French Absolutism in the Gardens of Versailles

Gardens of Versailles:

The Epitome of French Absolutism

From the stroll gardens of Kyoto, Japan encouraging meditation and purity to the royal tombs centered in the chahar bagh of the Moughal Empire representing gardens of Paradise, the landscape garden often defines the standards, trends, and role in which society follows. It highlights the religious philosophies at the time such as Zen Buddhism in the stroll garden or allude to the political and devoted texts like the Qur’an in the chahar bagh. Similarly, the landscape garden can also be used to symbolize and radicalize the rule of monarchies as in the case of the Gardens of Versailles under King Louis XIV during the height of French Absolutism. Through the intentional wielding of nature in this landscape garden, the King of France embodied his power, adjacent to that of the greek god Apollo, by creating an expansive and seemingly unlimited domain in which he was at the beginning of and his French empire, the end of. In his creation of the Palace of Versailles, but most importantly, in his creation and absolute dominance of nature in the Gardens of Versailles, King Louis demonstrated his power as the rightful and peaceful Sun King of France. The garden designs, primarily the intentional symmetry and precision of the garden layout, the intentional broderie (embroidery) in the box hedges, and the garden’s ability to have functioning waterworks, were key characteristics designed by Andre Le Notre that demonstrated the reign of Louis XIV. First, the proximity of these works to the palace grounds also shaped the culture of France and acted as an influential instrument in shaping the French style, along with the rest of Europe in the 1700’s by simply being easily accessible to those who roamed near. Next, Le Notre depicted the absolute power of the king by visually having total control of the landscape through the intentional symmetry and grand axis which not only stretched visually beyond the horizon but also centered its king at its beginning. Lastly, the garden manipulated water in a primarily flat plain - a task that was by no means simple. Through the wielding of his environment, of nature, and of the landscape, King Louis XIV influenced and changed France with the sheer might of visuals, entertainment and wonder found in the Gardens of Versailles.

The Palace of Versailles and its gardens, situated on the outskirts of Paris, France in Versailles, emerged from King Louis XIV’s desire to separate his court and himself from the political hostilities of Paris in 1677 in order to create a centralized and stabilized monarchy that was more than just a symbol for France. The very surroundings of the palace would become the Gardens of Versailles - the representational epitome of the absolute French monarchy. Separate from the confines of the instability of Paris, the King had the ability to control his court, his advisors and diplomats without the unwanted presence of outsiders. Previously, France had been economically and socially distraught from the reign of the last two kings, King Henry XVIII and King Louis XVIII. Jean-Bapiste Colbert, the primary financial minister of King Louis XIV who assisted with the king’s vision of pushing France into a stronger, more prosperous state through the newly built palace and gardens described in his Memoir that the situation of France from 1616 to 1630 as a realm “existing only in confusion and disorder”. Through the funding and creation of Versailles, Louis demonstrated his financial ability to collect, enforce and tax his people. He then shaped the political and social landscape of France through three primary factors founded and created in his gardens: the axis and precise layout of the garden, the extravagant social gatherings in and throughout the gardens, and last, the creation and use of a hydraulic system for his fountains.

First, the grand axis and precise symmetry of the gardens symbolized the neverending expanse of the Sun King’s rule and his total control of his nation through the total control of nature. Additionally, by placing himself, and specifically his bedroom in the palace at the beginning of the grand axis, Louis created a landscape and environment that revolved solely around him. The importance of the creation and magnificence of the gardens were more than just for aesthetics. Ian Thomposon noted that Louis focused primarily on the gardens, pushing for their priority before that of the palace. He entrusted Andre Le Notre, an infamous landscape designer, to create the gem of Versailles. Le Notre initially drew inspiration from his previous works such as the symmetry and control of Château De Vaux-Le-Vicomte and its gardens as well as the Italian Renaissance gardens of Villa Lante. The proportionality, reasoning and logic of the prior Renaissance period was an easy transition to French absolutism by both having created a sense of control over the landscape. Le Notre built the grand axis upon the fact that Versailles itself already had an an axis that ran west; It was short of a few degrees of the western sun set but nevertheless created the appropriate visual effect of the continuous symbolism for the Sun King. Hamilton Hazelhurst also noted that Le Notre understood the supreme authority in which he lived in Gardens of Illusions. The landscape designer shortened the landscape around the palace with parterres in order to not block the view so visitors would constantly have the palace of the king be the focal point whenever possible. However, one area that strayed from the absolutism of the gardens was the Bosquet des Sources created in 1684. Built around a marsh, the bosquet did not follow the symmetries of the rest of the garden but rather lavashed in winding paths that follow the marsh it was built around. This section hinted at the next era of landscape design: the picturesque. However, this island in the midst of absolutism did not excite the same approval by the French court and was later taken down. The grand axis and precision of the gardens were familiar to the court and preferred by the French monarch himself overrode that of something more avant garde, proving just how much influence the reign of the Sun King had on his people .

Secondly, the use of the gardens as a social gathering hotspot for festivities from the King inspired and settled the French court as well as diplomats both socially and politically. Very much like his court, King Louis kept a tight grip on the design of the gardens and utilised them as an apparatus to control French fashion and societal status. One of the many ways in which the king influenced the court and kept it subdued was through deciding and inspiring the French fashion of the time. He strategically placed his most prominent and stylish designs, the broidery shrubs, closest to the palace. Michel Baridon states in his text that the king “positioned the parterres de broderies close to the house so the eyes could first be drawn to the parterres de gazon before traveling to the end of the garden”. By placing them at an easy and constant view of sight for the court, the king was able to shape the styles of his era. In the image on the left, the South Parterre also known as the Flower Garden, can be viewed from above and draws the eye to the lake and horizon. In addition, the king also controlled his court by visually controlling the setting of the garden. Thompson remarks that the shrubs were “clipped and subjected”, actively acting as a metaphor and reminder for the lifestyle found in Louis’ court. During fetes or balls held in the gardens, “to be out of fashion was to risk scorn”. The Duke of Saint-Simon also stated that the king knew the effects of having something incredulously beautiful in his memoirs of his time spent at Versailles. He wrote that “the king understood the delicacies of architecture and beauties of gardens, as excellently as the art of governing”. By introducing and forcing his court gatherings and entertainment into the gardens, King Louis enforced the standards for society and specifically the standards of beauty in France and the rest of the world at that time.

Lastly, through the ability to wield running water to the flat plains in which fountains of Versailles were situated, King Louis created not only a spectacle and entertainment for his court but also demonstrated the extent and potential in his reign as an absolute monarchist. Louis drew from previous rulers such as those of the Islamic paradise gardens and demanded the number of functioning fountains in the gardens to rise from 1,000 in 1672 to around 2,456 near the end of construction. Then, in order to make the distribution of water to the fountains accessible, Le Notre created a total of 257 water pumps that were taken from the Seine. The sheer number of fountains alone demonstrated the extravagance and abundance in wealth and innovation under Louis. The fountains and their solutions for functions both became a symbol for the unending potential and wealth for the king. This grandeur shines in the paintings of the gardens at the time such as those of Jean Lepautre. Lepautre painted of the celebration of the Fete of July 18, 1668, a celebration for a victory over Spain in the conquest of Franche-Comté and depicted the extravagance of the fountains. In the very center, he places the entertainment of King Louis’s latest creation, the Dragon Fountain. Lepautre depicts how Louis placed his court in front of the fountain and palace to witness the spectacle of the fireworks and waterworks. Through the use and grandeur of hydraulics, the king enamored his court, kept them entertained and ruled peacefully but also authoritatively.

In conclusion, King Louis XIV’s gardens represented his reign as an absolutist monarch. Through the alignment and grand axis of his gardens, he was able to not only physically but also symbolically place himself at the center and very end of the earth - he was the beginning and end of the world. In shaping and isolating the French court and customs, the king created his own image as the Sun King and immortalized his power and himself in the Gardens of Versailles. The Gardens were an era of control, derving itself from the rationality of the Italian Renaissance. However, this control could not have been sustainable and neither was the reign. The absolutist French Gardens paved the way for the next trend of design: the picturesque. From the absolutist control of Versailles, the picturesque born a new era, one that was more representative of nature in its sublime and one in which nature itself was revered as a god rather than created by a god-king. Nonetheless, the Gardens of Versailles continue to amaze and attract visitors today, myself included, and prove that its effects are indeed, everlasting.

Bibliography

Hazlehurst, F. Hamilton. Gardens of Illusion: the Genius of André Le Nostre. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 1990.

“Château De Vaux-Le-Vicomte - Château De Vaux-Le-Vicomte.” le. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/.

“The Great Royal Entertainment.” Palace of Versailles, August 23, 2018. http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/key-dates/great-royal-entertainment.

Culture:

Thompson, Ian H. The Sun King's Garden: Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre and the Creation of the Gardens of Versailles. London: Bloomsbury, 2008.

Design of Garden and Hydraulics:

Baridon, Michel. A History of the Gardens of Versailles. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.

Rachel Ropeik, "Louis le Vau, André le Nôtre, and Charles le Brun, Château de Versailles," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed May 2, 2020

Lablaude Pierre-André, Jacques de Givry, Fiona Biddulph, and Judith Hayward. The Gardens of Versailles. Paris: Éd. Scala, 2005.

Primary Resources

Saint-Simon (Louis de ROUVROY, duc de), Mémoires de Monsieur le Duc de S. Simon, ou l'observateur véridique, sur le règne de Louis XIV, & sur les premières époques des règnes suivants. Londres-Paris Marseille, Buisson-J. Mossy, 1788, Vol. 1

Robinson, James Harvey , Readings in European History, 2 vols., Colbert’s Reforms (New York: Ginn and Company, 1906), 2:277–281

Lepautre, Jean. Illuminations of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles, Backed up with chateau de versailles, demonstrating the usage of the gardens as a celebration. 38 x 56 cm, Musée des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon1618-1682

https://www.boutiquesdemusees.fr/en/red-chalk/illuminations-of-the-palace-and-gardens-of-versailles-jean-lepautre/11503.html