Are Roman gardens the cornerstone for all other gardens we have studied in this class so far?

Are Roman gardens the cornerstone for all other gardens we have studied in this class so far?

I would say yes. The core values of the Roman garden—having a place to oneself for rest and relaxation, otium, worship, and as a place to entertain guests seem to all be themes that continue on throughout the centuries of garden art in Europe. It seems that use of the Roman garden was the foundation of all other gardens, even without the Renaissance propelling a reinvigoration of the classics.

Many features of the Roman garden were used in Medieval and Renaissance gardens and continue to be used in gardens today. Water features were prominent in gardens across all time periods and were as varied in purpose as the gardens they were in. Whether they were used to divide Medieval gardens into quadrants, used to cool down the surrounding area in Islamic gardens, or make the wealth of the owner evident through conspicuous waste of fountains, water features in gardens have been around since Roman times. We also still use topiaries and statues in our gardens as another way to add depth and décor to our gardens in a way that integrates other forms of artwork.

As far as the more “natural” landscape of the English garden, Roman themes and influences manifest themselves in less obvious ways. While some Romanesque statues may sit on display in English gardens, it is ideologies, rather than artifacts, shape the English garden with Roman influences. The English garden had the same reverence for nature that the Romans did, as well as the desire to escape from the toil of daily life to nature. This sentiment is not unlike the Romanticism that influenced the English gardens—a return to nature from the corrupting institutions of man.