In this documentary series, presenter Monty Don takes the viewer on a knowledgeable tour of Italy's most beautiful and/or historically significant gardens. While doing so he chats with a variety of experts and discusses the wider social, cultural or political context. For instance, episode 1, "Rome", deals with the magnificent gardens built by vying cardinals. It turns out that many of these cardinals built their gardens in order to delight, to entertain, to puzzle but also in order to impress. ("Look, look, I'm so rich that I can hire the best artists and maintain a whole army of gardeners ! And I'm so influential that I can tell 200 unsuspecting villagers to take a hike ! I flattened three streets in order to build that vast staircase !")
Many of the power games played by these cardinals revolved around an abundant supply of water, the most precious of commodities to be found in warm and dry countries. The phenomenon can still be observed in the modern world, for instance in North-Africa and India. There is, and always has been, a certain kind of ruler (or would-be ruler) who loves listening to the tinkling of a hundred pretty fountains while imagining dusty peasants slaving away with buckets and jars.
But back to the documentary series, which is a delight to watch. Among the other topics dealt with : the use or non-use of color in renaissance horticulture ; the coded meaning of certain pieces of art work ; the restoration, reconstruction or recreation of centuries-old gardens ; the patronage or ownership by rich expatriates ; the continent-wide interaction between various schools of garden design ; the flux and flow of fashions.
Recommended.
