Gardens at Versailles

Excerpt from my paper on Art and Nature: The rise of absolute monarchies dates back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when several monarchs Europe increased the power of their central governments. In several countries an absolute monarchy appeared to be the only viable solution to dealing with the problems. France, for example, had been torn apart from religious war and the citizens had no respect for law and order. The French King Henry of Navarre restored the authority of the central government and essentially created the absolute monarchy that Louis XIV would one day step into.
Andre Le Notre designed the gardens at Versailles in the mid 17th century. Le Notre transformed an entire forest into a park by using the terrain’s slight topography with alarming effectiveness. The gardens are tighter and more organized closer to the palace, and looser and less defined the further away from the palace one gets. The gardens themselves are a very different type of artwork. They change with time and with the position of the observer (Kleiner 739-40).
The gardens epitomize the French formal garden, representing the triumph of man over nature and mirroring the absolute authority of rulers at the time. When comparing the gardens at Versailles to the other pieces of art, the gardens arguably show the most commanding control of nature. Andre Le Notre wished to show his control over nature, just like Louis showed his control over his people.