Review by Choice Review
Gardens is another in a series of Getty Publications by Patrick Bowe discussing the influence of historic architecture, from Roman antiquity to the 20th century. The book contains examples of garden art collected by philanthropist Getty after his acquisition of Lord Astor's Villa at Sorrento, Italy (1905), and his building of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California, the design of which is based on the Villa dei Papari (CE 79) near Herculaneum, Italy. The book, which discusses the variety of functions that gardens served for the Romans, lists plants (121) in ancient Roman gardens and shows how the gardens were designed for leisure and enjoyment of nature and the arts. There are photo credits; a limited list of suggested readings; 197 magnificent color photographs of excavations, architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts; and a map. There is no bibliography. The text is lucid and intelligible yet does little to stimulate erudition, accounting for the obvious absence of documentation, which limits scholarly usefulness. It is unfortunate the author did not consult with authorities such as William MacDonald, or Elizabeth MacDougall, or Ranuccio Bandinelli so as to excite the curiosity of the reader and/or researcher. ^BSumming Up: Optional. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates. R. R. Henry emeritus, Pine Manor College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Inspired by the ancient traditions of Near Eastern, Greek, and Egyptian gardens, Roman gardens are to this day an important influence upon garden and landscape design. Bowe looks to the breathtaking accomplishments of Pompeii, Hadrian's Villa, and Herculaneum, using these archaeological sites to set the stage for his discussion of the development of Roman gardens. A lavish array of photographs helps to illustrate Bowe's finely detailed history, producing a reverie where one can feel the heat radiating from the sun-drenched ruins and imagine the resinous fragrance of Mediterranean plants. Images of reconstructed frescoes depict the elaborate architectural devices and ornamentation that characterized Roman gardens, in which trelliswork and mosaic floors, along with grand belvederes, fountains, and colonnades, shape the space. Flora like Madonna lilies, morning glories, and citrus trees appear as examples of specimens cultivated at the time. Bowe has escorted dozens of garden tours, and here he invites readers to traipse across continents from Turkey's Ephesus to England's Stourhead to the Getty Villa in Malibu, California, for an unforgettable journey. --Alice Joyce Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
