Classical (garden) architecture

Some motifs that are passed on from classical architecture till this day are quite well known. Others are not so obviously classical. Here a small decorarive motif used in a bridge in Paris is traced back to a Roman mural dating from 30-20 BC. But a 16th century drawing shows that the motif was never really forgotten.

Continue reading

Summary

Some motifs that are passed on from classical architecture till this day are quite well known. Others are not so obviously classical. Here a small decorarive motif used in a bridge in Paris is traced back to a Roman mural dating from 30-20 BC. But a 16th century drawing shows that the motif was never really forgotten.

Continue reading

An inspirational garden in Paris

I suggest that a recent Michael van Gessel design for a garden in Amsterdam was influenced by a very similar garden feature in Parc André Citroën (designed in 1992 by Alain Provost and Gilles Clément). The same feature may even have inspired the design of the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, in Berlin.

Continue reading

Summary

I suggest that a recent Michael van Gessel design for a garden in Amsterdam was influenced by a very similar garden feature in Parc André Citroën (designed in 1992 by Alain Provost and Gilles Clément). The same feature may even have inspired the design of the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, in Berlin.

Continue reading

Wörlitz, Borghese and a Selene altar

An altar dedicated to Selene (Luna) in the garden of Wörlitz bears a close resemblance to a 2nd century Roman Selene altar that used to stand in the Temple of Diana in the garden of Villa Borghese (now in the Louvre). The Wörlitz altar is a late 18th century version and not an exact copy.

Continue reading

Summary

An altar dedicated to Selene (Luna) in the garden of Wörlitz bears a close resemblance to a 2nd century Roman Selene altar that used to stand in the Temple of Diana in the garden of Villa Borghese (now in the Louvre). The Wörlitz altar is a late 18th century version and not an exact copy.

Continue reading

Lion statues cross the Atlantic

Lion statues found at the Scott fountain in Detroit’s Belle Isle Park are inspired by ancient Egyptian statues now located in Rome. But copies of these Palatine lions already appeared in Europe decades earlier. The precise connection between them all remains uncertain.

Continue reading

Summary

Lion statues found at the Scott fountain in Detroit’s Belle Isle Park are inspired by ancient Egyptian statues now located in Rome. But copies of these Palatine lions already appeared in Europe decades earlier. The precise connection between them all remains uncertain.

Continue reading

Representing the unknown

The drawing of how the 2700 year old garden at Ramat Rachel (an amazing find) could have looked like, is actually an almost exact copy of an artefact in the British Museum.
Keep digging fellas!

Continue reading

Summary

The drawing of how the 2700 year old garden at Ramat Rachel (an amazing find) could have looked like, is actually an almost exact copy of an artefact in the British Museum.
Keep digging fellas!

Continue reading

Leonard Springer and the underpass

A recently renovated underpass by architect Leonard Springer in Schoonhoven brings to mind an often forgotten similar bridge and underpass at the school where the architect was trained some 45 years earlier: Frankendael in Amsterdam.

Continue reading

Summary

A recently renovated underpass by architect Leonard Springer in Schoonhoven brings to mind an often forgotten similar bridge and underpass at the school where the architect was trained some 45 years earlier: Frankendael in Amsterdam.

Continue reading

A tale of two lions (part 3 – finding the nest)

In the course of a year I have come across very similar lion statues that can be found in Sweden, The Netherlands and Ireland. They are not only similar in shape, but they all seem to date from the third quarter of the 19th century (1850-1875). The description of the Irish garden by its owner/creator sheds light on the common source of all statues. Unsurprisingly, the source is found in Rome.

Continue reading

Summary

In the course of a year I have come across very similar lion statues that can be found in Sweden, The Netherlands and Ireland. They are not only similar in shape, but they all seem to date from the third quarter of the 19th century (1850-1875). The description of the Irish garden by its owner/creator sheds light on the common source of all statues. Unsurprisingly, the source is found in Rome.

Continue reading

A tale of two lions (part 2)

Which -if we recall- really was a story of three lions: two at De Paauw and the one at Drottningholm. It turns out we are talking about at least four lions. Some closer inspection of other photos of the Swedish lion revealed that there are also two lions at Drottningholm.…

Continue reading