Hoveniers van Oranje: Functie, werk en positie 1621-1732

Abstract

Dutch studies of garden history tend to be written from an art historical point of view. This focus on style makes us forget that gardens are also about people and exchanging ideas, about hard work, innovations and the way the garden was used. Research into head gardeners and other servants working in the garden can shed light on those aspects of garden history. A broad, cultural approach offers the most fitting method to study, analyse and describe garden history in general and the history of head gardeners in particular. My thesis aims to write a collective biography of some fifty head gardeners to the princes(ses) of Orange in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Archival records, pictures and contemporary manuals and treatises were used to depict the role, activities and position of these head gardeners. What deeper understanding of Dutch garden history does my story of these head gardeners provide? It shows that designing, laying and maintaining the garden was teamwork. Both the architect, the owner and the head gardener played an important role. It also allows for a more realistic view of daily practice in the gardens of the elite. Furthermore, it shows that in doing research the productive parts of the garden should be given more attention. They were essential parts of the household economy. Finally it identifies head gardeners as important members of the (international) networks that enabled and stimulated horticultural developments and innovations within the Dutch Republic and throughout Europe.