Site plan from www.lib.utexas.edu
Nelson Rockefeller, II, had two loves: art and world peace. In 1924, in the aftermath of the 'Great War', he determined to use his wealth to save France's endangered treasures. The Rockefeller fortune financed the restoration of the medieval fortress of Fontainbleau, the cathedral at Reims, and the royal seat of Versailles, site of negotiations that had midwived the birth of the American republic.
VERSAILLES: A GARDEN IN FOUR SEASONS
by Jacques Dubois & Jean d'Ormesson Paris, Vendome Press: 1979 779.443 FOLIO
It began its existence as a modest hunting lodge for French monarchs in 1623. Under Louis XIV, the Sun King, it became a monument to the wedding of royal splendour with good government. His advisers wanted Louis to make the Louvre Museum in central Paris his royal residence, but the farsighted monarch chose instead an unhealthy swamp with no view and almost no water, and unleashed the best artisans of the day to create a paradise on earth. Hydraulic pumps, cascading conduits, and collection ponds supply the myriad fountains in a system that is still working today. The fountains, which were only turned on when the king was in residence, are turned on one Sunday each month and photographer Jacques Dubois was there to capture their magic at every hour and season.
VERSAILLES GARDENS: SCULPTURE & MYTHOLOGY
by Jacques Girard Paris, Vendome Press: 1985 730.944 GIR
The Versailles gardens are dedicated to the Greek god Apollo, nature's sovereign. The Olympian deities are everywhere in this most fully realized sculpture garden since antiquity.
War interrupted Louis XIV's plans to grab more water for his fountains from the neighbors, so he employed an army of sculptors to create tableaux to entertain visitors. Louis even wrote his own tour guide to the gardens.
Classical allusions provided a wealth of ready made material for artists. Modeled in marble, bronze, and lead, the statues illustrate the seasons, the elements, and the four temperaments. (The Four Temperaments were first devised by Hippocrates (c.450 BCE) as a way of understanding human personality through analogy with the elements of nature.)
At sixty, the king was smitten by the high spirits of the young Duchess of Burgundy, and ordered his sculptors to produce child-god statuary embodying the renewed royal joie de vivre. Masters represented include Francois Girardon's graceful works, the pure lines of Jean-Baptiste Tubi, and vivid movement in the characters of Etienne le Hongre.
ANDRE LE NOTRE: GARDEN ARCHITECT TO KINGS
by Helen M. Fox New York, Crown: 1962 712.5 FOX
He was the third generation in his family to garden when the king honored Le Notre's work with its own coat of arms. "Three snails and a head of cabbage - but I must not forget my spade for it is due to my spade that I am the recipient of all the kindnesses with which your majesty honors me." King and commoner shared a mutual love of gardens and architecture.
A modest man, Le Notre (1613-1700) read Descartes for inspiration and attempted to reflect the philosopher's ideas in his three decades of landscape design at Versailles. And with what glorious results. Broad terraces facilitated the flow of water and provided breathtaking vistas. Parterre gardens, with their strict geometric forms, employed plants as furniture - hence the movable potted palms and the orangeries. Ponds and fountains were laid out on a series of axes that permitted garden viewing from inside the palace. Le Notre would also use this device to great effect to project the central axis of the Tuilleries in Paris out to the Arc de Triomphe.
So influential was Le Notre's Versailles that princes everywhere flattered the King by imitating his garden.
LES PLAISIRS DE VERSAILLES
by Marc-Antoine Charpentier Paris, Erato: 1996 compact disc D/CHAR
Although most of his works were composed for the church, Charpentier (1643-1704) created operatic diversions for Louis XIV and his guests. Among the musical pleasures on this cd, Music and Conversation personified debate which is more essential to pleasure. Pastoraletta is a diminutive work for a chorus of shepherds and Airs and Senses are duets inspired by the popular Spanish drama El Cid.
For more information, visit the official website http://www.chateauversailles.fr/ You can read about recent acquisitions and renovations - in English or, if you want, practice your French, bonne chance!
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