House & Garden 
failing this, a terrestrial globe on a pedestal ; 
the four corners planted with large trees, the 
whole fenced by a closely clipped hedge, 
and this in its turn 
surrounded by archi¬ 
tecturally treated 
bands of blue stone 
in the style of Louis 
XIV or XV. One 
of the best known 
Dutch gardens of a 
somewhat earlier 
period was that of 
Broek in Waterland, 
though to give a 
clear idea of this 
tasteless effort is not 
easy. Some neglected 
shrubs, a few bushes 
clipped in animal and 
other forms, in the 
middle a small flower¬ 
bed bordered by a 
hideous ornamental 
design in coral 
and shells — that is 
all. How it could 
be described again 
and again by foreign 
writers as a line 
example of Dutch 
landscape art is a 
riddle to the Nether- 
landers themselves. 
Of the really 
characteristic gardens 
only a very few 
neglected examples 
are to be found. In 
general they are, as a 
whole, so overgrown 
and altered that 
the original plan is 
difficult to decipher. 
In the seventeenth 
century the ground 
was laid out accord¬ 
ing to its size in 
one or more quad¬ 
rangles, each of these divisions 
devoted to some particular use. 
entire space was protected by a carefully 
shorn hedge. 
In a somewhat later period, the curved 
lines so affected by the famous Le Notre, 
designer of the king’s gardens at Versailles, 
were introduced. 
At once the whole 
style of Dutch land¬ 
scape gardening 
underwent a change, 
returning again to 
the most beautiful 
period of the Italian 
school. Besides the 
preservation of the 
decorative idea in 
all its purity, the 
use of certain lines 
brought about won¬ 
derful light effects 
which, in union with 
cleverly introduced 
plastic groups, gave 
to the whole a 
peculiarly charming 
appearance. Un¬ 
fortunately the 
Hollander was not 
always able to live 
up to his very 
genuine appreciation 
of this refinement. 
H is innate bourgeoisie 
frequently betrayed 
him, leading him 
again and again into 
the senseless follies 
of which the Broek 
garden, before 
referred to, is such 
a glaring example. 
But in spite of all 
this the Dutch 
dwelling-house, with 
its somewhat severe 
interior, its inner 
court and garden, 
had a peculiar and 
very decided charac¬ 
ter of its own ; and 
we cannot but hope 
that in the great reawaking of decorative 
art in Holland, all architecture and landscape 
gardening may have their full share of 
appreciation. 
SCENE IN ALKMAAR 
From a Pencil Sketch by J. G. Veldheer 
The 
509 
