The upper building at Villa Farnese provides great example of an Italian renaissance garden. Note the order, symmetry, repetition, all in relation to the house. Viterbo, Italy, 1570's CE.
When order and stability came to Europe after the middle ages, landowners sought to express their wealth through their landscapes - the result is the Italian renaissance garden. With inspiration from ancient Roman and Islamic gardens, landscape designers laid out gardens using axes, geometry, and symmetry. Look for a fully integrated house and garden and accentuated perspective. Terraces tame steep slopes, elaborate stone carvings and water features add history. Grottoes and bosquets add contrasting naturalistic elements. This style influenced the French formal garden style that followed. Edith Wharton's 1904 book Italian Villas and Their Gardens fueled a resurgence in the style.
Check out the posts below for other examples of gardens inspired by the Italian renaissance style.
