Picturesque > Architecture > Intro

Like Romantic architecture, Picturesque architectural design focused on the rural and the exotic. But if Romantic hermitages were austere, Picturesque ones were pretty; if Romantic ruined cathedrals were the genuinely damaged remnants of former glory, Picturesque ones were purpose-built to be placed in just the right spot for visual pleasure; and if Romantic hobby farms involved the patron in actual rural labor, Picturesque ones such as Marie Antoinette’s emphasized quaint clothing and clean sheep.