Boults Е. Illustrated history of landscape design

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15th CENTURY / CENTRAL ASIA

Clavijo described

many royal fetes

e garden is very

d with many

others that

throughout are

paths…. In the

ce here was built a

und plan of which

In Islam, as in many other r

eligions,

paradise is symbolized as a garden.

A chahar-bagh is often called a para-

dise garden (its runnels representing

the rivers of milk, honey, water, and

wine mentioned in the Quran), but

the symbolic geometry predates

the advent of Islam. In pre-Islamic

Persian iconography, crossed axes

represented the four corners of the

world, marked with a spring at its

center. The evolution of the chahar-

bagh as a model of paradise parallels

the etymology of the English word

paradise: its Greek root, parade-

isos (park) derives from the Persian

pairidaeza (walled enclosure). The

elaborate paradise gardens of the

Mughal Empire in India and Kashmir,

founded by Babur, are described in

chapter ﬁ ve.

TRANSOXIAN VALLEY: Clavijo described the city of Herat: “It stands in the plain,

and on all sides the land is well irrigated by streams and water channels, while round

and about the city there are orchards with many homesteads.”

15th CENTURY / ITALY

CURIOUS MINDS, BROADENED VISTAS

Italy was the locus of transformation

from the close-mindedness of medieval

thinking to the expansiveness represen-

tative of 15th-century thought. Many

factors contributed to this cultural

shift. Geographically, the Italian penin-

sula beneﬁ ted from connections to both

the East and the West. New ideas and

goods entered Italy as a result of the

Crusades. As the economy changed,

feudal estates dissolved, enabling land

ownership by the rising middle class.

Florence was the center of humanist

thought, the cradle of early Renais-

sance activity. Humanism described

a trust in human intellect, a belief

in the creative abilities and rational

capacities of human beings. The focus

of inquiry was not so much on the

next world, on the nature of God or

of heaven, but on the present context

of earthly life and on the social and

political relationships of the real world.

People’s views of nature changed ac-

cordingly. Humanists believed that the

CITY-STATES: In 16th-century Italy,

political fragmentation led to the

establishment of independent city-

states, where identities were deﬁ ned

regionally and power resided with

wealthy families.

divine could be perceived in the order

of nature. Gardens could be composed

to express that order, and landscapes

could be appreciated for their scenic

value. Gardens focused outward.

The rebirth of classical forms of edu-

cation and inquiry that characterized

the Renaissance was in part a result

of the inﬂ ux of Greek scholars who left

Constantinople after the Ottoman

conquest in 1453. In addition, Nicholas

V, a humanist pope who governed from

1447–1455, sought to restore Rome to

its former glory. Ancient Roman ruins,

newly excavated, served as valuable

sources of inspiration.

Humanist ideals were also expressed

by sculptors and painters, who

achieved lifelike modeling of form.

The development of linear perspec-

tive led to an awareness of spatial

volume. Order and geometry became

the bases of design. Leon Battista

Alberti (1404–1474) wrote influential

treatises based on the teachings of

antiquity, and defined beauty as a

harmony of parts. In his ten books

on architecture, De re aedificatoria,

Alberti restated Pliny the Younger’s

theories on villa design: hillside eleva-

tions should be exploited for views, air,

and sunlight.

15th CENTURY / ITALY

THE VILLA AS

AN EXPRESSION

OF HUMANIST

IDEALS

The 15th-century garden opened itself

to the landscape, relieved of its func-

tion as food source, hunting ground, or

sanctuary. House and garden formed a

single unit, related through geometry,

proportion, and use. Loggias and porti-

cos provided architectural transitions

between inside and outside spaces.

Later Renaissance gardens contained

sculpture and more reﬁ ned architectural

settings, as illustrated in the Hypnero-

tomachia Poliphili, a 15th-century novel

attributed to Francesco Colonna, a

Dominican monk.

The villa suburbana, consisting of house,

garden, and agricultural component,

embodied the ideal of country living as

promoted by Alberti. Visual links from

the garden to the surrounding land-

scape, and from the villa to the city,

were important contextual references

from a humanistic perspective.

Nature

was understood in terms of varying

levels of organization, from uncultivated

to controlled, with emphasis on humans

at the center. A conceptual framework

of the villa acknowledged the close

relationship between wild woods (“ﬁ rst

nature”), orchards or vineyards (“second

nature”), and ornamental ﬂ ower gardens

(“third nature”).

FLORENCE:

EPICENTER OF

CULTURE

Florence, the center of the wool and cloth

trade, was the cultural capital of 15th-

century Europe. Merchants accumulated

great wealth, and banking became a

major industry. The Medici family emerged

as the controlling force in Florentine

affairs, with power assumed initially by

Cosimo the Elder (1389–1464). Cosimo

was a great patron of the arts and sup-

porter of humanistic studies. His efforts

to gather around him the great minds of

the day at his country estates led to the

consideration of the villa suburbana as a

place for productive leisure. The escape

from the city to the countryside (the

concept of villeggiatura) embodied both

the classical values of otium (withdrawal)

and negotium (engagement). The Medici

villas at Careggi and Fiesole serve as

good examples of early Renaissance

gardens that functioned as philosophical

retreats.

UTENS LUNETTE: Grand Duke Ferdi-

nand I commissioned Flemish artist

(and Italian citizen) Giusto Utens to

paint detailed portraits of his land

holdings in 1599. The 14 canvas lu-

nettes document the Medici family’s

power and presence in the region and

are an important visual source of

information for landscape historians.

The Villa Medici at Careggi

CASE STUDY:

The renovation of the Villa Medici

at Careggi shows how the typical

medieval castle and farmstead

evolved into the distinct plan-

ning ideal of the villa suburbana.

Cosimo hired Michelozzo di

Bartolommeo (1396–1472) to

remodel an existing medieval

castle according to new human-

ist impulses. In about 1457,

Michelozzo removed the fortiﬁ ed

towers and added a double log-

gia that deﬁ ned a small private

garden space. House and garden

were integrated. The idea of the

villa was now fully formed.

The garden at Careggi was the site of Cosimo’s original Platonic Academy,

where he went to “cultivate not his ﬁ elds, but his soul.”

Marsilio Ficino, the

mathematician, scholar, and proprietor of Careggi for Cosimo, was instru-

mental in promoting Florence as a center of classical scholarship.

The Villa Medici at Fiesole

CASE STUDY:

Michelozzo was again commissioned by Cosimo for the new

construction of the Villa Medici at Fiesole, which was completed

in 1461 and remains an excellent example of an early Italian

Renaissance villa. He engineered the steep site “in rapport” with

the landscape so views are possible from many angles, conferring

a sense of openness to the gardens.

The architect created two south-facing terraces; a pergola at the base of the

40-foot wall that retains the upper terrace provides an intermediate level.

Living spaces opened to each terrace, but access between levels was through

an interior stairway. There is no courtyard. An enclosed “secret garden” on the

west side of the house affords views to Florence and the surrounding agri-

cultural ﬁ elds. The hortus conclusus of the Middle Ages became the giardino

segreto of the Renaissance, where Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo the Magniﬁ cent

(1449–1492) relocated the Platonic Academy after Cosimo’s death.

The full development of the Italian Renaissance villa, wherein

organizing geometries, architectural details, and water fea-

tures served to create a uniﬁ ed site plan, occurred in the 16th

century and is discussed in the next chapter.

SUMMARY

Intellectual horizons expanded along with political territories in the 15th century. The landscape became manageable as horticul-

tural practices improved and designers better comprehended site planning principles. Landscape spaces were ordered in service

to human desires: as aids to meditation, as places of repose, and as signiﬁ ers of an idealized agrarian model.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

REDUCTION

Tray landscapes elimi-

nate the unessential

to create a powerful

minimalist aesthetic.

ABSTRACTION

Kare sansui gardens

express the charac-

teristics of rivers and

streams using a selec-

tive language of stone

and sand.

HIERARCHY

Nested geometries

concentrate power at

the center, as illus-

trated by the plan of

the Forbidden City.

SYMMETRY

Perpendicular axes

subdivide space in a

chahar-bagh, or four-

square garden.

PROPORTION

According to Alberti,

the parts must equal

the whole—nothing

can be added or taken

away without destroy-

ing the integrity of the

design.

15th CENTURY

/ CONCLUSION

BOOKS

HE BIRTH OF VENUS, by Sarah Dunant

HE LADY AND THE UNICORN, by Tracy Chevalier

HE PRINCE, by Niccolo Machiavelli

RES RICHES HEURES DU DUC DE BERRY, by the Limbourg

Brothers

FILMS

1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE (1992)

ENRY V (1989)

UNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939)

OAN OF ARC (1948)

OWER OF LONDON (1939)

PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES

BRANCACCI CHAPEL, frescoes by Masaccio (1424)

AVID, by Donatello (1425)

ATES OF PARADISE (DOORS TO THE FLORENCE BAPTISTERY),

by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1425–1452)

ORTRAIT OF GIOVANNI ARNOLFINI AND HIS WIFE, by Jan van

Eyck (1434)

AN MARCO CONVENT, frescoes by Fra Angelico (1436)

ATTLE OF SAN ROMANO, by Paolo Uccello (1445)

AGI CHAPEL (PALAZZO MEDICI-RICCARDI), frescoes by

Benozzo Gozzoli (1460)

HE BIRTH OF VENUS, by Sandro Botticelli (1482)

T. FRANCIS IN ECSTASY, by Giovanni Bellini (1485)

ANTIQ AL-TAIR (THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS), Timurid

miniature (1486)

DESIGN VOCABULARY

ZEN GARDENS

Raked sand and Rocks

IMPERIAL CITIES

Gates, Courts, and Platforms

ITALIAN VILLAS

Terraces, Loggias, and Porticos

r further exploration

15th CENTURY

/ CONCLUSION

16th CENTURY

umulative changes in the 16th century marked the gradual transition to the modern era. Political power was

consolidated across many parts of the globe as individual countries formed distinct national identities. Deﬁ ni-

tive monarchies emerged in Europe and England; Japan was uniﬁ ed during the reigns of three successive gener-

als; and the Mughal empire spread across parts of Central Asia and India. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation

marked a period of commitment to ideals in western Europe. Individual creative pursuits were valued by society; art-

ists gained prestige. All these factors inﬂ uenced the design of the built landscapes examined in this chapter.

For Europeans, the 15th century was a time to celebrate the rediscovery of nature. In the 16th century, nature be-

came constructed. The idea of the garden as a “third nature” was implicit in more deﬁ ned styles. Rome was the new

authority for Renaissance gardening, art, and architecture. Italian styles spread across the continent and beyond.

16th CENTURY / A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY

1500

1510

1520

1550 1560

1570

1508

1521

1517

1569

1554

1565

DE REVOLUTIONIBUS

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

CORTES CONQUERS MEXICO

PORTUGUESE TRADING NETWORKS

MERCATOR PROJECTION

TULIPS REACH EUROPE

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