The Past Steps Out

One of the fun things all the Editors here at Suite 101 get to do as part of our jobs is net surfing. (We call it "research.") When we find really neat things while playing on line , we can share them with you.

I knew the South Carolina Botanical Garden had a beautiful site, but after looking a little harder, I found out more about one of my favorite photographs on their site...

As long as human beings have cultivated gardens for pleasure, there has been a desire to enhance nature through ornamentation. Fountains adorn gardens in Etruscan tomb paintings; Cleopatra had a famous garden on her island temple refuge in ancient Alexandria. Surely, the the hanging gardens of Babylon were equally augmented by sculpture.

The Renaissance was so named because it revived Classic Greek and Roman themes, adding flourishes which define it. Artist Patrick Dougerty was inspired by the flowing designs of the Italian Renissance, bringing its' elegant shapes based on the 16th century martyroruim- a Tempietto, or small temple- by Renaissance architect Donato Bramante into play in his work. (right photo, Donato Bramante,1502)

The South Carolina Botanical Garden, with its' nature -based sculpture program, takes the ancient themes into a new dimension. The emphasis of this program is the incorporation of natural and native materials into the landscape, highlighting the art as a reflection of the aesthetic use of our existing resources. This delightful piece brings Classic demensions into a medium which is uniquely Southern.

(left photo,Patrick Dougherty, 1996)

This contemporary piece of garden art is hand made of vines and found green material, rising above the gardens and trees which surround it. What an elegant reflection of its' setting!

"When I discovered that the height to width ratio of the Tempietto's central barrel is identical to the proprtions of many of the mature shrubs in the Botanical Garden, I wondered if Bramante had really discovered the secret of his building's pleasing proportions by walking in his own Roman garden," said Dougherty.

Through the use of tree limbs and branches, his sculpture opens the past in itno the future in a way that is refreshing and inspring.He appropriately calls his rendering "Sittin' Pretty."

While few of us have the space in our gardens for something like this, I doubt that anyone fails to appreciate it! For a full screen picture, which shows greater detail, go to the SCBG site, and click on the photograph. There are even more visual delights on the SCBG home page, so please take the full "tour."

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