Painting Paradise, The Art of the Garden, The Queen's Gallery

Did you know that cucumbers shake with fear at thunder? And squash bear fruit after nine days if planted in the ashes of human bone and watered with oil? These are some of the tips to be found in the world’s first gardening manual acquired by Henry VIII on display at the forthcoming exhibition, Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden at The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace. The manual is just one of 150 fascinating objects you will discover in the Palace, along with paintings, drawings, books, artefacts and manuscripts, in an exhibition devoted to the changing character of the garden in art, from the 16th to the early 20th century.

The exhibition is based on the weighty archives of the Royal Collections, so expect to see heavyweight masters like Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn and Carl Fabergé. Highlights also include the first real garden recorded in British art - Henry VIII's Great Garden at Whitehall Palace, which we see in the background of the painting The Family of Henry VIII by an unknown artist, c.1545. You’ll also discover the only surviving pair of sundials by the great 17th century horologist, Thomas Tompion.

Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden is a real treat for anyone with a horticultural predilection and a great excuse to see the Queen’s Gallery da Vinci collection…