A smaller-scale version of Tivoli Park, closed to the public, existed in Ljubljana as early as the Middle Ages. The park came to its present size and shape through numerous transformations since the 19th century. This depiction of Ljubljana as seen from the park was painted by Matija Jama in the early 20th century.
The modern concept of a public park emerged in the 19th century in response to urban industrialization. Parks functioned as apparent counterspaces to industry, giving workers an opportunity to spend free time in organized “nature” among artificial ponds and tree-lined alleys. This concept of the park was based on perceiving nature as a cultural category, i.e., something controllable and manageable. Designing parks as curated public spaces developed in parallel to Western industrial and colonial expansion. For this reason, René van der Velde and Saskia de Wit interpret them as models of the colonization of nature in the city.
Impressionism played a part in strengthening this conception of nature, often without the ideological consequences being reflected in its motifs. Thus, Jama’s view from Tivoli does not criticize urban expansion or the ideological premises of a public park. Often called the “green lungs of the city,” parks provide contact with nature, but at the same time cities grow, destroying the surrounding natural landscape. Parks thus function as an anesthetic, redirecting attention from environmental destruction and urban sprawl to an anthropogenic image of “nature.” 
