European and Japanese Gardens 



That it was well-nigh insurmountable we know. But the 

 instinct of Le Notre for the peculiar beauty of gardens, united 

 with a clear imagination, enabled him to free himself, to a 

 remarkable degree always, and in some instances absolutely, 

 from the cruel hampering of conventional materials of study ; 

 and at Versailles, probably his finest work, certain I3' the finest 

 that has been preserved to our day, his spirit seems to have 

 risen entirely superior to ordinary limitations, and has pro- 



PLAN OF THE GARDENS OF THE LUXEMBOURG 



duced a work as perfect in its complex simplicity, and in every 

 detail of its eftect as adecjuate and as just, as it is impressive. 



Le Notre possessed in preeminent degree what his race 

 calls "the sense of the beautiful in space"; and in like degree 

 he had, to quote one of his biographers, " the sense of elegance 

 in majesty and regularity." He was especially fortunate in 

 his patron. Louis XIV was an ideal client for a designer like 

 le Notre. While he seems not to have been the actual discov- 

 erer of his gardener's talent, he at any rate gave him his 

 noblest opportunities, took him literally into his heart, and 

 heaped benefits and honors upon him. I fancy, from the 



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