IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

This paper intends to draw a bridge between the French medieval and Italian Renaissance forebears of Vaux-le-Vicomte and the Palace of Versailles, across the gardens of Rueil, Richelieu and the Palais Cardinal. This is to show that Cardinal Richelieu’s aspirations, aided by French and Italian artisans, such as architect Jacques Lemercier, painter Jean Lemaire and the Francini family of hydraulic engineers, pulled French garden design solidly into an Imperial age of expansion and consolidation of royal authority, later emulated and codified at Vaux and Versailles. The Cardinal’s gardens of the early 17th century set the stage for far-reaching influence and imitations on varying scales across Europe – such as at Het Loo in the Netherlands, created by Daniel Marot for William and Mary – and a heritage continuing well into the eighteenth century with, for example, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Wilhelmshohe in Hessen and La Reggia at Caserta. Thus Richelieu projected an influence long felt, alongside the many other areas of his innovation. The argument is founded on examination of gardens in France and Italy, using contemporary documents, archival records and ground plans, maps and diaries, and other sources. This essay analyses Richelieu’s three gardens as filtered through traditions of garden design in ancient Rome and the Renaissance. It concludes with an assessment of how the Cardinal’s gardens created an ideology that transformed the festive and imaginative jardins de plaisir into a statement of power, prestige and authority, thus forming a compelling exemplar of architectural heritage.