The gardens of Versailles—along with the name of their chief creator, Andr矇 Le N繫tre (1613-1700)—have become synonymous with the French style of "formal" garden. This style in its turn would
succumb to another "national" mode, the English school of naturalistic and picturesque landscapes. But as Thierry Mariage makes clear, the garden style that Le N繫tre brought to perfection
need not be seen in opposition to the later "English" one. Rather, he claims, they represent two points along a continuum that exists between the natural and cultural worlds.
Published originally in Belgium as L'univers de Le Nostre, Mariage's examination of Le N繫tre moves beyond traditional art historical documentation and appreciation into a realm of
interpretation. He situates Le N繫tre's garden art in a complex social and cultural world, where the practices of land management, surveying techniques and hydrology, military practice, and
both scientific and literary perspectives on land use and experience brought into being a unique form of landscape architecture. His analysis opens up the fashion in which design techniques
and garden philosophy are shaped by material culture.
