Ornamental Hermits
A hermit must be the next level if a pineapple seems like an esoteric type of décor. Making a garden as lush and opulent as you could in the 18th century was part of gardening if you wanted to flaunt your social standing. After all, only the most affluent members of society could afford regal topiaries and imported exotic flowers. But eventually, this expanded to encompass the decorative hermit, going beyond the usual garden decor.
As the term implies, an ornamental hermit was a guy, a real person, who resided on someone else's property in a little shanty or hovel. Imagine a garden gnome, but in the real world. These men would assume druidic garb, develop long beards, and otherwise resemble your very own Gandalf. To further the image, they also skipped taking a bath.
The hermit was ordered to go seven years without speaking to anyone. Simply living there without bathing and dressing appropriately. A solitary person retreat at the villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian served as the inspiration for the fashion, which Pope Pius IV later adopted. And by the 18th century, people had just come to the conclusion that a solitary hermit fit better with the emotional ideal of sadness.
They represented reflection and melancholy, two emotions revered at the time and reportedly best enjoyed in a living, breathing form. One of the strangest status symbols was created since only the wealthiest individuals could afford to employ someone to live in this manner. Fortunately for the would-be hermits, the fad was short-lived.
