Object Details
Former owner
Fouquet, Nicolas, 1615-1680
Architect
Le Vau, Louis, 1612-1670
Interior designer
Le Brun, Charles, 1619-1690
Landscape architect
Le Nôtre, André, 1613-1700
Collection Creator
Garden Club of America
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Scope and Contents
The folder includes worksheets, photocopied book excerpts, and additional information.
sova.aag.gca_ref4779
General
The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte and its gardens were created in the seventeenth century and served as the inspiration for Louis XIV's Versailles. Following his purchase of the estate in 1641, owner Nicolas Fouquet commissioned architect Louis Le Vau to design the château, Charles Le Brun to design the interiors and garden statuary, and André Le Nôtre to plan the gardens. The garden's design included parterres, fountains and water features, terraces, and avenues of hornbeams laid out in rectilinear lines. Stone statues and ornamental urns provided accents. Completed in 1661, around the time of Fouquet's arrest and fall from power, the garden has undergone a few modifications over the years, but continues to evoke the majesty of le Grand Siècle.
Persons associated with the garden include Nicolas Fouquet (former owner, 1641-1661); Louis Le Vau (architect, circa 1641); Charles Le Brun (interior designer, circa 1641); and André Le Nôtre (landscape architect, 1641-1661).
Place
Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (Melun, France)
France -- Ile-de-France -- Seine-et-Marne Department -- Melun
Topic
Gardens -- France -- Melun
Former owner
Fouquet, Nicolas, 1615-1680
Architect
Le Vau, Louis, 1612-1670
Interior designer
Le Brun, Charles, 1619-1690
Landscape architect
Le Nôtre, André, 1613-1700
See more items in
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 2: International Garden Images / France
Sponsor
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Archival Repository
Archives of American Gardens
Identifier
AAG.GCA, File FR012
Type
Archival materials
Collection Rights
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Bibliography
Garden has been featured in Anita Pereire and Gabrielle van Zuylen, Gardens of France (New York: Harmony Books, 1983), pp. 14-23.
Garden has been featured in "French Gardens," Bulletin of the Garden Club of America, No. 23, Fifth Series (September 1936), pp. 11-15.
Collection Restrictions
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
AAG.GCA_ref4779
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb608d538a8-d883-4d6a-a829-52f122697108
AAG.GCA
AAG
Record ID
ebl-1643208220039-1643210188927-0