1338

ARB011ETUM AND FUUTICETUM.

PART HI.

“ le Chastcau de Richelieu 1217

en Poictou,” given in Ma -rot’s Rccueil des Plans, fyc.,dcs plusieurs de Chasteau^c,

Grottcs, &c., published in1661, of which our fig. 1218.is a copy, a very rich parterreof embroidery may be ob-served in the fore-groundwith a fountain in the centre;and, in the back-ground, alarge semi circular space ap-pears to be covered with thesame description of orna-ment. It may also be ob-served, that there is not asingle tree or shrub shown in

a natural state within several hundred feet of the house, on every side. Theembroidered style of parterre is still occasionally to be met with adjoin-

■ra i'iri

SifWaisg

ing very old residences in France and Italy , and even in a few places inEngland; and, as affording variety, it is at least as worthy of revival as thearchitectural style of the age in which it most extensively prevailed. Thebest designs in this style are to be found in the edition of Boyceau ’s Jardinagc,&c., which was published in 1714, in folio. Topiary work, or the art of cut-ting the box and other trees into artificial forms, was carried to such anextent among the Romans, that both Pliny and Vitruvius use the wordtopiarius to express the art of the gardener ; a proof that, as far as ornamentwas concerned, the art of clipping was considered the highest accomplishmentthat could be possessed by a gardener, among the ancient Romans. This