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| English
History |
Landscape Gardens
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| Stourhead |
Formality... The great gardens of the 17th century were ornate,
extravagant, precisely laid out mathematical patterns. The foremost
exponents of this "ultra-civilised" style were the Italians
and the French, and the foremost gardener was Andre Le Notre, who laid
out the gardens at Versailles for Louis XIV.
...versus the natural look. In response (or reaction) to this
ornate continental style, English critics, led by Richard Addison and
Alexander Pope, began to agitate for a change to a more "natural"
nature in gardens.
Political gardening. As it happened, many of the voices clamoring
for a new vision, a less rigorous, gentler style of garden, were Whigs.
Gardening, of all things, became a political football, the battleground
for philosophy and a statement of political affiliation.
Stowe, Kent, and Brown. The beginnings of what would become the
landscape garden movement came at Castle Howard, and later at Stowe,
under Lord Cobham and his head gardener, William Kent. Later, Kent had
as his understudy Lancelot Brown. A word about this man Brown. He was
to become famous as "Capability" Brown, the most influential
landscape gardener in Britain. His peculiar nickname came from his habit
of telling potential clients that their site had "great capabilities",
which in his (pardon the pun) capable hands, it probably did.
Palladianism. Another of the prime movers of the landscape garden
movement was Lord Burlington. He was fascinated by the classical building
style of Andrea Palladio, an Italian Renaissance architect, and the
'picturesque' or romanticized landscape of Italian classical painting.
These paintings were chock full of allegory and symbolic meaning in
the form of classical temples and statues. Take a look at the background
of works by artists like Da Vinci and Poussin for examples of this style.
Lord Burlington wanted to make the English landscape into one of these
paintings. Under his patronage, the Palladian movement in architecture
became married to the landscape gardening boom.
So, what's a landscape garden? All right, enough background,
what were the characteristics of the English landscape style of gardening?
~ Lines are curved and meandering
~ There are a series of 'informal' vistas or views punctuated by focal
points in the form of classical temples, ruins, and benches
~ The garden is opened up to the surrounding parkland, and the parkland
becomes a part of the garden scheme. This is often achieved by using
a 'ha-ha', or hidden ditch
~ Lawns come right up to the house, often at the expense of any regular
flower garden
~ Plantings of different height, shape, and colour trees and shrubs
were used to construct a balanced view and lines of sight
The heyday of the British landscape garden was the 18th century. Tastes
change, and many masterpieces by men like Kent and Brown fell victims
to changing fashions. Some of the best remaining landscape gardens can
be seen at Castle Howard,
Stowe,
and Stourhead.
To this list can be added Blenheim Palace (the park, laid out by Capability
Brown, not the formal gardens near the house).
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