519 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
moving water used in different ways. 
2. The topography of the country 
demanded comparative!}^ small garden 
areas, which were so ingeniously de- 
signed on the different terrace levels 
IN A CITY WHOSE EVERT AVAIL- 
ABLE PARK SPACE IS FULLY APPRE- 
CIATED AND PRESERVED. 
that the actual size of the garden was 
often over-estimated. 
3. The presence of an abundance of 
statuary and interesting architectural 
features was the keynote of the gar- 
den. 
4. A closely matted vegetation of 
Ilex, Myrtle, Cypress, Olives and Pines, 
together with many smaller shrubs, gave 
the dense shade which was required in 
this country of sunshine and intense 
heat. 
It may seem that 1 am placing too 
much importance upon these gardens 
of Italy. I do not believe that the stu- 
dent of continental gardening can place 
too much stress upon the value of an 
intimate knowledge of the art as ex- 
emplified in Italy. These villas of Italy, 
moulded through design to a nicety, 
combine use and convenience with art 
for art’s sake to a degree which is 
rarely seen in an American garden. 
There is another type of continental 
gardening widely varying from its 
predecessors in this Italian country. 
This type is well illustrated by one ex- 
cellent example, namely, the great Cha- 
teau of Versailles. I might also men- 
tion the Chateau Vaux, which, together 
with the foregoing, consummate two of 
the master pieces worked out under the 
guiding hand of the celebrated land- 
scape artist, Le Notre. The last named 
chauteau is much less pretentious ; but 
still equally as well worthy of careful 
study provided the time permitted. Ver- 
sailles is the monument to the memory 
of King Louis the 14th and an emblem 
of his reign. A description of this won- 
derful park may give to us a clearer 
conception of the principles underlying 
the art in France, which are typical of 
the tendencies at the present day. 
Here, unlike Italy, is a country of an 
entirely 'different character. It is a 
country with broad expanses of fertile 
lands marked by slight undulations ad- 
mirably adapted to gardening on a scale 
of grandeur not to be seen in any other 
portion of the continent. King Louis 
the 14th established here, just outside 
the city of Paris, early in the 16th cen- 
tury, these gardens of Versailles, which 
consist of an immense park covering 
thousands of acres, elaborately laid out 
and completely finished in every re- 
spect. This great park was allowed, 
like other art creations of this kind, 
to slowly decay after the great ruler’s 
death, until the time of the French rev- 
olution, when it was secured by the 
French government and preserved for 
the admiration of thousands of tourists 
every year. To describe adequately its 
interesting features would require a 
small volume ; their number and their 
scale of grandeur can be but partially 
grasped from the photographs now ex- 
tant. Their e.xtent, refinement of de- 
sign, and harmonious details can only 
be fully appreciated by personal con- 
tact. To stand on the main terrace 
above the great orangery and view in 
the distance the equestrian statue of 
King Louis, located at the end of the 
Swiss lake; to look again along the 
main alley over the fountains of La- 
tona and of Apollo towards the grand 
canal ; or perhaps over the series of 
pools to the fountain of Neptune, which 
is the crowning triumph of the gar- 
dens, at once fills the student’s mind 
with an indescribable admiration for the 
master genius who conceived and car- 
ried to its realization this beautiful con- 
ception of art. On either side of this 
main axis, terminated at either extreme 
by the main terrace and the grand canal, 
and among the heavy growth of beech 
and bass wood, are numerous small 
paths or alleys lined on either side with 
hedges of European beech. These alleys, 
radiating in various directions, focus 
at different intervals upon the many in- 
teresting fountains located at their in- 
tersections, and in turn upon the great 
Mirror la’xe, and the Colonnade, which 
is a large circular area surrounded by 
a series of marble columns supporting 
arches, under each of which is a mar- 
ble basin. In the center of this great 
circle is a well-designed group of mar- 
ble statuary known as the Rape of 
Proserpine. Beyond the Mirror lake 
the visitor comes upon the King’s small ^ 
English park, and here in the midst of 
extreme formality is a pleasant bit of 
naturalistic gardening. 
Leaving the great gardens of Ver- 
sailles and approaching the Grand Tri- 
anon and the Petit Trianon there 
loom up before the visitor two other 
parks adjoining this main park of Ver- 
sailles. These parks, though not as 
elaborate in their detail, are equally as 
interesting. In the extreme corner of 
the Petit Trianon gardens is the little 
English Hamlet and its unique bit of 
English gardening, all of which was 
carried out in accordance with the 
wishes of that unfortunate Queen Marie 
Antoinette, to have something restful 
and natural, savoring with the spirit of 
the English landscapes. 
Versailles is the great garden which 
is typical of the French art, and the 
main characteristics may be summarized 
as follows ; 
1. Distinct formality with large areas 
devoted to Parterre work, all of which 
is closely clipped and edged to a nicety. 
2. An elaborate display of fountains 
and marble statuary wdth broad ex- 
panses of w'ater and formal pools. 
Continued on Page XII 
...V 
THE GARDEN OF VERSAILLES; LOOKING FROM THE MAIN TERRACE 
OVER THE GRAND CANAL. 
