IFntrofcuctton 



German prince and baron, and are still admired 

 for their noble proportions and refined details. 

 The owners of these stately chateaus, how- 

 ever, found their love of nature easily gratified 

 in an afternoon promenade on a broad stone 

 terrace, over whose carved balustrade they 

 could lazily survey the artifices of these mas- 

 ters or their less skilful imitators. 



Under the influence of this classicism, men 

 and women of fashion enjoyed such surround- 

 ings rather because they set themselves off to 

 advantage, as they and their guests posed be- 

 fore each other like the beauties and gallants 

 of Watteau. They carried the silks and satins 

 of the salon into the bowers and alleys of the 

 garden, and it was fitting that they should pro- 

 vide themselves with a background to har- 

 monize with their gowns and habits, while 

 their newly built temples and villas were dis- 

 played to full advantage. A somewhat differ- 

 ent explanation by H. A. Tame of the motive 

 shown in these gardens is so interesting in itself, 

 that the reader will pardon its quotation at 

 length in this place. 



