Before the garden: the Taj Mahal from the river.

The imposing red sandstone terrace, called kursi, or throne, supporting a smaller marble terrace and the Taj Mahal upon it, is best seen from the Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden on the opposite bank of the Yamuna river. 

The riverfront terrace is 8.7 m high and 300 m long, and is framed by two octagonal towers. Two doors at each end of the terrace, beyond the towers, gave access to the Taj Mahal from the river.
Elaborate decorations in relief of vases of flowers and plants, with white marble inlaid, decorate the sequence of arches towards the river.
From the arches, once open, light and fresh air reached the inner rooms arranged in a line and connected by passages and a narrow corridor.

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Agra, August 2010

Unknown artist, The Taj Mahal from the River, 1818
Watercolor, pen and black and grey ink, and gouache over graphite on paper
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Before the Garden: Charleston, East Sussex

Charleston in East Sussex was the home of Duncan Grant (1885-1978) and Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) from 1916.

A low stone and flint wall runs along the road edging the garden. A closed-boarded wooden gate is flanked by square pillars topped by two concrete urns cast by Quentin Bell in 1952.
The gate opens onto a gravelled courtyard with the "lovely, very solid and simple" (VB) house to the left, and the lawn and a quiet pond to the right.
Beyond there is a coloured, overflowing cottage garden where statues scattered among flowers and fruit trees prove the intense artistic and creative spirit that permeated every aspect of their life.



Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Charleston August 2016
B&W photo from: A Hunting Glimpse into a lost past at Charleston, SussexLife 2016
Painting: Duncan Grant "Ornamental urns in Charleston garden", oil on canvas, 1972

Further reading:
Charleston a Bloomsbury house & garden, Quentin Bell & Virginia Nicholson, Frances Lincoln Limited 1997