The History of Garden Art

Egyptian Art

• The visual record of garden art history is not as strong as the literary record of the garden's importance. Jimmy Dunn notes that the gardens were particularly important in the grounds dedicated to Egyptian gods and royalty, including homes, palaces, pyramids, temples and funeral chapels. The Egyptians grew approximately 18 varieties of trees, including sycamores and figs, and numerous flowers, including daisies, myrtle and jasmine. One estate holder from Egypt's New Kingdom noted, "You sit in their shades and eat their fruit. Wreaths are made for you of their twigs, and you are drunken with their wines." Other literary accounts from ancient Egypt confirm plants and trees as decorative elements in outdoor spaces intended for pharaohs, who were treated as supernatural beings..

Roots in Asia

• The history of garden art is evident in the lives of the peoples of Asia. Marie-Luise Gothein notes that the woodland park was referenced in the Babylon epic tale of Gilgamesh. The tale recounts the setting of a woodland castle. Although this type of mythical account of a forested park is not surrounded by a fence, Gothein notes that the tale of a straight-pathed sanctuary is the earliest note of a park. In the year 1100, Gothein also notes how "parks were the chief ornaments of the country." The first person in history to make a claim of a park is Tiglath-Pileser the First in approximately 1100 BCE, who kept animals on hunting grounds and gifts of fish from foreign rulers as prizes in his own fish ponds.

Ancient Crete

• The excavations of ancient Crete have suggested the importance of garden art in this island civilization. Gothein notes that the Cretan royalty reigned in peace and did not have to build a wall around their fortress because of the security offered by the sea. According to Gothein, the evidence of garden art in Crete lies in "their love of the plant world from the ornamentation of the vessels which they used, the painting on their vases, the frescoes that decorated their rooms: flowers and trees are portrayed with astonishingly artistic skill."

Chinese Garden Art

• For millennia, beautifully landscaped gardens have decorated the grounds of Chinese homes, palaces and buildings. Gardens also decorate the paths between buildings. In the visual record, tapestries, carvings, ink drawings and other media have documented Chinese landscape painting, including what gardens looked like at various points in history. The ancient Chinese paid great attention to detail in landscape paintings, depicting patterns of plants, trees, flowers, statues, bridges, ponds, stones, carvings and other works of garden art that formed their complex gardens.

Greek Garden Art

• The ancient Greeks did not leave evidence of their garden art in the ruins of today. Gothein notes that the way public spaces were planned did not leave room for gardens, but the Greeks were impressed by the gardens they observed on their visits to the East. There was plenty of room for cultural spaces, such as athletic arenas, theaters and public baths. We see the importance of plants in classic statues, which implies that the Greeks loved to adorn their public spaces with greenery.