PART VI. ORNAMENTAL GARDENING. 32$ 



subject of planting, or picturesque improvement, jet they de- 

 serve to be noticed here, because a few of them are occasionally 

 introduced into parterres or botanic gardens, either for their 

 individual beauty, for shelter, shade, or some of the uses of pic- 

 turesque improvement. It is in the shrubbery, or those parts 

 of the pleasure grounds which contain flowers, shrubs, and 

 trees — which occupy considerable space, exhibit views of the 

 country, or of other parts of the ground, that ornamental gar- 

 dening and picturesque improvement blend themselves toge- 

 ther. 



Statues, urns, inscriptions, busts, monuments, &c. 

 are materials which should be introduced with caution. 

 None of the others require so much taste and judgment to ma- 

 nage them with propriety. The introduction of statues*, ex- 

 cept among works of the most artificial kind, such as fine ar- 

 chitecture, is seldom or never allowable; for when they obtrude 



* Perhaps there is no other mechanical effort of art so preposterous as naked 

 bronze-coloured human figures exposed in the open air, and surmounted with 

 lumps of snow or ice. Decency and common sense equally loathe them, and good 

 taste flees their presence. As an apology for such insupportable absurdities, it is 

 alleged that they are of Grecian origin. This is an error : it is true, the Greeks, 

 despairing of being able to execute figures with drapery, produced naked statues; 

 but these were always placed within their temples. The exposure of nakedness is a 

 comparatively modern corruption of the true Grecian taste, which ought not to be 

 thus abused. The Romans and modern Italians are the authors of this vulgar prac- 

 tice. In every case (except bathing scenes, which are properly private, and conse- 

 quently unfit for public representation) the introduction of nudity, whether in paint- 

 ing or sculpture, betrays bad taste and want of talents in the artist. 



