How Renaissance Thinking Appeared in Renaissance Gardens

The Renaissance saw a change in the paradigm of man's relationship with God. Rather than spending one's life on Earth focusing on the afterlife and struggling to earn favor with God, Renaissance thinkers elevated humans in relation to God. The idea may be perfectly illustrated in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam painting, in which Adam is nearly on the same physical level as God and they are almost touching hands. It is this idea that ultimately influenced every piece of the time we refer to as the Renaissance.

An idea, that to know this world is to also know God, developed as a result of new thinking. And because God and nature were being reevaluated, the garden acted as an experimental space for both changed relationships. Along with humanism, the Renaissance saw a passionate rediscovery of Ancient Greek and Roman literature. It was examined, translated, studied, and elements began appearing in painting and sculpture of the time. Just like art, gardens saw an interesting blend of religious art, both Christian and Classical. Gardens very often had allegorical themes, which utilized a variety of characters to represent everything from ancient myths to the owner of the garden's occupation and goals in life, as can be seen throughout Cardinal Ippolito's Villa d'Este. The picture below shows the garden's Fontana Della Rometta, which represents the Cardinal's desire to move to Rome and become the Pope.

The renewed interest in Ancient Roman life brought about the desire to emulate it as much as possible. As such, countryside villas like Villa d'Este were a reincarnation of Ancient Roman homes. Compared to gardens of Medieval times, the Renaissance gardens were physical representations of the influences of Renaissance thought. They were expansive to reflect expansions in thinking, outwardly directed in comparison to the enclosed gardens of the Middle Ages, and their structure also called to mind the gardens of Ancient Rome. Axial symmetry was reintroduced, as inspired by classical texts.

Another feature that was explored in the Renaissance gardens was the idea of 3rd nature. It goes along with the examination of man's relationship with nature, and describes the use of natural materials to imitate nature in artistic ways. It exemplifies the humanistic thought that people had the ability to control nature and assert a type of power over their own lives.

Sources:
http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.dk/2011/05/rome-opening-times-for-villa-deste.html (Villa d'Este - Rometta)
http://www.louisajones.fr/blog/versailles-and-villa-deste (Villa d'Este - Axis)