WREST PARK 329 



" Le Notre had a probity and exactitude and an 

 uprightness which made him esteemed and loved 

 by everybody. He worked for private people as 

 for the King, and with the same application, and 

 seeking only to aid Nature and to attain the 

 beautiful by the shortest road. 



"All he did is still much superior to everything 

 that has been done since, whatever care may have 

 been taken to imitate and follow him as closely as 

 possible." 



Andre le N6tre was educated to be an architect 

 (some say a painter), and this early training is often 

 revealed in his effects, and may have given him 

 his first ideas as to the architectural treatment of 

 Gardens, a treatment which well entitles him to 

 be described as an Architect of Gardens. 



For Madame de Maintenon, Le Notre worked 

 marvels in her Convent Garden at Noisy-le-Roi, 

 and created among other things a canal out of a 

 dirty ditch. 



He soon gained the notice of Louis XIV., who, 

 ever ready to employ a genius willing to create 

 novelties for his amusement and pleasure, made 

 him Comptroller-General of Buildings and Gardens, 

 and Le Notre, till his death, remained a favourite 

 of the King's. 



Perhaps no man has been more abused or 

 admired than Le Notre. His designs are perfect in 

 their proportion and magnificent in execution ; it 



