author
Ercole Silva
1756–1840
An Italian nobleman with a strong eye for landscape, he helped bring the taste for the English garden to Italy around the turn of the 19th century. Best known for Dell'arte de' giardini inglesi, he linked gardening, architecture, and literary culture in a way that still feels modern.
1 Audiobook
Dell'arte dei giardini inglesi
by Ercole Silva
About the author
Born in Milan in 1756 and later known as Count of Biandrate, Ercole Silva was an Italian writer, scholar, and landscape architect. Sources describe him as an important figure in Milanese culture between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with a particular focus on landscape design.
He is chiefly remembered for Dell'arte de' giardini inglesi, a work that helped introduce and spread the fashion for English-style gardens in Italy. His writing did more than praise a trend: it connected garden design with ideas about taste, nature, and artistic life, helping Italian readers see the landscape garden as a serious cultural form.
Silva died in Cinisello in 1840. He remains associated with the Silva family’s world around Milan and with the broader shift from formal gardens to a more natural, picturesque style.