‘Paradisus Oculorum’: the comparison of two linen damask designs of formal gardens

Abstract

In the second half of the seventeenth century, the enthusiasm for gardens often became an obsession: no more so than in France, where Louis XIV expended not simply huge sums of money but also a great deal of time and energy. Their creation involved the talents of architects, sculptors and hydraulic engineers and reflected the current philosophical and political ideas, often with poetic and mythological allusions. Their upkeep necessitated armies of gardeners, and their use the skills of playwrights and devisers of masques and varied theatrical spectaculars. Their truest records are found in several brilliant series of contemporary engravings, and their spirit in paintings, journals and poems, for today the actual gardens are pale reflections of their former glory.