European and Japanese Gardens 



BASIN OF THE CASCADE 



FONTAINEBLEAU 



But it was not the professional i^^ardeners alone who were 

 successful in the art. Many of the finest gardens were laid out 

 by architects who designed the grounds to harmonize with their 

 buildings. The finest garden of that time which has been pre- 

 served for us in anything like its original beauty, in fact the 

 only remaining Renaissance garden in Paris, is the garden of 

 the Luxembourg, which was laid out, between 1615 and 1620, 

 for Marie de Medici by Jacques Debrosse, the architect of the 

 palace of the same name. Originally these grounds were of 

 great extent, but they have been repeatedly curtailed and en- 

 croached upon, only the central portions immediately about 

 the palace retaining their original character. There are cer- 

 tainly few spots in the world which possess a more exquisite, 

 a more satisfying charm. 



But all of these men, successful as they were, yield the palm 

 to Le Notre, who occupies much the same place in the art of 

 gardening as Shakespeare fills in poetry ; a place recognized 

 not bv his own race alone, but by the world. Le Notre, indeed, 



