24 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



A distinct change came over the style of Gardens 

 after the Restoration, and Charles II. returned to 

 his own country. Imbued with the beauty of the 

 French style, he determined to imitate it in Eng- 

 land. It was little wonder that the magnificence of 

 the brilliant Court of Louis XIV. dazzled Charles. 

 It was then at its height the studied architecture 

 of Mansard and Perrault were " the complement of 

 the Monarchical and Formal Garden of Le Notre," 

 the greatest name in the history of Gardens and 

 the one most detested by the later Natural or 

 Landscape School of Gardening. The life of 

 this great man, Andr6 Le Ndtre, reads like a 

 fairy-tale, telling as it does of his rising from 

 a humble position by his genius to a place of 

 trust and confidence. "His art" is summed up 

 by Gautier as "the supreme formula of a com- 

 plete art and the expression at its highest power 

 of a civilisation arrived at its full expression." 



Le Ndtre's designs were all on a large scale he 

 delighted in long Avenues (often radiating from one 

 centre-point), wide paths, Terraces adorned with 

 Statues, Fountains and Cascades, and Arbours with 

 high backgrounds of trellis work, and closely-cut 

 trees, as well as broad expanses of water. Yet all 

 this marvellous and complicated design was perfect 

 in proportion, and he without doubt carried the 

 Art of Garden Design to the highest point it has 

 ever reached. The " grand manner " and splendour 



