European and Japanese Gardens 
BASIN OF THE CASCADE FONTAINEBLEAU 
But it was not the professional gardeners 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 by his own race alone, but by the world. Le Notre, indeed, 
