The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times

The author traces changing European attitudes toward nature from the Middle Ages through modern times, exploring how religious belief, mythology, exploration, and artistic practice shaped feeling for the natural world. He examines medieval theological restraint and popular myth alongside Renaissance individualism, the emergence of landscape painting and garden design, and the sentimental and elegiac strains that anticipate Romantic and pantheistic perspectives. Literary and visual examples, including discussions of prominent dramatists and painters, are used to illustrate shifts from naive familiarity to reflective and universalized appreciation. The study combines historical overview with close readings to map the gradual development of a modern sensibility toward nature.