André Le Nôtre
In Perspective 1613-2013
Until 23 February 2014
FOR
Activity
booklet
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The most
famous gardener in History
Who was André Le Nôtre? The exhibition at the Palace of Versailles, which
brings the celebrations dedicated to Le Nôtre to a close, shows the genius
of this incredible creator who is famous for designing the estate of Versailles.
Born into a family of royal gardeners at the Tuileries in Paris in 1613, André
Le Nôtre took over from his father brilliantly, first working for Louis XIII and
then becoming indispensable to Louis XIV. Gardener, designer, architect and
visionary landscaper, his name is inextricably linked with French formal
gardens. Through his many large-scale accomplishments, including those at
Vaux-le-Vicomte, Sceaux, Saint-Cloud and Chantilly — not to mention his
creations in Europe —, he has left an imposing body of work, making his
mark right up to the present day.
–2–
e Room 1 f
vThe gardener and art
collector
Not only was he a gardener,
he was also an art lover! Having
trained under Simon Vouet, first
painter to King Louis XIII, Le
Nôtre was one of the era's most
important collectors — as
illustrated here in the re-creation
of his collection room. Master
paintings, sculptures inspired by
mythology, rare medals: the
guides written for rich travellers
of the day already indicated that
his collection was
exceptional. When at the
age of 80, he retired from
his functions as gardener
and designer, he donated to
the King 21 paintings which are
now in the national collections.
1
In the Le Nôtre collection:
a painting by Nicolas Poussin
Saint John Baptising the People,
and a sculpture by Ferdinando
Tacca Apollo and Daphne.
Le Nôtre can't find this
sculpture in his collection;
help him identify the
shadow of the sculpture.
–3–
Construction of Versailles Palace, with Jules
Hardouin-Mansart and André Le Nôtre
by Adam-Frans Van Der Meulen.
e Room 2 f
The ennobled designer
During the reign of Louis XIII, Le Nôtre spent
his time learning the trade and then under
Louis XIV he played a leading role. First he was
the designer of the King's gardens, then he
became his advisor, and later the General
Controller of Buildings, Gardens, Arts and
Factories.
The King enjoyed the company of this highly
cultivated man, appreciated his sincerity,
often sought his advice and granted him his
friendship. Called to Versailles in 1661,
Le Nôtre started the major works that
represented the peak of his career.
He soon became a favourite of the whole royal
family and French nobility and the orders
came rolling in. He was ennobled by Louis XIV
in 1675. In this painting, you can see the King
and his ministers as well as Le Nôtre visiting
the site at Versailles.
–4–
2
After being ennobled by the King, Le Nôtre was given a coat of arms that
he himself created. Help him find his coat of arms using the following
clues: it has a yellow band pointing upwards on a black background and
three small shelled animals, two of which are facing to the right.
–5–
e Room 3 f
The architect of space
Le Nôtre was a great master of vanishing
points. For Versailles, he planned for the
future and imagined the features that could
be created as far as the eye could see,
despite the fact that some pieces of land
had not yet been purchased. At the time,
the estate had a surface area of
10,000 ha, i.e. ten times the present
area. At the same time as Versailles,
Le Nôtre worked on many other creations:
Chantilly, Fontainebleau, Saint-Cyr,
Meudon, Sceaux and other estates in
France and Europe.
3
Observe all the ladies on horseback
in this room. Each of them is posing
in front of an estate created by Le Nôtre.
This horse rider is lost - help her find
her estate.
–6–
The Duchess of Burgundy
in front of the Grand Canal at
the Palace of Fontainebleau.
e Room 4 f
ETEPCOESL
________
EST QERASU
_________
SMASPOC
_______
ARIP FO SMACOPSES
______________
RANTADQU
________
The gardener's tools
Le Nôtre's profession required
many technical and scientific
skills in optics, hydraulics,
topography, town planning, etc.
In this room you can see a
re-creation of his workshop
with his table and various tools.
4
–7–
From his letters, the exhibition
curators discovered that André
Le Nôtre was dyslexic, in other
words he mixed up letters.
In these anagrams, you will find
the names of the instruments
he used everyday.
e Rooms 5 - 6 - 7 f
The art of Le Nôtre
Based on the principles of organising space and extending perspectives, Le Nôtre transformed
Versailles into a real masterpiece. Although he did not invent French formal gardens, he was
the first to use them so extensively. From the seventeenth century on, gardens became vaster
and were crossed by large perspectives which allowed the creation of a succession of different
spaces. They included beautiful layouts of parterres, walks, groves and terraces following on
from each other. Through the pools, fountains and water parterres, water is omnipresent.
GLOSSARY - FRENCH FORMAL GARDENS
maze
parterre
Network of plant-lined paths. In
1668, André Le Nôtre began to
work on the Palace of Versailles
grove maze which was based on
an idea conceived by Charles
Perrault.
Ornamental plant
beds organised
into a variety
of geometrical
patterns.
grove
These wooded areas were
in fact sumptuously decorated "green salons" in
which great festivities were
organised. Versailles had
fifteen groves.
topiary
Topiary, introduced by the
Romans, is the art of pruning shrubs (particularly
yew, box and cypress) rather like plant sculptures.
View of the Orangery, the Hundred
Steps stairways and the Palace of
Versailles by Etienne Allegrain.
5
Create some topiary art yourself
by completing the series below.
–9–
6
Find all the words relating to French formal gardens
in the grid below. They may be written forwards,
backwards, horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
perspective
fountain
parterre
maze
statue
topiary
pond
grove
– 10 –
e Room 8 f
Gardens that go down in history
When André Le Nôtre died at the age of 87
in his house in the Tuileries in September
1700, his art had already spread throughout
all of Europe. His assistants travelled around
spreading his method of work and foreign
gardeners came to train in France.
Overshadowed by the English landscape
garden in the nineteenth century, the regular
Le Nôtre style garden made a comeback in
the twentieth century and influenced many
architects and landscape designers
including the famous Le Corbusier. In the
architectural drawing (above) made for the
Villa Church in Ville-d’Avray, we can see how
Le Corbusier re-adopted Le Nôtre's parterres.
At the end of this tour, you will be able to
discover the project by the landscape designer
Louis Benech and the artist Jean-Michel
Othoniel who were asked to re-create the
Water Theatre Grove which had disappeared
up until now. until now had disappeared.
– 11 –
7
Look up at the ceiling in this
room. You will see a picture
of the cover of a book on
architecture showing the
influence exerted by Le Nôtre
up until the twentieth century.
What does this picture depict?
r a river system
r a motorway access road
r a skyscraper
8
Booklet designed by
This is part of a painting by Etienne Allegrain showing the gardens of Versailles.
Spot the 7 differences between the two pictures.
www.parismomes.fr. Design: Maïa Bouteillet and Elodie Coulon. Graphics: Elodie Coulon. Illustrations: Albertine.
Photo credits. Cover: ©ToucanWings - ©Sabatier - ©Christophe Fouin - ©Christian Milet - ©RMN - Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles) / Gérard Blot. P.2: Portrait of Le Nôtre: © Palace of Versailles/ JeanMarc Manaï. P.3: Painting of Saint John Baptising the People: © RMN-Grand Palais (Louvre Museum) / Stéphane Maréchalle. Apollo and Daphne © RMN-Grand Palais (Louvre Museum) / Daniel Arnaudet.
P.4: Construction of Palace of Versailles, with Jules Hardouin-Mansart and André Le Nôtre. From the Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2013. P.6: Marie-Adelaide of Savoy, Duchess of
Burgundy (1685-1712), in front of the Grand Canal at the Palace of Fontainebleau © RMN-Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles) / Daniel Arnaudet / Gérard Blot. P.8: View of the Orangery, the Hundred Step
Stairways and the Palace of Versailles circa 1695 © RMN-Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles) / Franck Raux. P.10: View of the Apollo Fountain and the Grand Canal of Versailles in 1713 © Palace of Versailles,
Dist. RMN-Grand Palais, Jean-Marc Manaï View of the Salle des Festins Grove in the gardens of Versailles © RMN-Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles) /All rights reserved. Bird's Eye View of the Palace, Lower
Gardens and Town of Saint-Cloud © RMN-Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles) /Gérard Blot. View of the Gallery of Antiques or Water Gallery with Narcissus gazing at his reflection in a fountain © RMN-Grand
Palais (Palace of Versailles) / Philipp Bernard. Perspective view of the Chateau of Meudon belonging to His Highness the Marquis de Louvois © Ile-de-France Museum Collection, Sceaux / Clément Apffel.
Louis XIV and his Court Hunting at the Château of Meudon © RMN-Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles)/Christian Jean. General view of the palace and gardens of Marly © Palace of Versailles. 1720 The
Labyrinth – Chaufourier © Palace of Versailles. Perspective of the Palace of Versailles from the Fountain of Neptune © Palace of Versailles. P.11: Villa Church, Ville-d'Avray, 1927-1929 © FLC/ADAGP, 2013.
P.12: Promenade of Louis XIV with view of the Northern Parterre in the gardens of Versailles circa 1688 © RMN-Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles) /Gérard Blot.