Gardens of the gods

Description

"Gardens of the Gods" reveals the symbolic language of garden design, exploring the gardens of China, with their moon gates and immortal rocks, the Zen gardens of Japan, the paradise gardens of Islam, those of Renaissance Italy with their richly mythological imagery, the landscaped parks of England, the gardens of New Harmony in the US and some striking, modern examples of symbolic gardens, including the Tarot Garden of the sculptress Niki de Saint Phalle in Italy. This illustrated book also includes a chapter with suggestions for creating a "garden of meaning" and a select.

First Sentence

A verandah in Kyoto overlooking an expanse of white sand, its carefully raked parallel lines broken only by a few rocks; the mysterious recesses of a Chinese garden glimpsed through a circular opening in a high wall; the dried-up fountains and watercourses of a once sumptuous Mughal garden in India; a flight of terraces in Tuscany peopled by satyrs, dwarves, monkeys and gods; the surrealistic rock sculptures of Bomarzo; the throng of deities around the Fountain of Apollo at Versailles; a grotto in England with a nymph sleeping by murmuring waters; a Scottish hillside with the golden head of a Greek god half hidden in the shrubbery - these places, disparate geographically and culturally, are linked together.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Gardens of the gods: myth, magic and meaningI.B. Tauris2005-01-01
• Gardens of the GodsPaperbackI. B. Tauris2004-12-23