At the origin of the theory of the French garden. Treatises by Olivier de Serres (1600) and Jacques Boysseau de la Barodrie (1638)

Abstract

The article analyzes the early stages of the theory of the French garden style forerunning the world-famous treatise “Theory and Practice of Gardening” (1709). It considers the process of transitioning from practical instructions to the theory of good proportions and new elements of the garden (Charles Etienne, “Agriculture and the rural house”, 1564), as well as the creation of the image of an exemplary “French” garden (Olivier de Serres, “Theater of agriculture and field care”, 1600). The most important stage in the development of the theory was the “Treatise on gardening, in accordance with the rules of nature and art» by the caretaker of the royal gardens, Jacques Jacques Boysseau de la Barodrie (1638). The expressive means of French garden art were formulated here, such as the garden parterre, the forms of its ornamental filling, green architecture, elongated proportions of the garden and the dynamics of impressions. The author’s strict requirements for the education of a gardener were likely to affect the career of Andre Lenotre, who graduated from the Academy of Arts and embodied the principles of the “Treatise” in his works.