Viererleÿ Vorstellungen angenehm-und zierlicher Grundrisse folgender Lustgärten ausser der Residenz-Stadt Wienn..

This 1725 engraving by Salomon Kleiner belongs to a celebrated series documenting the pleasure gardens outside Vienna, the imperial residence city. The title — roughly translated as 'Four Representations of Pleasing and Elegant Garden Plans of the Following Pleasure Gardens outside the Residence City of Vienna' — signals its purpose as both an architectural record and a prestige publication. Kleiner was one of the foremost architectural engravers of the early 18th century, renowned for his meticulous, bird's-eye documentation of Baroque estates and gardens. His work in the Met's collection also includes engravings of Prince Eugene of Savoy's residences and the palace of Weissenstein, suggesting a sustained career capturing the grandeur of aristocratic Central European architecture. These prints were not mere illustrations — they were status objects, circulated among the European nobility as proof of cultural refinement and wealth. The bird's-eye perspective format Kleiner favored allowed viewers to grasp the geometry and ambition of Baroque landscape design: the symmetrical parterres, clipped hedgerows, and radiating allées that defined the era's taste for nature brought under rational, elegant control.