The European city: the Versailles of "Andre Le Notre"

Résumé du document

Although Europe carries a tradition of greenery, France is a country which has been identified as a Country of Gardens. André Le Nôtre lived from the period of 1613 to 1700. He was a French landscape gardener. Le Nôtre carried down the occupation of his family as a landscape gardener as his father and grandfather were believed to have worked at the Tuileries. Nonetheless Le Nôtre's achievements have left a unique and exclusive vivid impression on the history of French Renaissance gardens. To cite a few examples, Le Nôtre designed several remarkable formal gardens in Vaux-le-Vicomte during the period of 1655 to 1661 and at Chantilly from 1661 to 1683, as referenced in Encarta 2007. However, his significant achievement was undeniably Versailles. Although many other artists contributed along with him to the layout of gardens, it is generally acknowledged that he was a dominant personality and hence played the main role in the creation and designing of fancy and delightful gardens. Therefore, in this essay, we will focus on the beauty of the Versailles Gardens in the late 17th century. Further, we will also analyze and describe the historical, artistic, scientific and political context in which Le Nôtre designed these gardens rather than just focusing and listing Le Nôtre's contribution distinctively.

Extraits

[...] It appeared also in some of the many groves of the garden (i.e. Ballroom Grove, Collonnade Grove, Dome Grove and Apollo Grove). Trees were generally carefully chosen and planted, and they played an important aesthetic role, even when they were mixed with architectural achievements (i.e. with the columns of Jules Hardouin-Mansart in the Collonnade Grove and his pavilions built in 1677 in the Dome Grove) (www.lenotre.culture.gouv.fr, in “Seven gardens revisited”, Versailles). Besides in some parts of the park, some small trees, hedges and bushes were even trimmed into decorative and imaginary forms. [...]

[...] These similar achievements were, for instance, the formal garden designed by Nicodemus Tessin the younger at Dottningholm (near Stockholm) in the 1680's, the gardens of Peterhof (near St Petersburg) completed in 1725, and the symmetrical garden at Karlruhe, begun by Karl Wilhelm von Baden Durlach in 1715 (Thacker 164-167). Bibliography Books Curl, James Stevens. European cities and society: a study of the influence of political climate on town design. London: Leonard Hill pp 108-110. Morris, A.E.J. History of urban form before the industrial revolution. New York: Wiley 2nd ed. [...]

[...] Many secondary paths gave the impression to spread from the chateau. They were actually designed to emphasize the sense of symmetry distilled by the layout of the garden. It showed also that the garden was deliberately designed to extend forward. Thus people who were in the chateau could get a comprehensive overview of the park in only one glance. This was typical of the Renaissance and a similar kind of layout was also to be seen in Vaux-le- Vicomte. Furthermore, in Versailles, the main vista looked to the horizon. [...]

[...] Consequently Versailles' garden was not perfectly enclosed (cf. picture), which differentiated clearly Versailles from Italian Renaissance gardens. The gardens of Versailles distilled thereby a sense of infinity and a “sense of direction”, which was typically baroque (Morris, 1980). To Morris, the Renaissance architecture sought permanence, whereas baroque achievements intended to “carry us away” through the use of “momentary” but “overwhelming effects”. It was certainly the case in Versailles, since the gardens were mainly created to organize magnificent parties. Besides it is worth mentioning that water played an important role in the decoration of Versailles. [...]

[...] Consequently the history of Versailles' gardens really began in the second half of the 17th century. Moreover the origins of the chateau as it is known today are to be found in Fouquet's estate at Vaux-le-Vicomte. This achievement impressed so much Louis XIV in 1661 that the sun-king wanted to have his own château built by the same artists, namely Le Vau for the architecture, Le Brun for the interiors and Le Nôtre for the gardens. As a result Versailles began to be restructured in the same year, after Fouquet was put into jail for rather obscure reasons. [...]