A reference work published for the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of André Le Nôtre (1613-2013), this book is also the official catalogue of the “Le Nôtre in Perspectives” exhibition organised at the Palace of Versailles from 22 October 2013 to 24 February 2014.

Bringing together the best specialists in the history of the gardens, sciences and techniques, but also in the history of art and institutions, this book with its diagonal approach changes the generally accepted ideas about the man who was the King’s gardener and designer, as well as being his Controller-General of Buildings, Gardens, Arts and Factories, the way he worked as an architect of spaces, his role as an engineer, his passion as a collector and the heritage of his achievements from the 17th century to the present.

His finest productions are studied and illustrated here, as are the role of his collaborators and the impact of his work on the definition of the model for the formal French garden, which is put into a long-term perspective and expanded in scope, covering several centuries in Europe and beyond.

Most of the drawings known to be by Le Nôtre and his collaborators have been brought together in this form for the first time, with many documents and exceptional and astonishing works to give the reader all the emotion of the original drawings, the shock of the masterpieces in his collections and the surprise of unexpected or unknown works.


Co-publishers: Hazan - château de Versailles
Under the direction of Béatrix Saule, Patricia Bouchenot-Déchin et Georges Farhat
440 pages
Format : 25 x 31 cm
EAN : 9782754107297
Parution: October 2013
Language : French / English