The "orchard scene" is by far the most popular motive in non-narrative or non-cyclical Tristan art works. More than thirty items have been cataloged. Most appeared on decorated objects such as boxes, combs, mirrors, shoes, etc., either alone or with other scenes of love and lovers.

Representative art works include the following.
Misericord from Lincoln Minster, Lincoln, England. c. 1370.

 

Ivory box (detail). French, 14th century.

Ivory Mirror Case. French, middle of 14th century.

The iconography of the orchard scene is clearly related to that of the Fall of Man (here, from the ceiling of St. Michael's in Hildesheim, Germany, middle of the 13th century). (Photo from Demus and Hirmer, Romanesque Mural Painting, p. 143).

 
 
 
 

Images here are provided for study in the context of the course "Literature and the Visual Arts in the European Middle Ages" (Rutgers Camden, Fall, 2000) under the fair use doctrine and may not be further reproduced without permission of the copyright holders.