Italian Gardens: A Cultural History - Softcover

Attlee, Helena

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0711233926 ISBN 13: 9780711233928

Publisher: Frances Lincoln, 2012

Synopsis

To many of us, the great gardens of Italy seem like paradise on earth. But how much do we know of their history, and the people who created them?
In this ravishing book, illustrated with contemporary paintings, drawings and prints as well as photographs of the gardens today, Helena Attlee tells their story. She starts with Petrarch – still looking to medieval chronicles for advice on how and when to plant – and goes on to the Renaissance and those first gardens to emerge from architects' plans. Then she describes the great gardens of the Medici; the first botanic gardens; the weird Mannerist gardens and their grottoes followed by the Baroque splendour of Isola Bella and the Villa Aldobrandini; the Neoclassical and Picturesque gardens of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and how, in the twentieth century, expatriates with money to lavish on their villas and gardens brought new delights.

About this title

About the Author:

Helena Attlee is an author and journalist who has made the garden and its history her special subject. Her books include The Gardens of Portugal Italian Gardens: A Cultural History and Gardens of Wales (all publishd by Frances Lincoln). She lectures widely, writes for a wide range of journals and magazines, and leads specialist garden tours. She lives in Presteigne, Powys, with her husband, the photographer Alex Ramsay.YOKO KAWAGUCHI was born in Tokyo and educated in the United States, Canada and Japan. She has lived in the UK for the last twenty years. The author of Serene Gardens: Creating Japanese Design and Detail in the Western Garden, she lectures on Japanese garden history, and has appeared on BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour and the BBC World Service.

Review:

'The text is erudite and immensely readable, and the many photographs perfectly capture the varied delights of these gardens. An ideal present for gardeners and garden lovers everywhere.'

About this edition

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0711233926
• ISBN 13: 9780711233928
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208