The garden and its representations have long played a key role in the visual culture of Europe and the Americas. This course will trace the development of the garden and other cultivated landscapes in the West from the Renaissance to the nineteenth-century, from aristocratic estates to public parks. Special emphasis will be placed on the interpretation of different forms of literary, visual, and documentary evidence for the theory and practice of Early Modern garden design. Students will examine and analyze representations of gardens, including drawings, paintings and poetry. We will also explore the garden as a locus of cultural and botanical exchange, a site where objects and ideas from Asia and the New World were transplanted and naturalized.