2000
First Published
3.81
Average Rating
160
Number of Pages
Andre Le Notre, chief landscape gardener at Versailles, enjoyed a thirty-five-year relationship with his patron, Louis XIV, the Sun-King. Born in Paris, grandson and son of gardeners, he grew up in the Tuileries and amid the flourishing of the decorative artssculpture, gardening, painting, architecturein the nearby workshops of the Louvre. This book recounts his life and achievements in a distillation of facts and musings. Le Notre was recognized as a genius in his time, particularly in his innovative use of perspective and reflective water surfaces. His services were sought by the rich and powerful, and he was responsible for an "archipelago" of gardens surrounding Paris, including Fontainebleau, Marly, and Chantilly. This book focuses on Versailles and the unlikely association of "the most powerful of monarchs, to whose will everything must bend" and a master gardener who never for a moment claimed to be anything else. The search for happiness is a recurring theme, implicit in the title and in remarks such as "any walk [in Versailles park] is a peaceful pursuit of happiness." If happiness comes from fulfilling one's potential, Le Notre was a happy man in his calling to give pleasure to others. He created an enduring legacy in a fragile medium.
Avg Rating
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Author
Erik Orsenna
Author · 26 books
Érik Orsenna, pseudonyme d'Erik Arnoult est un romancier français. Après des études de philosophie et de sciences politiques, il a fait des études en Angleterre (London School of Economics). Son pseudonyme Orsenna est le nom de la vieille ville du Rivage des Syrtes, de Julien Gracq. Érik Orsenna, nom de plume of Erik Arnoult is a French novelist. After studying philosophy and political science, he studied economics at the London School of Economics. His pseudonym Orsenna is the name of the old town of The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq.
