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“THE GOLDEN MIDDLE PATH”: Nature meets design in 17th–19th-century gardens

Whether the classic grounds of Louis XIV’s Versailles, the elegant gardens and woodlands of Wiltshire’s Stourhead, or Claude Monet’s inspirational Giverny, these and other garden sites embody a sensibility articulated by Alexander Pope, who once cautioned that formal gardens should adhere to the “golden middle path” between nature’s untrammeled realm and man’s need for balance and order. Careful proscriptive rules guided garden design during this three-century period, reflecting the nobler qualities of the owner or ruler. This course will view these locations with an eye toward balance (Palladio’s architectural influence), their place in Enlightenment-period thought, and their role in artistic representations of time, place, and shifting social norms.

Instructor: Rhea Higgins

Three Tuesdays, April 1, 8, 15, 4:00–6:00 pm, Wasch Center $135