#LeNôtre’s art is structured on the development of lines and perspectives. Here they are

View of the Tuileries Gardens,
by Israël Silvestre

Cradle of the French formal garden and of the Le Nôtre family, the Tuileries gardens were redesigned by André Le Nôtre between 1665 and 1679. He inserted a central pathway extending from the palace. He flattened and raised the land by creating the Bord-de-l’Eau terrace and the one of the Palace. The main pathway, delimited by two fountains, is prolonged by the great Fer-à-cheval (horseshoe), and in the distance the avenue leading to Saint-Germain, the future Champs-Elysées avenue. 17th century, Louvre Museum, Department of Graphic Arts.

Scale model of Versailles' main pathway

This glass model of the gardens and park of Versailles reproduces the axis of the Grand Canal, showing for the first time the angular sectors of the anamorphosis creating a succession of axial bodies of water. Research and design: Georges Fahrat (Associate Professor, University of Toronto and ENSA-Versailles) assisted by Pauline Robert, Utako Tanebe, and Namrita Bimbra. Production: Hélène Lecarpentier and Régis Fanjat, Agence Nathalie Crinière Paris. With the skill-based support of Saint-Gobain.

Axes
and view points
ROOM N°5

The landscapes designed in France in the 17th century feature vast perspectives along main axes of composition. They are completed by a succession of terraces and parterres, paths and avenues, fountains and canals. Le Nôtre used his mastery of optical perspective to offer strollers a succession of visual effects, through the combined use of two processes: collimations and anamorphosis. Collimations are visual alignments; to obtain them, distances and levels need to be coordinated. As for anamorphosis, it offsets the apparent reduction in the size of distant parts: the further the shapes, the more they need to be elongated and widened.

Crédits

© RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi
© Image : Agence NC

1 Le Nôtre: the art collector 2 Training, career,
honours and achievements 3 A territory
for the art of Le Nôtre 4 LE NÔTRE
at work 5 AXES
AND VIEWPOINTS 6 Open spaces 7 Enclosed spaces 8 Heritage and modernity
of le Nôtre

Axes
and view points

View of the Tuileries Gardens,
by Israël Silvestre
Cradle of the French formal garden and of the Le Nôtre family, the Tuileries gardens were redesigned by André Le Nôtre between 1665 and 1679. He inserted a central pathway extending from the palace. He flattened and raised the land by creating the Bord-de-l’Eau terrace and of the one the Palace. The main pathway, delimited by two fountains, is prolonged by the great Fer-à-cheval (horseshoe), and in the distance the avenue leading to Saint-Germain, the future Champs-Elysées avenue. 17th century, Louvre Museum, Department of Graphic Arts.

ROOM N°5

The landscapes designed in France in the 17th century feature vast perspectives along main axes of composition. They are completed by a succession of terraces and parterres, paths and avenues, fountains and canals. Le Nôtre used his mastery of optical perspective to offer strollers a succession of visual effects, through the combined use of two processes: collimations and anamorphosis. Collimations are visual alignments; to obtain them, distances and levels need to be coordinated. As for anamorphosis, it offsets the apparent reduction in the size of distant parts: the further the shapes, the more they need to be elongated and widened.