The myth of the garden of delights, in Latin hortus deliciarum, was used by the ancients to define both the earthly and heavenly paradise. According to Genesis, in the Bible, the earthly paradise is located somewhere in the Middle East. Even if the turbulent times in that region today lead one to doubt it. In any case, today there is another Hortus Deliciarum, the one conceived by the creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele, and which manifests itself in a high jewelery collection. Actually it is a second garden, since the first Hortus Deliciarum collection was presented two years ago. The name has stuck. The jewels have changed. And, according to the designer, today the symmetry is discordant.
The 2021 collection includes over 130 pieces and is divided into four parts. The inspiration is not biblical, but refers to natural landscapes, with waterfalls that become a stream of diamonds in the style of the Twenties (of the last century) with fringes and tassels, chandelier earrings and precious stones. The second part is dedicated to the sunset and uses red garnets like the sun, tourmalines, opals and topaz, as well as diamonds. The third chapter of the garden of delights takes place in a rose garden, among pink flowers like Padparadscha sapphires. Finally, the fourth chapter hosts the animal kingdom. The lion, which recurs in the Gucci collections, is here multiplied in different pieces, as in the necklace with a 16-carat and 22 feline opal, including tourmalines, pink rose rubellite, purple tanzanites, pale orange sapphires, pink topaz and mandarin garnet.
There is also room in the collection for high-end jewelery watches, again with lion heads roaring between Australian blue opal dials and Renaissance-inspired gemstone-encrusted bracelets with Art Deco-inspired baguette diamonds.
