The Parc Jean-Jacques-Rousseau is a

French landscape garden The French landscape garden (french: jardin anglais, jardin à l'anglaise, jardin paysager, jardin pittoresque, jardin anglo-chinois) is a style of garden inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrai ...

Ermenonville Ermenonville () is a commune in the Oise department, northern France. Ermenonville is notable for its park named for Jean-Jacques Rousseau by René Louis de Girardin. Rousseau's tomb was designed by the painter Hubert Robert, and sits on the Isl ...

, in the Département of

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

. It is named for the philosopher

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

, who stayed there the last six weeks of his life. He died there in 1778 and was buried in an island in the park. The western part, called "le Désert" is managed by the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

, and the northern part by a hotel/restaurant at the Château d'Ermenonville. The other parts are not open to the public, for various reasons.

History

The park at

was created by

René de Girardin René Louis de Girardin (25 February 1735 – 1808), Marquis of Vauvray, was Jean-Jacques Rousseau's last pupil. He created the first French landscape garden at Ermenonville. It was inspired by Rousseau's ideas. De Girardin was the author ...

(1735–1808). Girardin was an officer under

Stanislas Leszczyński Stanislav and variants may refer to: People * Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, C ...

, and fought in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. Girardin acquired a substantial inheritance from his mother René Hatte in 1762, enabling him to create his park and gardens at Ermenonville. Girardin brought in two hundred English workers to create his garden. It was inspired by

's philosophy, in his 1761 work, ''

Julie, or the New Heloise ''Julie; or, The New Heloise'' (french: Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse), originally entitled ''Lettres de Deux Amans, Habitans d'une petite Ville au pied des Alpes'' ("Letters from two lovers, living in a small town at the foot of the Alps"), is ...

'', drawing from the works of the English writers

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard S ...

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

and

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (26 February 1671 – 16 February 1713) was an English politician, philosopher, and writer. Early life He was born at Exeter House in London, the son of the future Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd E ...

, all three of whom had written on English gardens. Girardin laid out the garden based on ideas expressed in an essay entitled ''De la composition des paysages sur le terrain ou des moyens d'embellir la nature près des habitations en y joignant l'agréable à l'utile'' ("On the creation of landscapes, or means of embellishing nature near inhabited places in merging the agreeable and the useful"). Petit parc, le Hameau (n° 20)

In the 1770s Rousseau and Girardin met up in Paris. In the spring of 1778, his friend

Thérèse Levasseur Marie-Thérèse Levasseur (; 21 September 1721 – 12 July 1801; also known as ''Thérèse Le Vasseur'', ''Lavasseur'') was the domestic partner, mistress, wife and widow of Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Biography Thérèse Le Va ...

fell into bad health, and her doctor advised her to have a rest in the countryside. The two then tried to find a new place to live. Girardin, one of Rousseau's many admirers, invited them to stay at a cottage in his garden, and they did from May 1778. There, Rousseau recovered his extraordinary enthusiasm for nature. As he said to his friend Girardin: "For a long time, my heart drew me here, and what my eyes see, make me want to stay here always". On 4 July 1778, Rousseau was buried at midnight, by torchlight, on a little island in the park which now bears his name. His remains were ceremonially relocated to the Panthéon national heroes repository in Paris in 1794. On 26 December 1787, a violent storm devastated parts of the park, which were only partly repaired.Cf. sur le site .

Reception

The park was considered one of the foremost English-style parks on the Continent, remarkable "for the landscapes it offered to visitors and the reflections it inspired in the course of a ramble". It was visited in its early years by several prominent people, including Emperor Joseph II of Austria in 1777, Queen

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child and ...

in spring 1780, King Gustave III of Sweden in 1783 and First Consul

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, several times beginning in 1800.,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

and

Maximilien de Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

.Cf. ''Parc d'Ermenonville'', ''op. cit.'', p. 19.

References

Bibliography

* * , p. 59-80. * * * * *
link Google Books

External links

Parc Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Google Maps)
the indicator points out the Petit Parc, south of the Rue Réné-de-Girardin. There is no geographic label for the château d'Ermenonville on this map. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Parc Gardens in Oise

History

Reception

See also

References

Bibliography

External links