Abstract

In the second half of the 18th century, the naturalistically planted pleasure ground of England came to be known in France as le jardin anglo-chinois. What the French saw as the Oriental connection of the English landscaping revolution has been denied by English garden historians since Horace Walpole. By way of Matteo Ripa's 1724 visit to London, this paper takes a close look at the issues involved and tries to determine not only whether China was involved at all in the initial change of English gardening taste, but also how specific and crucial that involvement was