French Classicism

fter over a century of attempts to come close to Italian garden design, French efforts finally came to an end at the beginning of the 17th century with the successful construction of the gardens at Sent-Germain and The Luxembourg Garden. Fortunately, this strife for adoption and updating of Italian models resulted in a significant deviation from the Italian style and the discovery of a unique French style. 

In contrast to Renaissance gardens, French classical gardens were extensive, multiple and suffused in light. In contrast to all Baroque ornamental gardens throughout Europe, they were laid out according to the famous formula, “Simplicity is beautiful”. Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles, undoubtedly the glory of French garden architecture, are the most majestic examples of French classical gardens, both designed by Andre Le Notre. 

During the Baroque period, the supreme figure in the world of religion was God, of mythology – Apollo and of nature – the sun. But Louis XIV was the first and highest representative. Louis XIV was the first to live and act with the certainty: “I am the Absolute.” Only in his surrounding could the idea of the garden be receptive to such an idea of the “absolute”. Thus Versailles became the manifestation of absolute substance. Geometry proved to be a suitable medium to tie the totality of being, even the most insignificant and distant parts, to its absolute origin. 

As far as garden design was concerned, “What in the Renaissance garden had seemed so scattered and disarrayed, seemingly obedient to the lawns of chance, suddenly fell into harmonious order like pearls in a necklace” C.F Schröer. French classicism was the triumph of geometry compositions. Besides, people were conscious of not living in a century of “small things”. Gardens stretched over enormous plain areas, so the problems of transitions became all-important. It was no longer sufficient to set out solitary river gods, nymphs or emblematic allegories. A garden architect was expected to devise a complete program, a sort of universal philosophy in which the most significant elements had a particular order, followed a logical development, guaranteed an overview of the major relationships between mythology and nature. 

French classicism denied the pathetic Baroque sets and praised reason. This position was supported by Decart’s philosophy stating that reason was the one and the only possible source of cognition. Some of the main principles were:

• rational thought, as a rule
• no extras, nothing useless
• temperance in using artistic forms
• subjecting the form to the composition
• subjecting the composition to a strict almost “mathematical” order
• subjecting separate elements and details to the assemblage
• working with large areas and with light
• bright parterres de broderies 
• a central alley which coincides with the main longitudinal axis balanced with several secondary transverse alleys
• avoiding closing perspectives

Everything – sizes, shapes, color and plants, water and structures, was made correspondingly. People sought perfection and gardens and parks represented the Absolute.