The beauty of English Landscape Gardens
The English landscape garden is a style of “landscape” garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical French formal garden which had emerged in the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe.
The English garden presented an idealized view of nature. Created and pioneered by William Kent and others, the “informal” garden style originated as a revolt against the architectural garden and drew inspiration from paintings of landscapes by a number of artists. The English garden usually includes a lake, lawns set against groves of trees, and recreations of classical temples, Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape.
By the end of the 18th century the English garden was exported as far as Russia. It also had a major influence on the form of the public parks and gardens which appeared around the world in the 19th century. The English landscape garden was based on the designs of gardens from English country houses, and many examples in the United Kingdom are popular visitor attractions today.
Glossary:
to pioneer: sperimentare
revolt: rivoluzione
to draw inspiration: prendere ispirazione
lawn: prato inglese
to be set against: essere posizionato al lato opposto di
groves: boschetto
idyllic pastoral landscape: paesaggio di campagna idilliaco
visitor attractions: attrazioni turistiche
English gardens in the Cotswolds:
