Garden Art: Extraordinary and understated art, beautiful statues, stunning garden sculptures.

[@kotsifou]

I enjoyed your video and learned a lot (as I always do with your content) but I have to say I am very troubled by your account of northern Europeans from the 17th to the 19th centuries bring back antiquities from the south of Europe to decorate their gardens. As a Greek, this is very difficult for me to justify. Most of these antiquities were moved illegally to the north. Before Lord Elgin sold the Parthenon marbles to the British Museum, they were 'decorating' his gardens. What these 'cultured' people were doing is simple and unadulterated looting. Surely, this is not something to be admired or emulated. When they were inspired by the Chinese civilization and they created the pagoda at Kew Gardens, that is an act that certainly points to an honest admiration of an ancient culture. But when one removed antiquities and brought them back in order to decorate his ponds, that was just a sign of colonial disdain and might, no?

[@ApplePeaFernSea]

Thank you for raising such a perceptive and thought-provoking point, which is an entirely justified objection. We have given your words serious reflection and agree that we could have put into context the long-lasting cultural impact of statues and artefacts removed in previous eras by a self-entitled class of European collector. Lord Elgin was also responsible for plundering and burning down the Old Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan, in Beijing in 1860, so his controversial legacy of looted items currently held in British art collections continues to have uncomfortable political and social impact around the globe in the world today. I will pin your comment and direct viewers to it in the description, it is an important perspective to acknowledge, thank you for bringing it to our attention.

[@kotsifou]

@@ApplePeaFernSea Thank you very much for your understanding. I really look forward to your next video!