Though an integral part of the english landscapes of the 18th century, Charles Bridgeman is a bit harder to classify than Kent and Brown. Bridgeman was more of a transitional figure, one who incorporated the traditional geometry of French gardens while still embracing the natural landscape and countryside in a entirely progressive way. Geometric lines remained within the garden, but Bridgeman also used transitional features such as moulded lawns to take away much of the decadence and formality of rococo gardening. Instead, he opened the garden up into the landscape. This opening of the garden is probably his biggest contribution, specifically in the form of the “Ha-Ha.”  The ha-ha was a trench that allowed the garden to end, yet seemingly fade into the “borrowed landscape.” This effectively brought the garden from being a walled-in enclosure to fusing in with the surroundings and natural landscape. This gave gardens a completely different meaning and layout. 

                      a mix of formal planning and natural embrace

Kent took up the deformalism mentioned above and took it to new levels and ideas. He turned canals into lakes and gave lawns collections of trees, all effectively blurring the line further between rural garden and natural landscape. But this is not to say Kent’s gardens suffered from a lack of meaning or organizing principle. In fact, the case is quite the opposite. Being inspired by classical themes and the romanticism of Italy, he sculpted gardens in a way that paths would wind around objects such as temples and sculptures in a way that told a narrative dealing with grand themes such as sexuality and virtue. In this way, Kent combined art and nature (or perhaps merely brought out the first in the second) to create poetic gardens that were experienced on a theatrical scale.

  A landscape featuring classical themes, slowly teasing out a cohesive narrative

Last but certainly not least, Lancelot Brown is probably the most famous of 18th century English landscapers. Brown did not dive as deeply into the intellectual realm of the classics like Kent. Instead, Brown aimed at creating landscapes that applied to the soul rather than the mind. For this inspiration, he needn’t look further than the countryside of England. Unlike his contemporaries, the latent beauty and simplicity of nature was enough for him to create simple yet profoundly effective landscapes. His concern for making natural environments led him to consider himself a “place-maker.” He created subtle movement throughout a landscape, manipulating hills and planting of trees in a way that in turn manipulated light and shadows. He is the pinnacle of creating a garden that is not recognizable as something man-made.  

a subtly tweaked and refined landscape that appears quite natural

Under the reign of Louis XIV, France experienced a period of power and success that at the time was unparalleled. Versailles was not merely an extension of this power, or some sort of flaunting of wealth just for the sake of flaunting it. The gardens of Versailles were composed of highly complex and intricately executed designs and themes that were meant to create a perfect and ideal space, one that could only be seen under the perfect and ideal leadership of Louis XIV. In particular, Le Notre’s understanding of geometric spatial planning and a new emphasis on “clarity, simplicity, austerity, and refinement” (96) are what make Versailles such a unique and effective garden. Le Notre managed to take such a vast space and create gardens that never feel overwhelming or necessarily ornate. Throughout the garden, the various references and images of the sun god give a sacredness to the gardens, as well as also emphasizing the divine role of Louis XIV. The effect of having such geometrically perfect planning and symbols of Louis’s power is that Versailles becomes a microcosm for France itself. Rolling through the gardens, one is not just aware of Louis’s power or wealth, or the great vastness of the gardens. One instead feels that all attributes of the gardens are ones that France herself shares. As a nation, France is vast, prosperous, and bursting forward with life. Given this context, it makes even more sense that Louis XIV also used Versailles as a way to keep the nobles under his thumb. It was not just a garden that was pleasurable to stroll around in (although it certainly is that, too). It is all the ideals of France under Louis’s reign communicated via the art of gardens. In this way, Versailles takes gardens from mere pleasure to a level of spatial design that gives more meaning than ever to what a garden could mean.    

This first photo exemplifies the vast yet simple approach to Versaille, which emphasizes its role as a refined and subtle encapsulation of all that was France at the time. 

This photo shows the Latona Fountain, which depicts the story of Apollo and Diana surrounded by ungrateful peasants, which is an allegory for the Fronde. This emphasizes Louis's roll within France