The forest, place of wonders: Eden

Since biblical accounts, and especially in medieval illumination, the forest symbolizes an unknown and unspoilt place. However, these representations develop at a time when forested areas are heavily exploited by agriculture and livestock farming. The idealized forest is thus transposed into a distant past, that of the creation of the world and the Garden of Eden. Today, with woodland spaces submitting to pressure from industrial societies, the forest we dream of is displaced into the magical universes of fantasy, as if it could no longer exist except in our imagination.