The design for Vaux le Vicomte is today
considered the most admired of the French Baroque landscapes and is the first
great work of André Le Nôtre. The garden spans more than 1,000 acres and
encapsulates the essence of a Baroque-era landscape in the French formal style.
French garden design in the 17th century asserted the idea of man controlling
and manipulating nature, and together with the enormous price tags that ensued,
they imparted an important message of monarchical power and taste.
The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is a baroque
French château located in Maincy, near Melun, 55 kilometres southeast of Paris
in the Seine-et-Marne département of France.
Once a small château located between the royal
residences of Vincennes and Fontainebleau, the estate of Vaux-le-Vicomte was
purchased by Nicolas Fouquet in 1641. At that time he was an ambitious
26-year-old member of the Parlement of Paris. Fouquet was an avid patron of the
arts, attracting many artists with his generosity.
When Fouquet became King Louis XIV's
superintendent of finances (Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry
(France)) in 1657, he commissioned Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre to renovate his
estate and garden to match his grand ambition. Fouquet’s artistic and
cultivated personality subsequently brought out the best in the three.
To secure the necessary grounds for the
elaborate plans for Vaux-le-Vicomte’s garden and castle, Fouquet purchased and
demolished three villages. The displaced villagers were then employed in the
upkeep and maintenance of the gardens. It was said to have employed eighteen
thousand workers and cost as much as 16 million livres.
The château and its patron became for a short
time a focus for fine feasts, literature and arts. The poet La Fontaine and the
playwright Molière were among the artists close to Fouquet. At the inauguration
of Vaux-le-Vicomte, a Molière play was performed, along with a dinner event
organized by François Vatel, and an impressive firework show.
In 1875, after thirty years of neglect, the
estate was sold to Alfred Sommier in a public auction. The château was empty,
some of the outbuildings had fallen into ruin, and the famous gardens were
totally overgrown. The huge task of restoration and refurbishment began under
the direction of the architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur, assisted by the
landscape architect Elie Lainé. When Sommier died in 1908, the château and the
gardens had recovered their original appearance. Today, his descendants
continue to preserve the château, which remains privately owned by Patrice and
Cristina de Vogüé, the Count and Countess de Vogüé. It is now administered by
their three sons Alexandre, Jean-Charles and Ascanio de Vogüé.
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