Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1985 COSGROVE, D. Perspective and The Evolution of The Landscape Idea PDF
1985 COSGROVE, D. Perspective and The Evolution of The Landscape Idea PDF
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Wiley-Blackwell and The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) are
collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Transactions of the Institute of British
Geographers.
http://www.jstor.org
45
Prospect, andtheevolution
perspective of
idea
thelandscape
DENIS COSGROVE
SeniorLecturer
in Geography,
Loughborough Leic.LE113 TU
Loughborough,
University,
24 May 1984
RevisedMS received
ABSTRACT
Thelandscape concept ingeography hasrecently beenadoptedbyhumanistic writersbecauseofitsholistic
andsubjec-
Butthehistory
tiveimplications. ofthelandscape ideasuggeststhatitsorigins lieintherenaissancehumanists'searchfor
rather
certainty thana vehicleofindividual subjectivity.
Landscape wasa 'wayofseeing'thatwasbourgeois, individual-
istandrelatedto theexercise ofpoweroverspace.Thebasictheory andtechnique ofthelandscape wayofseeingwas
linear
perspective,as important forthehistoryofthegraphic imageas printing wasforthatofthewritten word.Alberti's
wasthefoundation
perspective ofrealisminartuntilthenineteenth century, byhimto socialclass
andis closelyrelated
andspatialhierarchy. Itemploys thesamegeometry as merchant tradingandaccounting, landsurvey,
navigation, map-
pingandartillery.
Perspective appliedinthecityandthentoa country
is first subjugated tourbancontrolandviewedas
Theevolution
landscape. oflandscape painting
parallelsthatofgeometry justas itdoesthechanging socialrelations
on
thelandinTudor,Stuart andGeorgian England. Thevisualpowergivenbythelandscape wayofseeingcomplements
therealpowerhumans exertoverlandas property. Landscapeas a geographical concept cannotbefreeoftheideological
overlaysofitshistory as a visualconcept unlessitsubjects
landscape tohistorical Onlyas anunexamined
interrogation.
conceptin a geography whichneglects itsownvisualfoundations canlandscape foran antiscientific
be appropriated
humanisticgeography.
Ii
ii
Observation
...
....
...
..........
.....
...... ...............
...as ~
................
~ ......
....
--
.... .:??
w~~?:;?~?
~1.
..
.............
Lorenzetti:
FIGURE3. Ambrogio 'GoodGovernment PalazzoPubblico,
intheCity'detailfrom Siena(dittaO. B6hm)
Visually space is renderedthe propertyof the Peterthe Keys to the Kingdomof Heaven (Fig 4)
individualdetached observer,fromwhose divine paintedon thewall oftheSistineChapelin 1481,the
location it is a dependent,appropriatedobject. A significance of perspectiveis clear.Lorenzettishows
simplemovementof the head, closingthe eyes or us thecityas an activebustlingworldof humanlife
turningaway and the compositionand spatialform wherein people and their environmentinteract
of objects are alteredor even negated. Develop- across a space whereunityderivesfromthe action
mentsfromthe fifteenth centurymay have altered on itssurface.
the assumedpositionof the observer,or used per-
Thesepre-perspective urbanlandscapesshownot so
spective analyticallyratherthan syntheticallyas much what thetowns looked likeas whatitfeltliketo
Albertiand his contemporaries intended,21 but this
be inthem.We getan impression ofthetownsnotas
visual appropriationof space endured unaltered. a
they mighthavelookedto a detached observer
from
Significantly, the adoption of linearperspectiveas fixedvantagepointbutas theymight haveimpressed a
theguarantorof pictorialrealismwas contemporary andseeingthebuild-
walking
pedestrian up thestreets
withthose otherrealisttechniquesof painting:oils, ingsfrommanydifferent sides.23
framing and productionfora marketofmobile,small
canvases. In this respect perspective may be By contrast,in Perugino'sideal city a formal,
regarded as one of a number of techniqueswhich monumental order is organized throughprecise
allowed forthevisualrepresentation of a bourgeois, geometry,constructedby the eye aroundthe axis
rationalistconceptionoftheworld. whichleads across the chequerboardpiazza to the
The termbourgeoisis appropriate, forlinearper- circulartempleat its centre.The piazza,geometrical
spectivewas an urbaninvention, employedinitially centreofthiscity,becomesin thisgenresymbolicof
to representthe spaces of the city. It was first the whole city.24The hillsand treesbeyondreflect
demonstrated practically by Alberti'sclose associate, thesameregimented orderas theurbanarchitecture.
Filippo Brunelleschi, in a famous experiment of 1425 The people of the city, or ratherwithinit,forthey
whenhe succeededin throwingan imageoftheBap- reveal no particularattachmentto it, group them-
tisteryat Florenceonto a canvas set up in the great selves in dignifiedand theatrical poses. In the 'ideal
portal of the cathedral.22 If we compareAmbrogio townscapes' of the late fifteenth-century Umbrian
Lorenzetti's well-knownfrescoesin thePalazzo Pub- school of Piero della Francesca humans scarcely
blico at Siena (Fig 3) whichrepresentgood govern- appear. They have no need to forthe 'measureof
mentin the city,paintedin the 1340s, withPeitro man',so neatlycapturedin Leonardoda Vinci'sMan
Perugino's representationof Christgiving to St ina Circleand a Square,is writtenintothemeasured
50 DENIS COSGROVE
?~:~?:i?~;~?~?~?~?:?~~??:
x~i:~rQ M~:?i:aww'~j::
ldiiiil::'iilili.~g:l:t:l:lll:
:':::::::::::::::::::':~"''':~:'::':':::::i:::::::::::::
1:::1:::::?::1:1:1:1:i:':::::-:l:':l:l:l ..
Illlilliililil:liiIli:::::il:::l:i:i:l ~:gi :~i?:-:::?:?:??l?:-::::::'i:I:i:::::j:::
:?~:n:~?~~sse5988sr~~?~:~jsnaassess~answ
i~:'~pp~88BB~BSB~jeB8888~a~::::::i?~8
,..,.
ii~CO.iiiiiiijiiijhiiiiii'ii?i.i.i:i: ?: I~iBLli~iiiB
lil:l:liii~:~8SIBBi4!Qi
?~~'~i~88JBl~ea~H~!ii~igl'i~
:i:i
-:::::::::-r II ~::::::::- I:i
~p~g~ggg~g~::::-:~:::-:l-llilcil~Bk~:i:- :i
:: a:IO
j;::::
:. Piiiiliiiliiiiililiiliiili
:~l~ss~R9n-as;~srss6s~ak:::
iii
~::::r PIPi:i i~B~::~:i.i~:l~jj~~~:.~~f~""~"~""~""""""
::: li-i~ ii: :::
ini:l ~:----;::i:i-1-1:::1:1:::::-:':1:1:::1-:
::1: ~i~'..~...::i~~.ili~/j~l;:l(
Sj , : L-i B
::,::::: j::::: :::':::::;e iiiiii-~iiiiiiiiiii~;iii~
?? B;~a! i-i " '~Zil
:::-z ?: ::::::~
II: i~ia~~l -
:-1
r:i :1
iiia
_i:i:i:
:iliiliiiiiiiliiiii~,l~B~B~:?:'~~~8~3~81
~ii~i
::::::
~~i?ji~I~j~~
li?8BS88~8eB~aBBB~~I;:~~:X:jir~d~Bs~B~~ _-_-~;L~i?~j~31~;i18~.::-:~S~Bs~BH~sE~81
~~_~~~__$BagarPnsa~or~Bl~s~8ssaaaaa~.~a:
~:::::i
r~~silillii iii
''iiiiiiiii~iL~:iij~~i~-I -ili-~~ll~j~ir~~-i :!-
:Pi---'?:::~3~;~~iiij~7~e~61~8~~ g:~S~Ss~~
'' . .-isay '
8?:---:-:-:I:::
.-: I~i j~f88li~?i8~i~Bsa~ase~s~an~gi
:'.'~8~?~:-:::::-:~:~:
i~iiiiiil
ii-i:iii??i~.~i"iiia4 Il~iBid ~
ili:i~:::-:::
::
u~?:?::::::::::::::::
~~:::~~_: :I:--r-:-I^;~.-i?--?:
-:-
----I:::.:.;~~-::_?-i.-_?_::::?~~*wl~:.
~::r::~
*:-:-:-:::::~:::~:ia,:,:,:::,~,-,-
..L...._ r~s; -::::~:S~:i:-:
::-:_:-:::~;:::i:il:'::d:i::t:::::l.':l :::_~;:':'::i:l::~::I:::l:::-:-:_-is~is~.
::11:1:':~?::-:-:-:
~ii:_-:
: ?-~i.l::::--i---:~:--:-:
?jj~:
"Al _,:::i
IVS'4:i---
'A-:r*
il:::
~_:~-.;;. -il-`::7
*;i:: A?IFiii
ii~i?iii~i~~-?i--i
::
~iiic
ii:--;-:?:ii:Ao?: :j:
-il?::
Ai:
74:i.
J*.
ov
-i:i
~iilii-i
~
Mt^-~i~
:ii':--'-:::i:-:
::;i:-
-,
,, ::'i: ~s:~af
~ ::::: 4 -
;:::UU
~:n:::-::j::i:I--
x-:%
::" V
A
$.:-:
AdiL--
4 : i-:::I,
-ia$i:Yi0
-:-?"-i-ii~i i:
i-:--:'
i---i-~_i
il _,-i:
.........
spatial. Commanding views are the theme of ing a fineview. The prospectof theeye was equally
countryhouse painting,poetry and landscaping commercial, suchwoodland in thelandscapewas an
throughoutthe seventeenthand eighteenthcen- economicinvestment. It represented
prospectingin
turies(Fig 6), and a numberof recentstudieshave wood, as thosewho scouredthelandscapein thefol-
revealed the degree to which landscape was a lowingcenturyseekinggold would be described.64
vehicle for social and moral debate during this
period.63The prospectsdesignedformen like the LANDSCAPE AND THE HUMANIST
Duke of Marlboroughat Blenheimwho had made
theirfortunesfromwar had an appropriately TRADITION IN GEOGRAPHY
mili-
tarycharacter in theirblocksofwoodlandsetagainst Landscapecomes into Englishlanguagegeography
shavenlawns.Thisno doubtreinforced theimageof primarilyfromthe German landschaft. Much has
powerand authority, at leastforthosewho wielded been writtenabout the factthatthe Germanword
it. The surveyskillswhich calculatedand laid out means area, withoutany particularly aestheticor
these landscapesproducedfortification plans, ord- artistic,or even visual connotations.65My own
nance chartsand campaignmaps as well as serving knowledgeof Germanusage is too meagreto con-
therequirements of theparliamentaryenclosers.It is test thisclaim,but some commentis warranted.In
not surprising thatin hiscritiqueofemparkment and Humboldt'sKosmos,regardedby many as one of
landscapingOliver Goldsmithin The DesertedVil- the two pillarsupon whichGermangeographywas
lage should describe the park that has replaced erected,a whole sectionis devotedto thehistoryof
Sweet Auburn in militarymetaphors:'its vistas the love of landscapeand natureup to the timeof
strike,its palaces surprise'.In those great English Goethe whom Humboldtgreatlyreveredand who
landscape parks prospectalso signifiedthe future. was a major visual theorist.66Englishgeographers
Control was as much temporalas spatial. Their could have takentheirlandscapeconceptfromJohn
clumpsof oak and beech would not be seen in full Ruskinand discovereda usage not very different
maturityby those who had them planted, but fromHumboldt's.67More directly, Landschaftin the
securityof propertyensuredforlaterscions of the workof Hettnerand Passarge,themainsourcesfor
familytreetheprospecton inheritance of command- Englishlanguage geographerslike Carl Sauer and
Evolutionofthelandscapeidea 57
R. E. Dickinson of the landscape concept, was pling,survey or detailed
inventory, he achievesthe
confinedto the study of visibleforms,it was the comprehensive butsynthetic ofthehelicop-
perspective
eye whichdeterminedtheirselectionand inclusion. terpilotor balloonistarmedwithmaps,photographs
Moreover, Landschaft, as Sauer's classic paper- anda pairofbinoculars.
72
foremost geographerofhis day.As a memberof the 6. See the discussionby PUNTER, J. V. (1982) 'Land-
GreekAcademy at Florence,he studiedone of its scape aesthetics:a synthesisand critique',in GOLD, J.
greatestintellectualtrophies,Ptolemy'sCosmogra- and BURGESS, J.(eds) Valuedenvironments (London)
fiabroughtfromConstantinople in theearlyyearsof pp. 100-23
thefifteenth In thisworkPtolemydescribes 7. PENNING-ROWSELL,E. C. (1974) 'Landscapeevalu-
century.
a projectionfortheworldmap whichuses thesame ation fordevelopmentplans',J.R. Tn Plann.Inst.,60:
930-4
geometrical constructionas theFlorentinehumanists
8. APPLETON, J. (1975) The experience of landscape
employedto develop linearperspective.82 Withthe
(London)
aid of thisstudyToscanelliproduceda map which 9. POCOCK, D. C. D. (ed.) (1981) Humanistic geogra-
he sent with a letter to ChristopherColumbus phy and literature: essays in the experience of place
encouragingthe Genoese navigator'sexploration (London); DANIELS, S. J.(1981) 'Landscapingfora
west on the groundsthatthe distancefromEurope manufacturer: HumphreyRepton's commissionfor
to China was shorterthan was then commonly BenjaminGott at Armleyin 1809-10', J. hist.Geog.,
believedby cartographers. The geographicalconse- 7: 379-96; COSGROVE, D. (ed.) (1982) 'Geography
and the Humanities',Loughborough Univ. of Techn.,
quences of this collaborationof art, science and
Occ. Pap.,No. 5
practicalskillneed not be spelledout here.But the 10. This phraseis takenfromBERGER,J.(1972) Waysof
exampleof thisgeographicalcolleague of the great
humanists Albertiand Brunelleschi seeing(London), where some of the social impli-
mayremindcon- cations of visual conventions are challengingly
temporaryhumanistsin geography to pay equal explored
attentionto the Albertianrevolutionas to thatof 11. Examples are numerous. One of the earliest is
Gutenberg. FRANCESCO FELICIANO (1518) Librod'aritmetica,
e geometriaspeculativa, e practicale, more commonly
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Scala & Grimaldelli (Venice).One of themostcompre-
I would liketo thankthe followingpeople fortheir hensivewas Cosimo Bartoli(1564) Del mododi mis-
urareledistantie ... (Venice)
help in improvingupon earlierdraftsof thispaper:
Stephen Daniels, Cole Harris,Robin Butlin and 12. MEINIG, D. (1983) 'Geographyas Art' Trans.Inst.Br.
Trevor Pringle, and those who contributedat Geogr. NS. 8: 314-28; WREFORD-WATSON, J.
(1983) 'The soul of geography',Trans.Inst.Br. Geogr.
variousseminars.Some of theItalianmaterialswere NS. 8: 385-99; BILLINGE,M. (1983) 'The Mandarin
collectedduringa periodof studyin Italyfundedby dialect', Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. NS. 8: 400-20.
a grantfromtheBritish Academy. POCOCK, D. C. D. (1983) 'The paradox of human-
isticgeography',Area,15: 355-58
NOTES 13. As always,thereare exceptions,althoughto mymind
1. GEIPEL,R. (1978) 'The landscapeindicatorsschool in none have examined the visual in relation to
Germangeography',in LEY, D. and SAMUELS, M. geographical study as such: POCOCK, D. C. D.
(eds) Humanisticgeography:prospectsand problems (1981) 'Sight and Knowledge', Trans.Inst.Br. Geogr.
(London)pp. 155-72 NS. 6: 385-93; TUAN, YI-FU (1979) 'The eye and the
2. See for example the comments on landscape in mind's eye', in MEINIG, The interpretation of ordin-
HARVEY, D. (1969) Explanation in geography arylandscapes (NOTE 3) pp. 89-102
(London)pp. 114-15 14. BUNGE, W. (1966) Theoretical geography(2nd ed.
3. SAMUELS, M. (1979) 'The biographyof landscape', Lund),p. xiv
in MEINIG, D. (ed.) The interpretation of ordinary 15. YATES, F. A. (1964) Giordano Bruno and the
landscapes (Oxford)pp. 51-88 HermeticTradition (London) pp. 160-1 discussesthe
4. ROSE, C. (1981) 'WilliamDilthey'sphilosophyof his- relationsof quadriviumand triviumin Renaissance
toricalunderstanding: a neglected heritageof con- humanism, arguingthat'the two traditionsappeal to
temporaryhumanisticgeography',in STODDARD, entirelydifferent interests.The humanist'sbent is in
D. R. (ed.) Geography,ideologyand social concern the directionof literatureand history;he sets an
(Oxford)pp. 99-133 immensevalue on rhetoricand good literarystyle.
5. RELPH, E. (1981) Rationallandscapesand humanistic The bentof theothertradition is towardsphilosophy,
geography (London) p. 22. This sense of landscape as theology, and also science (at the stage of magic)'.
an all inclusive,quotidianphenomenonowes a great This argumentdependson a veryrestricted definition
deal in NorthAmericangeographyto theworkofJ.B. of humanism(see herfn.3, p. 160), ignoresthe visual
Jackson.See forexamplethemostrecentcollectionof arts which combined literaryreference(ut pictura
Jackson'slandscape essays (1980), 'The necessity for poesis) with 'scientific'skill,and failsto account for
ruinsandothertopics'(Amherst) the large numberof Renaissancescholarsequally at
60 DENIS COSGROVE
home in philosophyand science as they were con- agrimensura italianadai tempiantichial secoloXVIPI
cernedwithgrammar, rhetoricand classicaltexts,for (Torino)
exampleGiangiorgioTrissinoand Daniele Barbaroin 30. SCHULZ, J. (1978) 'Jacopo de 'Barbari'sview of
sixteenth-century Venice Venice: map making, city views, and moralized
16. EISENSTEIN, E. L. (1979) The printing pressas an geographybeforethe year 1500', TheArt Bull.,LX:
agentofchange(Cambridge) 425-74; MAZZI, G. (1980) 'La repubblicae uno
17. MARTINES, L. (1980) Power and imagination: strumentoper il dominio',in PUPPI, L. (ed.) Architet-
City-StatesinRenaissanceItaly(London) tura e utopia nella Veneziadel cinquecento (Milano)
18. ALBERTI, L. B. (1966) On painting(trans. J. R. pp. 59-62. It has been pointed out that,like con-
Spencer,London) temporary ideal townscapes,the Barbarimap lacksall
19. Ibidpp. 47, 48 humanpresence
20. Even photographywas constricted by conventionsof 31. Renaissancewritersnever tire of emphasizingthat
perspectiverealism,landscape paintinghaving far geometryprovides certainty.eg. Pacioli, Summadi
moreinfluence on earlyphotographythanvice-versa. arithmetica ... (note27) p. 2r 'e in la sua Metaphysica
See GALASSI, P. (1981) Beforephotography: painting afferma(Euclid)le scientiemathematiche, essere nel
and theinvention ofphotography (New York) primogrado de certezza'
21. Ibid.pp. 16-17 32. McLEAN, A. (1972) Humanismand theriseofscience
22. For a detaileddiscussionof Brunelleschi's experiment in TudorEngland(London) pp. 112 ff.For a fulldis-
see EDGERTON, S. J. Jr.(1975) The Renaissance cussion of Cusanus' work and its impacton Renais-
rediscoveryoflinearperspective(London)pp. 143-52 sance thought see CASSIRER, E. (1964) The
23. REES, R. (1980) 'Historicallinksbetweengeography individualand the cosmosin Renaissancephilosophy
and art',Geogr.Rev.70: 66 (New York)
24. This groupofpaintings, producedbeforethecentrally 33. IVINS, W. M. Jr(1946) Art and geometry, a studyof
planned church became architecturallypopular, spaceintuitions (New York)pp. 79-80
includes Raphael's Spozalizioand Carpaccio's Recep- 34. There is no space here to explore the fascinating
tion of the EnglishAmbassadorsin the St Ursula implications of Renaissance magic theories for
cycle.The sacredsignificance of the circleand centre attitudesto natureand naturalbeauty.These theories
is an enormoustopicwithcross-cultural implications. are of course fully discussed in Yates, Giordano
See TUAN, YI-FU (1974) Topophilia:a study of Bruno... (note 15)
environmentalperception attitudes and beliefs 36. There is no escaping the use of 'man' here.We are
(London) dealingwitha specifically 'male' view oftheworld
25. The distinction betweenmind,or intellect,and sense 36. ALBERTI, L. B. (1965) Ten books on architecture
was centralto muchRenaissancethought,and is dis- (trans.ofJ.Leoni,1755; facs.copy,London)p. 194
cussed in Yates, GiordanoBruno(note 15) p. 193. 37. SARTORI, P. L. (1981) 'Gli scrittori Venetid'agraria
Geometryis of coursean intellectualactivity.Nicolo del cinquecentoe del primo seicento.Tra realta e
Tartagliacalls it 'the pure food of intellectuallife'(il utopia' in Tagliaferri, E. (ed.) Veneziae la terraferma
puro cibo della vita intellettuale)EuclideMagarense, attraversole relazione dei rettori (Milano) pp.
philosopho (Venezia, 1543) p. FII, in the firsttrans- 261-310. See particularlythe last three 'days' of
lationof EuclidintoItalian.None the less,one of the GALLO, A. (1565) Le diecigiornatedella vera agri-
reasonswhy humanistslikeAlbertiacceptedthe sig- culturae piaceredellavilla(Vinegia)
nificanceof numbersand proportionswas that the 38. ZORZI, L. (1977) Il teatroe la citta.Saggiasulla scena
same proportionswhich pleased the intellectalso italiana(Torino). On the linksbetween theatreand
seemed to please our eyes and ears. This is a corner- cosmologicaltheoriessee YATES, F. A. (1966) Theart
stoneofRenaissanceaesthetics ofmemory (London)
26. BAXANDALL, M. (1972) Paintingand experience in 39. GOMBRICH, E. (1971) 'The renaissancetheoryof art
Italy(London)
fifteenth-century and the rise of landscape',in Gombrich,E. Normand
27. FRA LUCA PACIOLI (1494) Summadi arithmetica, Form:studiesin the art of the renaissance (London)
geometria,proportioneet proportionalitta (Venice). 109
See the referenceto the significance of thiswork in 40. CLARK, K. (1956) Landscapeinto art (Harmond-
BRAUDEL, F. (1982) Civilizationand capitalism, sworth)
15th-18thCentury.Vol. II: The Wheelsof Commerce 41. Significantly, thetitleof theessay by JACKSON,J.B.
(London)p. 573 (1979) 'Landscapeas theatre'in Landscape, 23: 3; and
28. SILVIO BELLI (1565) Libro del misurarcon la reprintedin JACKSON, The necessity forruins(note
vista... (Venezia)preface,pp. 1-2 ('certamente cosi 5)
meravigliosail misurarcon la vista,poi che ogni uno, 42. BLUNT, A. (1962) Artistictheoryin Italy 1450-1600
che non sa la ragionepar del tuttoimpossible') (Oxford)p. 26 Italicsadded
29. ROSSI, F. (1877) Gromae squadra,ovverostoriadell' 43. Quoted in Ibid.p. 50
ofthelandscapeidea
Evolution 61
44. Leonardowas a masternot merelyof linearperspec- 1500-1600', in Ferro,G. (ed.) Symposium on histori-
tive but also of that otherand distinctformof per- cal changesin spatial organisation and its experience
spective,aerialperspective, whichplaysa complemen- in the Mediterranean world (Genova) pp. 133-56;
taryrole in creatingthe illusionof space throughthe DANIELS, D. J. (1982) 'HumphreyRepton and the
manipulationof tone, light and shade and colour moralityof landscape',in GOLD, J.and BURGESS, J.
intensity.While based on optical theoryand exper- (eds) Valuedenvironments (note6) pp. 124-44
iment,aerialperspectiveis not geometrically founded. 58. Quoted in McLEAN, Humanismand the rise of
Leonardo'sworkwithcolourand chiaroscuroallowed science... (note 32) p. 138. The translationof Euclid
him to convey the 'mood' of space, and he saw the was by Billingsley.For Dee's importanceforgeogra-
superiorityof paintingover other arts to lie in its phy and cartographysee TAYLOR, E. G. R. (1954)
abilityto employaerialperspective The mathematical of Tudor and Stuart
practitioners
45. ALEXANDER, D. 'Leonardo da Vinci and fluvial England(London) pp. 26-48. For Dee and magic see
geomorphology', Am.i. Sci.282: 735-55 YATES, GirodanoBruno(note 15) pp. 148-50
46. SCHULZ, J.(1976) 'New maps and landscape draw- 59. MORGAN, V. (1979) 'The cartographic image of the
ings by ChristoforoSorte', Mitteilungen der Kuns- countryin earlymodem England',Trans.R. Hist.Soc.
thistorischen Institutesin FlorenzXX: I; MAZZI, G. 29:129-54
(1980), 'La Repubblicae uno strumento peril dominio' 60. The whole issue of gardendesign along circularand
in PUPPI, L. (ed.) Architettura e Utopa nella Venezia orthogonallines is too large to discuss here but is
del Cinquecento (Milano)pp. 59-62 obviouslyverycloselyrelatedto thegeometryunder
47. SORTE, C. (1580) 'Osservazioni nella pittura', discussion,to spatialtheoryand thoseof microcosm,
reprintedin BARROCCHI, P. (ed.) (1960) Trattati macrocosmand medicinalconcepts. The firstsuch
d'arte del cinquecento: fra manierismo e controriformo garden was designed in Padua in the late sixteenth
Vol. 1 (Bari) pp. 275-301. This text meritsdetailed centuryby Daniele Barbaro,translaterof Vitruvius
geographicalstudy,not only as a discussionof land- and commentatoron Euclid.See JACKSON, J. B.
scape and cartographybut equally because Sorte (1980) 'NearerthanEden' and 'Gardensto Decipher'
appearsto anticipateby a centurythe recognitionby in The necessity for ruins (note 5) pp. 19-35 and
JohnRayoftherealmovementofthehydrologicalcycle 37-53
48. LetterfromVitali to Sorte, reprintedin Barrocchi, 61. OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY (OED), italics
Trattatid'art... (note47) p. 275 added
49. SORTE, 'Osservazioninella pittura'(note 47) p. 282: 62. THOMPSON, F. M. L. (1968) Chartered surveyors:
'Inoltreho posta detta Corografiacon le sue giuste thegrowthof a profession (London); HARVEY, P. D.
misuree distanzein pianta'.In otherwords,the work A. (1980) The historyof topographic maps: symbols,
was based on a planisphericsurvey.On the relations pictures and surveys(London). The idea that survey-
between such surveyand perspectivesee Edgerton. ing was a maliciousand magicalart was foundedin
TheRenaissance (note22)
rediscovery parton thenegativeconsequencesfortraditional land
50. SORTE, 'Osservazioninellapittura'(note47) p. 283 rightsof new conceptsof privatepropertyenshrined
51. BERENSON, B. (1952) Italianpaintersof theRenais- in the legal documentthatthe surveyorproduced,in
sance'(London)p. 12 part on the recognitionof connectionsbetween the
52. Quoted in WILTON, A. (1980) Turnerand the geometryof surveytechniquesand thatof hermetic
sublime(London)p. 70 magicians.In the book burningsunder Edward VI
53. IVINS, Art and geometry(note 33) pp. 105-10; books containinggeometricalfigureswere particu-
GALASSI, Before Photography (note20) larlyat risk
54. MARTINES, Powerand imagination (note 17); BAX- 63. TURNER, J. (1979) The politicsof landscape:rural
ANDALL, Painting andexperience (note26) sceneryand society in English poetry 1630-1690
55. A pointthathas not gone entirelyunnoticedby his- (Oxford); ADAMS, J. (1979) The artist and the
toricalgeographers.See forexampleIan Adams' work countryhouse.A historyof countryhouseand garden
on the role of land surveyorsin eighteenth-century view painting in Britain 1540-1870 (London);
Scottishagrarianchange.ADAMS, I. H. (1980) 'The BARRELL, J. (1980) The dark side of the landscape:
agents of agrarianchange', in PARRY, M. L. and the ruralpoor in Englishpainting1631-1741 (Cam-
SLATER, T. R. (eds) The makingof the Scottish bridge); ROSENTHAL, M. (1982) Britishlandscape
countryside(London)pp. 155-75, esp. pp. 167-70 painting (London)
56. For example the great galleryof maps painted by 64. The OED notesthattheverb'to prospect'emergedin
Ignazio Dante in theVatican(1580-83) or the similar the nineteenthcenturyreferring to the particularly
commissionsto Christoforo Sorteto paintwallsin the capitalistactivitiesof speculativegold miningand
Ducal Palace at Venice(1578 and 1586) playingthe stock exchange.It is interesting to note
57. COSGROVE, D. (1982) 'Agrarianchange,villabuild- how 'speculation' has itself roots in visual
ing and landscape: the Godi estates in Vicenza terminology
62 DENIS COSGROVE
65. MIKESELL, M. (1968) 'Landscape', in International 71. Notes 3 and 12
encyclopaedia of the social sciences(New York) p. 72. MIKESELL,'Landscape'(note64) p. 578
577-79. DICKINSON, R. E. (1939) 'Landscape and 73. Explicitlyso by SAUER, 'Morphologyof Landscape'
Society', Scott. geogr. Mag. 55: 1-15; HART- (note 67), and equally in physicalgeographywhere
SHORNE, R. (1939) The natureofgeography. A sur- landscapein the titlesuggestsa morphologicalstudy
veyof current thought in thelightof thepast (Lancas- oflandforms
ter,Pa.) 74. VAN PAASEN, C. (1957) The classicaltraditionof
66. HUMBOLDT, A. VON (1849-52) Cosmos:a sketch geography (Groningen)
of a physicaldescription of the Universe(London), 75. See for example the diagram which serves as the
Vol. II. The relationshipbetween the landscapeidea foundationfor the discussionof spatial conceptsin
and attitudesto naturein the nineteenthcenturyis SACK, R. D. (1980) Conceptions of space in social
of course enormouslycomplex. On Goethe and thought:a geographicalperspective (Minneapolis) p.
geography see SEAMON, D. (1978) 'Goethe's 25
approach to the natural world: implicationsfor 76. PUNTER, J.'Landscapeaesthetics...' (note6)
environmentaltheory and education',in LEY and 77. Some of the essays in GOLD, and BURGESS, Valued
SAMUELS, Humanistic Geography(note 1) pp. environments (note 6) begin to broach this field,as
238-50 have papers presented in recent IBG sessions of
67. COSGROVE, D. (1979) 'John Ruskin and the 'Geographyand theMedia'
geographicalimagination'Geog.Rev.69: 43-62 78. SACK, Conceptions ofSpace... (note 74)
68. SAUER, C. 0. (1926) 'The morphologyof landscape', 79. BUNGE, W. (1973) 'The geography of human
reprintedin LEIGHLY, J. (ed.) (1963) Land and life: survival',Ann.Ass.Am. Geogr.63: 275-95
selectionsfrom the writingsof Carl Ortwin Sauer 80. This is distinctfromthe relationsof Greekgeometry
(Berkeleyand Los Angeles) which apparently were derived from a tactile-
69. BANSE, E. (1924) Die Seele der Geographie muscularapprehensionof space, an apprehension
(Brunswick); HARD, G. (1965) 'Arkadienin Deutch- whichwas non-visual.IVINS, Artand geometry(note
land',Die Erde,96: 31-4 33)
70. HARVEY, D. (1974) 'What kind of geographyfor 81. YATES, GiordanoBruno(note 15) pp. 144-56
what kind of public policy', Trans.Inst.Br. Geogr.; 82. EDGERTON, The Renaissancerediscovery... (note
HARVEY, D. (1984) 'On thehistoryand presentcon- 22)
dition of geography: an historical materialist
manifesto',Prof.Geogr.35: 1-10