Building the C18 Garden – Visiting Arcadia

The 18th century landscape is viewed by many as being the pinnacle of English garden design. From its early Arcadian experiments and passion for all things classical, through to the vast and minimal landscapes of Capability Brown and his contemporaries, the gardening century was brought to a close with conflicting appeals for rugged wildness and domestic prettiness.

In this series Dr Laura Mayer will explore some of the themes and trends that emerged during the century, with a particular focus on the role of art, antiquity and architecture in shaping 18th landscape designs. The series is designed to pick up on themes and ideas not covered in any depth in last year’s introductory course on the History of Gardens – and so may appeal whether or not you joined us for the earlier series.

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This ticket is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for the other individual session via the link below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £35 via the link here.(Gardens Trust members £6 or £26.25).

Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (If you do not receive this link, please contact us), and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

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Week 1. 21 October: Imagining Arcadia - The Early English Landscape Garden. First in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 2. 28 October: Visiting Arcadia - Architecture and Antiquity on the Grand Tour. Second in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 3. 4 November - Garden Buildings, Grottoes and Entertainment Al-Fresco. Third in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 4. 11 November: The Architectural Aspirations of Capability Brown and Humphry Repton. Fourth in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 5. 18 November: ‘An Awful Precipice’ - Price, Knight and the Picturesque. Last in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

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Week 2. 28 October: Visiting Arcadia - Architecture and Antiquity on the Grand Tour

The Grand Tour transformed British culture in the eighteenth century; its effects visible in everything from art to antiquarianism, and fashion to food. A carefully prescribed route took in ancient ruins, sun-drenched landscapes and must-see objects d’art. Consequently, the Grand Tour became an educational rite of passage for the classically trained, encouraging the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and providing a constant stream of commissions for artists like Batoni, Piranesi and Canaletto.

The Tour was also a socially sanctioned cover for all types of excess, from gambling and pillaging, to whoring and drinking. Yet despite these temptations, many young men returned from the Continent genuinely enlightened. Clubs were set up to encourage aspiring architects and garden designers to mingle with collectors and would-be patrons.

This lecture explores the dual nature of the Tour and reveals how a network of wealthy connoisseurs influenced the Arcadian landscape gardens of the Georgian gentry.

Dr Laura Mayer is an independent lecturer, writer and researcher, with an MA in Garden History and a PhD in eighteenth-century patronage. Originally an art historian with a side of Spanish, she accidentally fell into garden history whilst working at the Alhambra in Granada. Laura has published extensively – particularly on Lancelot Brown and Humphry Repton – as well as on the historic gardens of Cambridgeshire. She lectures regularly for Cambridge University Botanic Gardens and works as a conservation consultant for the National Trust and Land & Heritage. Laura was praised as ‘expert, lively and engaging’ as one of the speakers in our introductory History of Gardens series on the 18th century, and we are delighted to welcome her back.

Image: unknown artist, after Pieter Andreas Rysbrack, ca. 1684–1748, A View of the Orangerie in Lord Burlington's Garden at Chiswick, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, public domain

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