PLEASE NOTE THE DATE; THIS LECTURE IS ON THE THIRD WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH, NOT THE SECOND.

For a nobility seduced by the paintings of Rubens, Watteau and Boucher, a stroll in the gardens of Versailles was like entering a delectable dream – their very own Garden of Love.

Mesmerised by the world of ancient Rome, the European aristocracy employed artists to recreate it and architects to make it real in their gardens. Courtiers at Versailles imagined themselves living in a classical landscape by Claude Lorrain, a pastoral paradise overseen by gods, but populated by innocent nymphs and shepherds.

English Queens were portrayed as shepherdesses long before Marie Antoinette donned her milkmaid’s cap; and by 1740 the English Middle Classes had their own jardin de plaisir at Vauxhall – where Handel, Hayman and Hogarth conjured up a paradise in urban London.

Fertilised by Art, Europe’s pleasure gardens cultivated a collective fantasy rooted in the classical past, which would in turn inspire the theme parks of the future.