250 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The abuse 

 of symme- 

 try. 



Throughout Europe this revolution accorded with the 

 spirit of the times. Every sentimentalist, republican 

 philosopher, or romance writer, 

 rebelling against rigid law and 

 order of any kind, delighted 

 in this so-called return to the 

 freedom of nature. Soon, how- 

 ever, nature pure and simple 

 came to be considered insipid, 

 and its tameness was relieved 

 by picturesque pieces of archi- 

 tecture and other features de- 

 signed to give the scene a more sensational appearance. 

 A love of the romantic was partially inspired by 

 the Chinese, whose gardens were designed to appeal 

 to the emotions. Eventually this landscape or pictu- 

 resque style, a too studied and over-sentimental struggle 

 for effect, lost all spontaneity, and in its turn fell into 

 decay. 



At the close of the first quarter of 

 the century, French and Dutch influ- 

 ences became paramount in England. 

 Both styles were distinguished by a 

 mathematical precision attributable 

 rather to the geometrician than to 

 the architect. Scale and proportion were considered 

 of no special importance. The ideal was regularity. 



