Italian Renaissance Garden: From the Conventions of Planting, Design, and Ornament to the Grand Gardens of Sixteenth-Century Central Italy

Looks at the use of fountains and sculpture in sixteenth century Italian gardens

In this delightful book, Lazzaro presents a solid discussion of gardens that have been cultivated for over 500 years. In the first six chapters she covers the idea of the garden and its physical and philosophical representation, including reconstruction based on renderings, ornamentation such as stone sculpture, structured designs, natural design, and the synthesis between art and nature. The final four chapters are devoted to individual gardens and cover the Castello, the Boboli, the Villa D'Este, and the Lante Bagnaia. Those who have traveled to Italy will appreciate most the photographs by Lieberman, which reveal the geometry of the plantings and the symmetry of their arrangement in 190 black-and-white illustrations and 80 color plates. This well-planned book will serve the scholar of Renaissance culture as well as the home gardener looking for ideas. Highly recommended.
- Ellen Bates, New York
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.