Because religion is an important part of culture are and gardens a cultural element, gardens can be easily linked to religious beliefs. Roman, Medieval and Muslim gardens
all say something about religious beliefs and practices in very beautiful ways. The role of religion in culture and everyday life can be reflected
directly through gardens.
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| Figure 1 |
Roman gardens were a place where people went for otium. When
Romans had had enough negotium or business they were able to retreat to their
peristyle gardens (figure 1). Otium was a time to relax outside of the busy
work day but it didn’t just mean sitting in a garden like a bump on a log. A
garden was a place where Romans went to better their minds by discussing
philosophy and literature and also paying homage to their gods. Gods such as
Pan or Dynosius were often featured in peristyle gardens because they were the
Greek Gods of pasture and harvest and wine. The reason they featured Greek gods
in their gardens was because not only because their gods were very similar but
it also meant that one had knowledge of the classics. To have a knowledge of
classical Greek literature you had to be educated which meant that only the
upper class was fully able to appreciate the statues of nymphs that allured one
to come play in the forest, which in this case was the garden (figure 2). This
way of displaying Gods reflected the symbiotic relationship that Romans had
with their Gods. The Romans would worship their gods but expect something in
return. Religious statues in Roman peristyle gardens were not used as the
central focus point. This reflects the idea that the upper class planted
gardens that focused on cultural values that coincided with education and class
status and not strictly as a place to spend time devoting to Gods.
M edieval gardens were also a reflection of cultural values.
You might be thinking that medieval culture sounds dull and even non-existant
but this couldn’t be further from the truth! They simply had different values,
many of which can be seen in their gardens. Monastic utilitarian herb gardens, cloister
gardens, large scale hunting parks, vineyards and orchards, and romantic
gardens were all characteristic of the medieval ages. The romantic garden was
an especially interesting place during the medieval ages. They often had four quadrants
in a cruciform pattern which was symbolic of the four rivers in the garden in
Eden. There were evergreen plants that symbolized the tree of life and there
were also many flowers that were symbolic of the Virgin Mary. Lillies represented
her purity, yellow flowers represented her glowing soul, the red rose
symbolized the crown of thorns and violets her humility. Paintings of these gardens
are important because art during this time was very symbolic. It wasn’t that
people in the medieval ages didn’t know how to paint or draw, but creating a
naturalistic human was less important than showing that God and religion were paramount
(figure 3). The combination of chilvary and the cultural and religious
importance of virginity and purity led to courtly love. Courting in a romantic garden
was probably a rather fun past time. These gardens were an enclosed place where
lords and ladies could escape the confines of a dark and dirty castle. It was a
place to walk under arbors and sit on turf seats with chamomile and let the romance
begin (while being surrounded by pure white lilies and the Virgin Mary of
course).
Figure 2
Figure 3
Muslim gardens are my personal favorite. I think this is
because of their explicit focus on beauty. Muslims believe that God is beautiful
and that God loves beauty. To create beautiful things is a form of devotion
which is why art and beauty are deeply important. Another key concept is that
beauty is without arrogance because when you create beauty you do it to please
god. Arabesque geometry and calligraphy are three important elements in Muslim art
that can also be found in Muslim gardens. One of the reasons beauty was manifested
in gardens was by attempting to create the garden of paradise that is promised
in the afterlife. These gardens were meant to be everything the desert wasn’t.
They were shady and cool and had beautiful water features (figure 4). These gardens were
meant to be an earthy paradise much like the one they were promised in the
afterlife. The gardens even followed the blue print given in the Koran. They often
had four sections, were geometric, were enclosed and had fruit trees near the
wall. The water features provide cool air and the trees, shade. The surrounding
architecture is geometric and the arabesque design is beautifully intricate
(figure 5)
Figure 4
Figure 5
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