Another garden book review

[bunnyjadwiga]

Filippo Pizzoni, The Garden: A History in Landscape and Art. (NY: Rizzoli, 1999)

At first glance, this book seems similar to most of the more well-known treatises (Hobhouse, Plants in Garden History; Crisp, Medieval Gardens, Harvey, Mediaeval Gardens; Landsberg, Medieval Garden) but there is a crucial difference. The perspective here is that of a continental author, specificially an Italian, rather than an English gardener. As a result, the author concentrates much more on the Hispano-Arabic styles, and Italian Renaissance styles in gardening. Detailed descriptions of the garden layouts of the Alhambra, Generalife, and others are given. The growth and development of the Mannerist style in the 16th century in Italy, France and Germany is covered in more detail. Emphasis is mostly on the landscape/architectural style of gardening, so most attention is focused on the layouts and statuary of the gardens. The photographs are drool-worthy in most cases. The book covers from the 13th century onward, so only the first 80 or so pages cover the pre-1601 period of study. The author's envisioned layout of the garden described in Pietro de Crescenzi's De Ruralium Commodorum is a unique contribution. The photos of extant gardens and reproductions of illuminations are droolworthy and appear on every page.

Comments

[vox8.livejournal.com]

Me Want! I just taught a gardening class and one of the things I talk about is the England Centric aspect of most of the readily available sources.

For us here in Atlanta, GA the idea of re-creating an English Garden is fairly absurd - considering our climate.