This painting is an altarpiece, a devotional image used in a Christian church, and many of the details are symbols that reinforce the sacred content. The walled garden refers to the garden in the Bible's Song of Songs and is associated with Mary. The flowering plants are specific references to Mary: the blue iris refers to the sorrows of the Virgin; the violets allude to her humility; and the strawberry plant symbolizes her righteousness. The peacock on the gate may signify paradise and the stags represent the human soul and piety. Recent scholarship has revealed that the Master of the Embroidered Foliage, named for the delicately patterned leaves characteristic of his work, was instead likely a group of artists, rather than an individual, who used the same figures and compositions for a number of similar panel paintings.