A Formal Garden (Framed)

Prosperous eighteenth-century Dutch citizens were so proud of their gardens that they hired artists like Johannes Janson to record them for posterity. The estate shown here may have been located in the province of Noordholland, north of Amsterdam. The picture shows the wealth and the sophisticated leisure afforded by the estate: the promenade at left leads to farmland, while the path at right leads to a shipping scene, two primary sources of Holland's prosperity.

The flower gardens in the foreground form a broderie parterre, literally "embroidery flower bed"; these gardens were often designed by the same artists who made drawings for bedspreads, bed hangings, and other items. They were not filled with flowers but with a contrasting soil or gravel, neatly framed with small box plants.