About: Garden sculpture

The predominant garden types in the ancient world were domestic gardens and sacred gardens. Sculpture of gods and kings were placed in temple compounds, along with sacred lakes and sacred groves. It is not known whether statues were placed in Greek domestic gardens but the Romans transported a great many statues to Italy and placed them in gardens for ornamental reasons. When the Roman Empire became Christian these statues were regarded as pagan and removed from sight. During the Renaissance these same statues were excavated and re-placed in gardens. Sculpture then became an aspect of art and gardens have been a favored location for displaying outdoor works of art.