GARDEN DESIGN 223 



The Renaissance gardens of Italy were laid out 

 as far as possible on the lines of the old Roman 

 gardens. In fact, Lanciani asserts that the fa- 

 mous gardens of the Villa Barberini at Castel 

 Gondolfo are laid out almost precisely upon the 

 lines of Domitian's villa. The great interest in 

 antiquities which prevailed during the Renais- 

 sance led to the unearthing of all sorts of data con- 

 cerning ancient gardens, and also to the use of an- 

 tique sculpture as accent material (Fig. 5). 



There is a great deal of talk nowadays about the 

 uselessness and artificiality of formal gardens, and 

 the necessity for "going back to nature" and copy- 

 ing gardens after the fields and woods. This point 

 of view has been very ably attacked by Mr. Regi- 

 nald Blomfield in his book "The Formal Garden in 

 England." It is very well worth while reading 

 for any one who wishes to make a careful study of 

 the formal garden. 



The fallacy of the nature-lovers, as pointed out 

 clearly by Mr. Blomfield, is that nature is always 

 harmonious and simple, and that it is a sacrilege 

 to attempt to change her appearance ; yet we fre- 

 quently find that the very men who are insisting 

 strongly upon copying nature are those who will 

 change the whole face of the landscape if allowed 



