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Gardens of Nudes - Part One

© Kirk Johnson

This is the first in a series of articles about the use of nude statues in formal gardens.

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In my previous article I presented a history of Europe's formal gardens. The gardens at the Château of Versailles could be called the ultimate expression of the European formal garden. This is because while formal gardens have continued to be created, no new style of formal garden has been created since the grand French gardens of the seventeenth century.

Louis XIV filled his gardens at Versailles with statues and they have always been at least as important as the plants. A high percentage of these statues were nude, and I often smile when I look at paintings which show overdressed courtiers walking next to underdressed statues.

In order to understand why Louis XIV felt comfortable surrounding himself with statues of naked people, it is important to remember that the gardens of Versailles are rooted in the culture of ancient Greece.

Garden design was not an important art among the ancient Greeks. There several reasons for this: most of the arable land was used for growing food and water was not plentiful; also, the ancient Greeks frowned on displays of wealth and they looked down on all manual labor, including gardening.

In his book "The Nude: A Study In Ideal Form", Kenneth Clark wrote that "In every branch of Hellenic thought we encounter a belief in measurable proportion that, in the last analysis, amounts to a mystical religion; and as early as Pythagoras it had been given the visible form of geometry. All art is founded on faith, and inevitably the Greek faith in harmonious numbers found expression in their painting and sculpture; but precisely how we do not know."

The Greek passion for mathematics was matched by their obsession with athletics, and the ancient Greeks exercised in the nude ( the word 'gymnasium' is derived from 'gymnos' which is the Greek word for nude). The gymnasium was an important cultural center for Greek civilization. Gymnasiums were more than just places for exercise, they were centers for learning. The gymnasia of Athens evolved into ancient universities, while the gymnasia of lesser cities were similar to modern secondary schools.

In "The Nude: A Study In Ideal Form", Kenneth Clark stated that "psychologically the Greek cult of absolute nakedness was of great importance. It implies the conquest of an inhibition that oppresses all but the most backward people; it is like a denial of original sin". For the ancient Greeks, nudity was civilized, even noble. It was this attitude towards nudity which Louis XIV expressed in his garden.