This exhibition examines the manifold artistic depictions of paradise in medieval Europe. 

In the Garden of Paradise takes its readers on a journey through the Europe of around 1400 and its idea of paradise as a both a heavenly and earthly garden. An emblem of the original harmony between humankind and nature, paradise became a canvas onto which religious, philosophical, and artistic ideas were projected in medieval Europe. 

The size of a single book page, the world famous painting Little Garden of Paradise in the Städel Museum presents, alongside the Virgin and Child and six saints, a wealth of true-to-life depictions of flora and fauna, as well as contemporary dress and everyday objects. Unrivaled in the quality and quantity of its exacting renderings of nature, this volume situates the enigmatic painting within the European art of its time, bringing together highlights by Pisanello, the Master of Flémalle, Jan van Eyck, and other leading artists of the age. All of the featured works are united by the groundbreaking interplay of art and reality in Europe around 1400.