DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16633#0140
120
History of Garden Art
but the sameness of this part is enlivened by a marvellous show of flowers, and the
surround and main lines of the garden are just as they were- This fact seems surprising,
for in England the great revolution in taste raged high. Were we not aided by excellent
engravings, it would be hard indeed to get a tolerably comprehensive view of England's
gardens about the year 1700. But a flood of copper engravings, mostly Dutch, such as the
work of the engravers and draughtsmen Knyff and Kip, who tramped up and down
trying to get views for their drawings and plates, and more especially the views of
important castles and gardens, had now reached the country. They are preserved in a great
FIG. 444. ST. JAMES'S PARK, LONDON—GROUND-PLAN
series of pictures, which we often find repeated in the different books. The best of these,
for the size and beauty of the drawings, is he Nouveau Theatre de la Grande Bretagne,
which appeared in 1714.
The pictures show first and foremost that the French fashion for large lines had
made an impression even in England. The actual size of the gardens was more imposing
than it had been hitherto. The bosquets were thought less of, as we have said. The many
kinds of water arrangements had lost their importance; even the great canal is not
universally present, and when it does appear, is not situated so favourably as at Hampton
Court, but lies at the side and does not connect with the garden. It is not unlikely that
such a peculiar situation is due to Dutch influence, for in Holland, as we shall see later
on, it seems to have come about from natural causes. St. James's Park, also made by
William III., is a typical example (Fig. 444), and the canal is at the side of the park in
History of Garden Art
but the sameness of this part is enlivened by a marvellous show of flowers, and the
surround and main lines of the garden are just as they were- This fact seems surprising,
for in England the great revolution in taste raged high. Were we not aided by excellent
engravings, it would be hard indeed to get a tolerably comprehensive view of England's
gardens about the year 1700. But a flood of copper engravings, mostly Dutch, such as the
work of the engravers and draughtsmen Knyff and Kip, who tramped up and down
trying to get views for their drawings and plates, and more especially the views of
important castles and gardens, had now reached the country. They are preserved in a great
FIG. 444. ST. JAMES'S PARK, LONDON—GROUND-PLAN
series of pictures, which we often find repeated in the different books. The best of these,
for the size and beauty of the drawings, is he Nouveau Theatre de la Grande Bretagne,
which appeared in 1714.
The pictures show first and foremost that the French fashion for large lines had
made an impression even in England. The actual size of the gardens was more imposing
than it had been hitherto. The bosquets were thought less of, as we have said. The many
kinds of water arrangements had lost their importance; even the great canal is not
universally present, and when it does appear, is not situated so favourably as at Hampton
Court, but lies at the side and does not connect with the garden. It is not unlikely that
such a peculiar situation is due to Dutch influence, for in Holland, as we shall see later
on, it seems to have come about from natural causes. St. James's Park, also made by
William III., is a typical example (Fig. 444), and the canal is at the side of the park in