Portal:Gardening/Selected article/6

The Queluz National Palace (Palácio Nacional de Queluz) is a Portuguese 18th-century palace located at Queluz, a freguesia of the modern-day Sintra municipality, in the District of Lisbon. One of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe,the palace was conceived as a summer retreat for Dom Pedro of Braganza, later to become husband and then king consort to his own niece, Queen Maria I.Queluz is famed for the glory of its gardens, which include a large topiary parterre laid out in the manner of Le Nôtre at the rear of the palace. The Flemish influences, including the canals, in the garden are the work of the Dutch gardener Gerald van der Kolk, who assisted Robillon from 1760. Formal terraces and walkways are given extra interest by statuary and fountains. The dominant feature of the principal parterre is the "Portico dos Cavalinhos", a garden temple flanked by two allegorical equestrian statues depicting Fames, and two sphinxes (see final illustration) surreally dressed in 18th-century costume, combining the formal and the fantastic. This surreal theme continues elsewhere in the gardens where such motifs as the rape of the Sabines and the death of Abel alternate with statuary of donkeys dressed in human clothing. Deeper in the gardens is a grotto complete with a cascade.