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The Baroque Landscape: Andre Le Notre & Vaux-le-Vicomte
André Le Nôtre (1613-1700) was the greatest landscape architect in France, and his work for Louis XIV (the Sun King) laid the groundwork for the baroque style in landscaping. He also defined the essence of French landscape design -scientific, rationalist-in counterpoint to the more romantic, naturalistic English tradition and based his work on the then state-of-the-art science of optics and perspective.
The castle and gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte (approximately 50 km south of Paris) were begun in 1653. They are the first great landscape designed by André Le Nôtre and mark the beginning of the baroque tradition in gardening. Many of the principles Le Nôtre tried and tested at Vaux were later employed to great acclaim at Versailles, which he designed at the height of his career.
Vaux-le-Vicomte is among the most popular French public gardens visited by tourists, roughly 50 percent of whom are from English-speaking countries.
The castle and gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte (approximately 50 km south of Paris) were begun in 1653. They are the first great landscape designed by André Le Nôtre and mark the beginning of the baroque tradition in gardening. Many of the principles Le Nôtre tried and tested at Vaux were later employed to great acclaim at Versailles, which he designed at the height of his career.
Vaux-le-Vicomte is among the most popular French public gardens visited by tourists, roughly 50 percent of whom are from English-speaking countries.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published July 23, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2022
The story of an extraordinary garden and its part in the owner's downfall.
Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finance under Louis XIV, commissioned André Le Nôtre to design the gardens at the château of Vaux le Vicomte. In creating a sumptuous, elegant parkland with visual illusions of space and anamorphic perspective, a parterre of boxwood shaped and decorated to look like embroidery from a distance, grottoes with classical statues, a wide variety of water features, Le Nôtre terraformed the environment into a grand, epic vision of power.
Although some of the plans - such as the gigantic statue of Hercules on a distant rise - were not realised until the late nineteenth century, because of Fouquet's arrest and ultimate imprisonment, Fouquet was nonetheless a pioneer of the Grand Siècle. He invited the king to a fete at his residence, intending to display its magnificence as a tribute to the monarch. Visiting foreign dignitaries would be under no misapprehension of the glories of Louis' reign.
Unfortunately Fouquet misjudged the fragility of the king's power at the beginning of his reign. The
château at Versailles was, at this stage, a modest hunting lodge surrounded by swamps. Louis, soon to undertake sweeping changes at Versailles with Le Nôtre's help, did not consider Vaux le Vicomte a demonstration of Fouquet's loyalty but of his ambition and treachery.
This lavishly illustrated book showcases the work of Le Nôtre, his innovations and the varying baroque intricacy contrasting with seeming minimalist simplicity in the views of different parts of the garden.
The entrance grille features a set of Janus-faced terms. The wrought iron portals do not move and provide no functional entry to the court. In Mirrors of Infinity:: The French Formal Garden and 17th-Century Metaphysics, Weiss characterised the overall composition of the garden as anamorphosis. The statue of Hercules which was intended to be placed towards the terminus of the garden was just one of the Hercules motifs in the environs. It was to be a flattering allusion to the owner. The ancient hero was a pioneer of civilisation because "it is he who clears out nature for human habitation and in accordance with a human sense of order." (The Natural And The Man Made Fouquet was including himself amongst the descendants of the illustrious Hercules.
Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finance under Louis XIV, commissioned André Le Nôtre to design the gardens at the château of Vaux le Vicomte. In creating a sumptuous, elegant parkland with visual illusions of space and anamorphic perspective, a parterre of boxwood shaped and decorated to look like embroidery from a distance, grottoes with classical statues, a wide variety of water features, Le Nôtre terraformed the environment into a grand, epic vision of power.
Although some of the plans - such as the gigantic statue of Hercules on a distant rise - were not realised until the late nineteenth century, because of Fouquet's arrest and ultimate imprisonment, Fouquet was nonetheless a pioneer of the Grand Siècle. He invited the king to a fete at his residence, intending to display its magnificence as a tribute to the monarch. Visiting foreign dignitaries would be under no misapprehension of the glories of Louis' reign.
Unfortunately Fouquet misjudged the fragility of the king's power at the beginning of his reign. The
château at Versailles was, at this stage, a modest hunting lodge surrounded by swamps. Louis, soon to undertake sweeping changes at Versailles with Le Nôtre's help, did not consider Vaux le Vicomte a demonstration of Fouquet's loyalty but of his ambition and treachery.
This lavishly illustrated book showcases the work of Le Nôtre, his innovations and the varying baroque intricacy contrasting with seeming minimalist simplicity in the views of different parts of the garden.
The entrance grille features a set of Janus-faced terms. The wrought iron portals do not move and provide no functional entry to the court. In Mirrors of Infinity:: The French Formal Garden and 17th-Century Metaphysics, Weiss characterised the overall composition of the garden as anamorphosis. The statue of Hercules which was intended to be placed towards the terminus of the garden was just one of the Hercules motifs in the environs. It was to be a flattering allusion to the owner. The ancient hero was a pioneer of civilisation because "it is he who clears out nature for human habitation and in accordance with a human sense of order." (The Natural And The Man Made Fouquet was including himself amongst the descendants of the illustrious Hercules.
February 8, 2014
This Rizzoli book is beautiful, shiny heavy paper, and great pictures. The story of Vaux le Vicomte and Fouquet is fascinating. The explanations of anamorphic art, perspective and French history combine to form an adventure story not limited to the details of the expansive gardens.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews