Political Implications in the Borghese Garden

Since the Time of Antiquity, Roman estates have been developed to include an assertion of their patron’s wealth and political influence, however it was during the Roman Renaissance era that landscape took on a central role towards this end.  Exemplifying this shift is the Villa Borgehese, commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 17^th century and which utilized a vast garden landscape to flaunt and proliferate its owner’s power.  Borghese’s estate was novel not only in the expansive size of its gardens, but also in its organizational layout and emphasis on the landscape.  These new concepts in landscape architecture set Villa Borghese apart from its predecessors and helped to establish trends that would influence landscape architects and painters in the times that followed.¹

During the Italian Renaissance it was common for...  (go here for full article)