1 6 SLanfcscape Hrcbitecture 



to us which carries us on to another; it is for this 

 reason that the soul is always seeking new things and 

 is never at rest. Thus you will always be able to 

 please the soul, whenever you show it many things, 

 or more than it hoped to see. 



"In this way may be explained the reason why we 

 take pleasure in seeing a perfectly regular garden, 

 and yet are pleased to see a wild and rural spot; the 

 same cause produces these effects. 



"As we like to see a large number of objects, we 

 would wish to extend our view, to be in several 

 places, traverse greater space; in short our soul 

 escapes from bounds, and wishes, so to speak, to 

 widen the sphere of its presence; and derives great 

 pleasure from a distant view. But how to effect this? 

 In town our view is confused by houses, in the 

 country by a thousand obstacles; we can scarcely 

 see three or four trees. Art comes to our assistance 

 and discovers to us nature which hides itself; 

 we love art and we love it better than nature, that is 

 nature concealed from our eyes; but when we find 

 beautiful situations, when our unfettered view can 

 see in the distance meadows, streams, hills, and these 

 dispositions are, so to speak, expressly created, it is 

 enchanted otherwise than when it sees the gardens of 

 Le Notre ; because nature does not copy itself, whereas 

 art always bears its own likeness. That is why in 

 painting we prefer a landscape to the plan of the most 

 beautiful garden in the world, it is because painting 

 only chooses nature where it is beautiful, where the 



