FRANCE 



The Parterre de Latone, Versailles 



TT has been said that in the vicinity of palaces 

 * water should be confined in marble, and trees 

 ranged like a guard lining the sovereign's path. 

 Such sentiments inspired Boyceau in designing 

 the pleasaunces for Louis XIII, and guided 

 Mansart and Lenotre in extending them to form 

 a setting worthy of the new chateau. 



Formal avenues converged upon the palace 

 through smooth walls of verdure ; marble steps 

 ascended to it between sentinel yews, and water, 

 captive in noble basins, mirrored its grandeur. 

 Art forced nature to contribute to that ordered 

 magnificence which shielded the sanctuary of the 

 crown, till royal prestige received its death-blow 

 at the hands of the Revolution. 



After the desecration of the palace, the park 

 was menaced with destruction. To Antoine 



2 D 209 



