Nature/Affectation

The discussion by English authors in the early-18th century of the classical French garden was dominated by political and social-critical aspects. The "naturalness" of the English landscape garden was equated with a liberal political system, while the French baroque garden was viewed as artificial, as a symbol of courtly exploitation and repression. In this copperplate engraving, Chodowiecki depicts the opposing pair of natural vs. affected, artificial behaviour.

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726–1801), Nature/Affectation, etching and copperplate engraving, 1778; image source: Wikimedia Commons, not subject to licence.