VISST 6445

Nature, Cultural Landscape, and Gardens in Early Modern Italy and France

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

This seminar will examine cultural understandings of nature in early modern Europe, especially Italy, including the notions of "second nature," "cultural landscape," and "pastoral." While agricultural activity transformed the natural landscape in the fifteenth century, so too did ever more extensive gardens. We will study the lavish gardens of cardinals, popes, and dukes that emerged in sixteenth-century Italy, with their terracing, fountains and statues that conceptualized the natural world and depended on developments in mechanics and hydraulics. Many new plant species began entering Europe from the Middle East and the New World in the sixteenth century, followed by the beginnings of botanical gardens in Europe. We will discuss these and the cultural significance of plants, animals, and collections of natural objects. We will also see the role of gardens and alteration to the land in the formation of national identity. The focus of the seminar is on Italian gardens of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as well as some French gardens, culminating in the Versailles of King Louis XIV.

When Offered Fall.

Comments Co-meets with ARTH 4445/VISST 4445.

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