modern lawns are derived not from ancient gardening traditions but from idealized landscape paintings created by Italian Renaissance artists. English elites became enthralled with these, which led life to imitate art as landed aristocrats began to emulate these picturesque scenes right in their own backyards. Grass was nice and soft to walk on, but lawns were also about showing power and privilege. Only a rich person could afford to let their fields be unproductive and hire scythe-wielding peasants to keep their lovely but useless grass nice and short.
