Italian Renaissance garden

The renaissance was a re-evaluation of mans relationship with god and nature. It was the rediscovery of the classical texts and the philosophies. Arts and sciences were mainly impacted by the renaissance. 

Humanism was a specific renaissance idea. It was a method of study seeking realism and human emotion in art. It was based on human values and concerns. The two goals of humanism were to understand god and to acquire nature. 

Because the inter-relationship between god, man, and nature was so strong, people believed these renaissance gardens were structurally all gods’ work. Nature was animate, cosmically ordered, and divinely created. In the gardens, nature’s raw materials were organized and imitated by mans art. Italian renaissance gardens were based on duality of art and nature.  

Before the renaissance, gardens were either religious (examples: Mary, monastic, and cloisters) or secular (examples: romance, pleasant space, and enclosed). During the medieval to renaissance period a new garden form gave way. It was an expansive, more outwardly directed, worldlier garden. The Poggio Reale shown below is an example of this early renaissance garden. This garden was made where there was space, like many other renaissance gardens.

Poggio Reale, Naples 1480’s

The architecture of the Italian renaissance gardens was based on symmetry and proportion. Leisure and otium were the main uses for these gardens. Renaissance gardens were hillside and cascaded outwards. 

Villa de Medici, Fiesole, Florence

In the Villa de Medici, the house is placed above the garden so the owner can look down on the gardens. In these renaissance gardens, the villa should be looked at from the house and the house should be looked at from the villa. Villa de Medici is formal, big scale, and looking outward. The owners would invite people to their gardens to discuss what is going on in the renaissance world.

Villa d’este 1550-80, Tivoli

Villa d’este has many water features and layers. This is a perfect example of a renaissance garden. It is dominated by architecture, sculpture, water, and message laden-landscapes. This garden is enclosed but you can easily look over the walls to view the three terraces in the garden and the outside of the garden. The water features show the human based interaction with nature. Many allegories were shown in this garden, which expresses the renaissance by showing values. The water in the water features came from a river that flows through Rome. This shows the owner is connected to Rome. The ‘alley of the hundred fountains’ shows the owner is not only wealthy, powerful, but also family driven. 

Compared to the gardens before this time, the Italian renaissance garden focuses more on meaning and relationship with god and nature, not merely on ornamentation. 

To read more about the history of the Italian renaissance gardens visit:

http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/library_online_ebooks/ml_gothein_history_garden_art_design/italian_garden_history_renaissance -website

Sources:

http://www.gardenvisit.com/uploads/image/image/165/16515/poggio_reale_1822_jpg_original.jpg -picture

http://www.gardenvisit.com/uploads/image/image/487/4875/villa_medici_fiesole1_original.jpg -picture

http://www.enjoyrome.com/admin/showphototour.php?id=28&foto=5 -picture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Renaissance_garden -website

Gardens and Religion

Religion plays a huge role in roman, mediaeval, and muslim gardens. All of these gardens are enclosed, private places to worship or self-reflect. They are looked at as a “paradise” for the people. 
Roman gardens were very sophisticated. They were used for religious expression and worship. The roman peristyle garden is private and enclosed. The architecture was often very intricate and had a roof. Roman gardens were very spirit oriented and were often said to be luxurious. They often had statuary that represented gods and goddesses. Venus represented the goddess of gardens and Priapus represented the god of fertility in the gardens.

House of the vettii, Pompeii, example of a peristyle

During the mediaeval time, religion was the unifying force (control, wealth, and power). Church was fundamental of everyones life and they were psychologically and financially controlled by the church. The mediaeval culture based their lives off of feudalism and the pyramid of power, in which the pope/church was at the top of the pyramid. Mediaeval monastery/monks were the gardeners during this time. They were very self sufficient and they dedicated their lives to god and prayer. The monks spread their religion and horticulture by creating the cloister. The cloister garden was a formal square of grass that had a bit of ornament. People would sit, meditate, and write reflections of their lives in these gardens. All of the herbs and plants in these gardens were planted for a purpose. 

Example of a cloister 

Islamic gardens follow the Qur’an. They are diverse, beautiful gardens that are used for personal reflection. The Qur’an has over 120 references to the phrase “jannat al firdaws” or “gardens of paradise”. So right from the start you can tell the Islamic gardens will be an earthly, divine paradise. The chahar bagh is a fourfold garden of flower beds. It is a place for muslims to self-reflect on their relationship with god and meditate. The four beds of the chahar bagh represent the four rivers of life, like the cloister in mediaeval culture.

Example of a chahar bagh

According to an online article, religion is one of the main reasons for making enclosed and sacred places; much like where the peristyle, cloister, and chahar bagh gardens are found. It is also found that these religious spaces and gardens were created long before some religious buildings were created. This makes all of these gardens very important and sacred to the roman, medieval, and muslim cultures. 

To read more, visit the link below.

Sources:

http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/garden_landscape_design_articles/sacred_gardens WEBhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Pompeii_atrium_reconstruction,_House_of_the_Vettii,_Boboli_Gardens,_Florence,_Italy_-_20100908.jpg PICTURE
http://atasteoftravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-Cloisters-New-York-13.jpg PICTURE
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7185/6972039417_1bd4ba1630_b.jpg PICTURE

Gardens and European culture

Gardens have always been an intrinsic part of European culture. All European gardens are created with a purpose. Some gardens are ornamental or productive, some are religious, and some are just a haven or an escape after a long day.

Plan of Abbey at St. Gall

            Productive gardens are intrinsic to all cultures. They are the common garden you would see at someone’s home. Productive gardens are used to grow vegetables, fruit, herbs, and plants. In Europe, Monastic gardens were an example of these productive, utilitarian gardens. They were self-sufficient gardens that were used to grow vegetables and herbs for food for the monks. These gardens were often found in medieval time, with an example being the Plan of Abbey at St. Gall in Switzerland.

Example of a Monastic garden

Example of Garden in Eden

            Religion was also very important to European culture. Church was fundamental of everyone’s life in the dark ages so gardens were created with religion in mind. Many gardens had statues of gods and goddesses and were a place for religious expression and worship. (Example: the Garden in Eden) Cloister gardens were also monastic, practical gardens but were made with a religious meaning. They were often enclosed and were a place of silence, study, and meditation.

Example of Cloister garden

Example of an orchard

            Royal/noble gardens were also very intrinsic to European culture as these gardens were based on wealth. Religious and productive gardens were too dull for the royals. They wanted a fun, entertaining, or relaxing garden instead. Some types of royal gardens were orchards, parks, vineyards, and herbers. They were often enclosed for protection, and had a formal structure with water features, animals, seats, vines… etc to show wealth.

According to a history of European garden website I found, gardens are like museums, they cannot be copied or altered and they are a representation of the time period (link is below if want to read more). Production, religion, and royalty are the main reasons why gardens have been an intrinsic part of European culture.

Sources:
http://cmsen.eghn.org/et.html - website
http://www.aspigroup.com/properties_comm_sunbasin/CommercialSunBasin3.JPG -picture
http://nortonpriory.org/uploads/images/herb%20garden%20medieval%20reconstruction.jpg -picture
http://www.planetware.com/i/map/CH/plan-of-st-gallen-monastery-map.jpg -picture
http://www.prlog.org/11662841-cloister-garden-image.jpg -picture
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/27/article-0-03B1F305000005DC-903_634x440.jpg -picture