Tuin met centrale parterre en in de hoeken rechthoekige compartimenten met een plant

This anonymous print depicts a garden with a central parterre and rectangular compartments in the corners, rendered with ink on paper. The highly stylized garden with its geometric flowerbeds, meticulously trimmed hedges, and elevated walkways evokes the social and cultural life of its era. Likely made in the Netherlands, this garden design embodies the Dutch obsession with order and control. It visually expresses the power of the elite classes who commissioned such elaborate outdoor spaces. In a time of booming trade and expanding global influence, the garden becomes a space to stage a spectacle of wealth and status. By looking into sources, such as garden design manuals, estate inventories, and social histories, we might uncover more about the rituals that played out in these gardens. We can better understand how landscapes like this reflected and reinforced the power structures of Dutch society.