Eighteenth-century British gardens are often said to be punctuated by neo-classical and gothic structures, a balancing act between ‘Greeks’ and ‘Goths’. On the one hand, white, neat and clean stones, and on the other hand, coloured, rough and rustic elements. Books and articles have given ample evidence on these rustic features from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century in Italy, France and Britain alike. Jean Stone devoted a full-length study entitled The Rustic Garden (Batsford, 1992), which, in her words, “depends on the use of unhewn branches, twigs, and even roots for the construction of its architecture, furniture and ornament” (p.11). But the historiography of rusticity in European gardens deserves further investigation. To mark its inaugural Garden and Landscape History Seminar, the University of Oxford will be hosting a study day on rusticity at the Maison Française on Saturday, March 16th, 2013.
