Freyas Garten 1913

Hermann Hendrich painted 'Freyas Garten,' representing the Norse goddess Freya in her mythical garden, a haven of fertility and beauty. Here, the blossoming trees symbolize renewal and the cyclical nature of life. The motif of a goddess in a garden harkens back to ancient images of deities associated with vegetation and abundance, like the Greek goddess Demeter. We see echoes of this imagery in medieval tapestries and Renaissance paintings, where idealized gardens often serve as settings for allegorical or mythological scenes. Consider the fruit-bearing tree. It is a powerful symbol with deep roots in the collective unconscious, appearing in various forms across cultures, from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden to the World Tree Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. The image of a woman reaching for fruit elicits feelings of desire and longing. The Freya of Hendrich’s imagination connects us to a timeless, cyclical dance of nature, eternally renewing itself.