In Joseph II's reforms, besides closing down "useless" monasteries—that is, those that did not run schools or hospitals—he also forcibly merged organizations large and small into a single "charitable mutual aid society." Under the Mechelen charitable mutual aid society was a castle called Hof van Busleyden. Built during the Renaissance in the sixteenth century, it was one of Mechelen's most beautiful buildings.
It had always been used as a kind of heritage warehouse, holding donations from the period of the Duchy of Burgundy through the Austrian Netherlands, including a type of artwork known as an "Enclosed Garden."
It looked somewhat like a large cabinet. When its doors were opened, an extraordinarily intricate miniature scene was revealed, with peacocks made of gemstones and human figures made of gold. It was inspired by the Old Testament's "Song of Songs," a poem about a couple declaring their love during a season of birdsong and blooming flowers. It was said to have been written by Solomon himself in Jerusalem. The male lead was a grape grower, while the female lead was the Rose of Sharon, blooming like a lily in a valley of thorns. The "Enclosed Garden" depicted the female lead in that valley.
Other than its lack of freedom, everything in the garden was like paradise. There was no male lead in the scene either, so these "Enclosed Gardens" later became symbols of chastity. They had been popular during the Middle Ages in Margaret of Austria's time. The nuns of the Beguinage of Bruges, as well as the female governor herself, had each owned one.
They were meant to honor women who "truly" possessed pure and noble moral values. They were expensive to make, far beyond what the nuns could afford. More often than not, believers donated the money to have them made