Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning

Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning

by Christopher McIntosh
Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning

Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning

by Christopher McIntosh

Paperback(New Edition)

$36.95 
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Overview

"Gardens of the Gods" reveals the symbolic language of garden design, exploring the gardens of China, with their moon gates and immortal rocks, the Zen gardens of Japan, the paradise gardens of Islam, those of Renaissance Italy with their richly mythological imagery, the landscaped parks of England, the gardens of New Harmony in the US and some striking, modern examples of symbolic gardens, including the Tarot Garden of the sculptress Niki de Saint Phalle in Italy. This illustrated book also includes a chapter with suggestions for creating a "garden of meaning" and a selected catalogue of plants with symbolic or mythological associations. Based on ten years of research, travel and curiostiy, this text is also the result of a personal quest - to reveal the mystical codes written in the astonishing worlds of gardens worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781860647406
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 01/15/2005
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

Christopher McIntosh studied at the Universities of Oxford and London, and has worked as a journalist, a publisher and as an international civil servant. He has written fiction, history, biography and travel writing and his works include Ludwig II of Bavaria (I.B. Tauris and Tauris Parke Paperbacks). Gardens and gardening have been a major pursuit of his for more than two decades.

Table of Contents

The Symbolic Language of Gardens
• Balancing the Forces of Nature: Chinese and Japanese Gardens
• A Foretaste of Paradise: The Islamic Garden and its Forebears
• Gardens of Gods and Gardens of Saints: Pagan and Christian Motifs in European Gardens
• Ancient Mysteries Revived: The Renaissance Garden in Italy
• Rosicrucian Marvels and Recreations of Eden: Late Renaissance Gardens in Europe
• Theatres of Transformation: Symbolism in Baroque and Rococo Gardens
• Visions of a New Elysium: Symbolism and Allegory in Gardens of the Eighteenth Century
• The Symbol-strewn Landscape: Initiatic Themes in European Gardens of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
• The Present Age
• Creating a Garden of the Gods
• Appendix: Some Plants and Their Associations
• Notes
• General Bibliography
• Index

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