ceiling as the "herb garden" - which leads to the speculation that origin of the painting springs from the monestary's herb gardens. Some of the plants painted on the ceiling were not growing in Europe att he time the ceiling was painted, for example, lilacs, jasmine, and golden rain. Examples of these plants were sent to the monastery by the natural philosopher Carolus Clusius in Vienna, and the monastery artists sometimes relied on printed pictures as well. Several song birds and six parrots are the only animals included.
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Bamberg's Michelskirche
Church from the Neue Residenz Palace Rose Garden
