Fontaine Médicis du Jardin du Luxembourg

Gardens of the French Renaissance were initially inspired by the

Italian Renaissance garden The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure of the view of the garden and the landsc ...

, which evolved later into the grander and more formal ''

jardin à la française The French formal garden, also called the (), is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the ...

'' during the reign of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, by the middle of the 17th century. In 1495, King Charles VIII and his nobles brought the Renaissance style back to France after their war campaign in Italy. They reached their peak in the gardens of the royal

Château de Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence ...

Château d'Amboise The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was extensively rebuilt. K ...

, Château de Blois, and Château de Chenonceau. French Renaissance gardens were characterized by symmetrical and geometric planting beds or

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

s, plants in pots, paths of gravel and sand, terraces, stairways and ramps, moving water in the form of

canals Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

, cascades and monumental fountains, and extensive use of artificial grottoes,

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

s, and statues of mythological figures. They became an extension of the

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Now ...

x that they surrounded, and were designed to illustrate the Renaissance ideals of measure and proportion, and to remind viewers of the virtues of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

History

Italian influence

In the 13th century, the Italian landscape architect

Pietro de' Crescenzi Pietro de' Crescenzi ( 1230/35 – c. 1320), la, 'Petrus de Crescentiis', was a Bolognese jurist,Robert G. Calkins, "Piero de' Crescenzi and the Medieval Garden", in ''Medieval Gardens'', ed. Elisabeth B. MacDougall, Dumbarton Oaks, 1986: 155 ...

wrote a treatise called ''Opus Ruralium Commodium,'' which laid out a formal plan for gardens, ornamented with

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

sculptures, trees and bushes trimmed into architectural shapes, following a tradition begun by the Romans. King

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

of France ordered a French translation in 1373, and the new Italian style began to appear in France. Another influential writer was

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...

(1404–1472), who in 1450 wrote a tract, '' De re aedificatoria'' for

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

. Alberti used the geometric principles of

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

to design building façades and gardens. He suggested that the house should look over the garden, and that the garden should have "porticos for giving shade, cradles where vines grow on columns of marble, and there should be vases and even amusing statues, provided that they are not obscene." In his design of the gardens of the

Cortile del Belvedere The (Belvedere Courtyard or Belvedere Court) was a major architectural work of the High Renaissance at the Vatican Palace in Rome. Designed by Donato Bramante from 1505 onward, its concept and details reverberated in courtyard design, formalized ...

in Rome, the architect

Bramante Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style ...

(1444–1544) introduced the idea of perspective, using a long axis perpendicular to the palace, along which he placed parterres and fountains. This became a central feature of Renaissance gardens. A popular novel by the monk Francesco Colonna, published in Venice in 1499, called ''The Dream of Poliphile'', an allegorical journey by a traveller, Poliphile, to fantastic lands in search of his love, Polia, had an enormous influence upon gardens of the time. The ideas of a "garden-island" in a lake, such as the one in the

Boboli Gardens The Boboli Gardens ( it, Giardino di Boboli) is a historical park of the city of Florence that was opened to the public in 1766. Originally designed for the Medici, it represents one of the first and most important examples of the Italian garden, ...

in Florence, of statues of giants coming out of earth in the park of the

Villa di Pratolino The Villa di Pratolino was a Renaissance patrician villa in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. It was mostly demolished in 1822. Its remains are now part of the Villa Demidoff, 12 km north of Florence, reached from the main road to Bologna. History Th ...

, and the theme of

were all taken from the imaginary voyages of Poliphile. All these elements were to appear in French Renaissance gardens.

The birthplace of Renaissance gardens in France: Château-Gaillard (Amboise)

In 1495, Charles VIII invaded the kingdom of Naples, and he saw the luxury of the palaces and gardens in Italy. When he returned to France in 1496, he convinced and brought back with him 22 Italian artists, including a monk and master gardener from Naples named

Pacello da Mercogliano Pacello da Mercogliano (c. 1455–1534) was a designer of gardens and hydraulic engineer, who is documented as working for Charles VIII at Amboise with the responsibility of bringing water from the Loire up to the garden parterres laid out to o ...

. They decided to reproduce in

Amboise Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court. Geography Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away ...

the marvels of Tuscany and elected a 15 hectares amphitheater-shaped land in the heart of the city to realize the King's dream of

Poggioreale Poggioreale ( Sicilian: ''Poggiuriali'') is a ghost town and '' comune'' in the province of Trapani, western Sicily, southern Italy, located in the Belice valley. The Economy was mostly based on agriculture and fruit cultivation. Earthquak ...

. Charles VIII ordered the construction of Château-Gaillard and Pacello chose this royal domain to introduce and acclimatize the first orange trees in France. He created lawns, floral beds and settings for his "Arte del Verde" and successfully introduced Italian style gardens for the very first time in France. He used Château-Gaillard as an experimental laboratory for his innovations: he created a new variety of plum called "

Reine Claude The greengages are a group of cultivars of the common European plum. The first true greengage came from a green-fruited wild plum ( fa , گوجه‌سبز, Gowjehsabz) which originated in Name of Iran, Iran (Persia). Greengages are grown in temp ...

" ("Queen Claude"), and used very specific techniques such as half barrels as tree planter boxes. The gardens of Château-Gaillard stand as the "missing link" between medieval

monastic garden A monastic garden was used by many people and for multiple purposes. Gardening was the chief source of food for households, but also encompassed orchards, cemeteries and pleasure gardens, as well as providing plants for medicinal and cultural uses. ...

s and future

French formal garden The French formal garden, also called the (), is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the ...

s. File:Villa Poggio Reale.jpg, Villa Poggio Reale File:Parquets.png, File:Royal Domain Château-Gaillard Amboise.jpg, Royal Domain of Château-Gaillard File:Château-Gaillard Amboise -Grands Parterres.jpg, View of the Grand Parterres File:Château-Gaillard Amboise Orangerie exterior view.jpg, Royal orangery Château-Gaillard Amboise File:Château-Gaillard Amboise Orangery view from inside.jpg, Orangery

The Gardens of the Château d'Amboise, Blois, Gaillon and Bury

At the beginning of the 16th century, King

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

, who had also visited Italy and had met

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, built gardens in the new style on three terraces of different levels bordered by the old walls of his Château de Blois. Besides the parterres of flowers, the gardens produced a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, including orange and lemon trees in boxes, which were taken indoors in winter. The building that sheltered them, still standing, was the first

orangerie An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

in France. The gardens were on the site of the present-day Place Victor-Hugo and the site of the railways station. The last vestiges of the garden were destroyed in 1890 by the construction of the Avenue Victor-Hugo. Photo CG 1600 complete

At about the same time, Pacello da Mercogliano designed gardens for the

Château de Gaillon The Château de Gaillon is a French Renaissance castle located in Gaillon, Normandy region of France. History The somewhat battered and denuded Château de Gaillon, begun in 1502 on ancient foundations was the summer archiepiscopal residence of G ...

owned by Cardinal

Georges d'Amboise Georges d'Amboise (1460 – May 25, 1510) was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and minister of state. He belonged to the house of Amboise, a noble family possessed of considerable influence: of his nine brothers, four were bishops. His father, ...

, a Minister of King Henry IV, who had also spent time in Italy. The gardens, built on different levels below the old medieval château, were planted in parterres of flowers and fruit trees. The parterre at the entrance of the garden featured the coat of arms of France in flowers. Bushes were trimmed into the shapes of men on horseback, ships, and birds. It was also decorated with imposing fountains of marble. Chateau

The gardens of the Château de Bury were built between 1511 and 1524 by Florimont Robertet, a Secretary of State for both

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

and

. Robertet had visited the

Villa Medici in Fiesole The Villa Medici is a patrician villa in Fiesole, Tuscany, Italy, the fourth oldest of the villas built for the Medici family. It was built between 1451 and 1457. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed as Medici Villas and Gar ...

and wanted to reproduce the terraced gardens he saw there. The château, departing from the traditional design, was integrated closely with its gardens. Visitors passed through a square garden inside the castle and out into two geometric gardens behind the château, decorated with fountains and surrounded by a wooden gallery. The axis went from the entrance to the chapel, at the far end of the garden. Like Italian Renaissance gardens, the gardens of Bury were located on the edge of a hill, with a fine view of the forest of Blois. In the centre of the court of the château, Robertet placed a bronze copy of

Michelangelo's David ''David'' is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo. ''David'' is a marble statue of the Biblical figure David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence. ''David'' ...

, which had been given to him by the

Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flo ...

Gardens of Fontainebleau

The gardens of the

, located in a forest which had been the hunting preserve of the

Capet The House of Capet (french: Maison capétienne) or the Direct Capetians (''Capétiens directs''), also called the House of France (''la maison de France''), or simply the Capets, ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most s ...

ian Kings of France, were created by

beginning in 1528. The garden featured fountains, parterres, a forest of pine trees brought from

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and the first artificial grotto in France in 1541. Catherine de' Medici ordered copies in bronze of the statues which decorated the Cortile del Belvedere in Rome. A statue of

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

in repose by Michelangelo decorated the garden of the lake. In 1594, Henry IV added a small island in the lake connected to the court of fountains by a bridge.Philippe Prevot, ''Histoire des jardins'', pg. 107-08

The Gardens of Chenonceau

The Château de Chenonceau had two separate gardens: the first created in 1551 for

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and prominent courtier. She wielded much power and influence as King Henry II's royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position increased her wealth and famil ...

, the favorite of King Henry II, with a large parterre and a ''jet d'eau'' (jet of water), and a second, smaller garden created for Catherine de' Medici in 1560, on a terrace raised above the river Cher, divided into compartments, with a basin in the centre.

Gardens of Saint-Germaine-en-Laye

The gardens of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye marked the beginning of the transition to a new style, which would be called ''

''. The garden was laid out in 1595 by royal gardener Charles Mollet for Henry IV.

Chronology of the French Renaissance garden

(1495) * Château de Blois (1499) (gardens were destroyed in the 19th century.) *

(1502 to 1550) * Château de Bury-en-Blesois (1511–1520) * Château de Chenonceau, (1515–1589) gardens of

(1551) and Catherine de' Medici (1560) *

Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château built around 1560 for Anne de Montmor ...

(1524) *

(1528–1447) * Château de Saint-Maur (1536) *

Château d'Anet The Château d'Anet is a château near Dreux, in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, built by Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France. It was built on the former château at the ...

(1536) * Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1539–1547) -old Château and gardens *

Château de Villandry The Château de Villandry is a grand country house located in Villandry, in the ''département'' of Indre-et-Loire, France. It is especially known for its beautiful gardens. History The lands where an ancient fortress once stood were known as ' ...

(1536) * Montceaux-les-Maux (1549–1560) * Château de Vallery (1550) * La Bastie d'Urfe (1551) * Château de Dampierre-sur-Boutonne (1552–1600) * Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1539–1547) -new Château and terraces * Château de Charleval (1560) *

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, f ...

and Gardens (1564–1593) *

Château de Verneuil A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

(1565) *

(1582) New Gardens. *

(1594–1609) New gardens by Claude Mollet *

Tuileries Garden The Tuileries Garden (french: Jardin des Tuileries, ) is a public garden located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in ...

in Paris (1599) by Claude Mollet, Delorme, Duperac *

Luxembourg Garden The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de' ...

in Paris (1612–1630)

Modern versions of the French Renaissance garden

*Garden of the Château d'Ambleville

Bibliography

* Yves-Marie Allain and Janine Christiany, ''L'art des jardins en Europe'', Citadelles et Mazenod, Paris, 2006 * Claude Wenzler, ''Architecture du jardin'', Editions Ouest-France, 2003 * Lucia Impelluso, ''Jardins, potagers et labyrinthes'', Hazan, Paris, 2007. * Philippe Prevot, ''Histoire des jardins'', Editions Sud Ouest, 2006

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardens Of The French Renaissance + Gardens in France French Renaissance Renaissance gardens French culture