This five week online course from the Gardens Trust will be suitable for anyone curious about gardens and their stories – whether absolute beginners or those with some garden history knowledge. Running from April 14 – May 14, the course aims to help participants recognize important eras, themes and styles in mainly British garden history from the earliest times to today, grasp something of the social, economic, political and international contexts in which gardens have been created and find greater pleasure in visiting historic gardens. You can sign up for whole series or dip into individual talks. There will be opportunities to discuss issues with speakers after each talk, and short reading lists for further exploration. The history series will continue with Part 2 in the fall.
Week Five on May 15 is Italian Renaissance Gardens with Deborah Trentham. This lecture explores the origins of the Italian Renaissance Garden, looking at them within their social and cultural context. We will see how politics, religion, money, art and literature of the time, along with ancient texts helped form and shape them. The gardens were created by Princes, Popes, men of the church, as well as powerful dynasties such as the Medici. Examples will include the Vatican’s Cortile de Belvedere and the Villa Medici as well as others to show how the Renaissance Garden evolved during the period.
Trained in the history of art, architecture and garden history, Deborah Trentham has been teaching garden history for fifteen years. Formerly a teacher of garden history at Birkbeck (University of London) and Capel Manor College where she also taught the history of architecture, Deborah currently teaches garden design students for KLC School of Design at Chelsea Harbour and Hampton Court Palace, along with lecturing at Imperial College London. Deborah was the Historic Gardens judge for the Society of Garden Designers Awards for five years and has published numerous articles in magazines and periodicals.
For tickets, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk Ticket holders can join each session live or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25) Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us), and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.
