French Gardening and Its Master 



an essentially different manner. The gardens of the Tuileries 

 also are in large part his, though the scheme as a whole is 

 hardly distinguishable, owing to serious changes in portions. 

 Of course his tour-de-force for Fouque at Vaux-le-Vicomte, one 

 of his earliest great efforts, is famous for the jealousy it roused 

 in the king's breast when he saw so magnificent a work exe- 

 cuted for his financier. Le Notre soon after began the mar- 

 velous series of works for his royal master Louis XIV himself. 

 Other of his important designs were at Sceaux, Meudon, Chan- 

 tilly, and St. Cloud. 



In closing this hasty sketch, I can hardly do better than 

 to quote, in translating, from that fascinating work, Lcs Jardins, 

 by M. Mangin, to which I am largely indebted for the facts I 

 have presented. M. Mangin says, in speaking of Le Notre : — 

 '' What he accomplished was to naturalize in France the classic 

 style, that of the century of Augustus and of the Renaissance. 

 Far from breaking with tradition, Le Notre was on the contrary 

 its most eminent representative in modern times, and his supe- 

 riority over his immediate forerunners comes from the fact that 

 although the faithful disciple of the old masters, he knew how 

 to draw inspiration from their lessons without copying their 

 works." 



THE TERRACE AT ST. GERMAIN 



128 



