Italian Gardens
A Cultural History

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.

Contents



Cultivated Ideas

- Early Reniassance 1450-1504

Medici Gardeners

- Renaissance 1518-1550

Botanical Revolution

- Botanical gardens and treatises 1536-1600

Musical Statues

- High Renaissance 1560-1573

Esoteric Jokes

- Mannerism 1550-1580

Formal Splendour

- Baroque 1598-1786

Horticultural Extremes

- Plant Collections 1600-1700

Watering the Guests

- Garden Entertainments 1530-1850

Foreign Influence

- English and French Style 1696-1783

International Style

- European Fashions 1800-1867

An Open Ending

- The Modern Garden 1902-1968

Epilogue

Bibliography

Gardens to Visit

Picture Acknowledgements

Index

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 and Gardens of Wales (all published 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.
ALEX RAMSAY is well known as an award-winning photographer of architecture, gardens and landscapes. His work has appeared in leading magazines worldwide and illustrates many books including Helena Attlee's Gardens of Wales.