Nature et plaisirs au jardin - in english

« Prends les oiseaux qui chantent pour des musiciens,
L’herbe que tu foules pour les roseaux qui jonchent
la salle du trône,
Les fleurs pour de belles dames, et tes pas seulement
Pour une pavane exquise ou une danse. »
William Shakespeare, Richard II, acte I, scène 3

An enchanting or delectable place, the garden is identified with the locus amoenus of Roman and medieval tradition. The protected area of this space, revealing its cultures and wonders only to those chosen to cross the fence, defines at the same time the pleasant place as hortus conclusus set in its precious frame.
However, the taste for gardens during the Renaissance went beyond this quest for intimacy. For princes and grandees, it reflects "une économie de luxe qui marque l’émergence de la société moderne" (Hervé Brunon), and is based on the Aristotelian notion of "magnificence". Shows and concerts mobilized the talent of court poets and brought new metamorphoses to the transformed space of the gardens, which were inhabited by collections of antiques or specially created works.
Whatever the brilliance of such attractions, the art and science of gardens also appeal as a source of wisdom and erudition. President Duret de Chevry's little serpentine points to the participation of high-ranking amateurs in the work of the garden. In Florence, Grand Duke François I de Médicis built up a veritable network of scholars around his exceptional plant collection.
In the series of Months of the Year engraved in Rome by the young Jacques Callot, March, April and May reveal an immense garden with a variety of agricultural activities. All this discreet animation heralds the blossoming of spring and its pleasures: a country concert, elegant characters in conversation, and projects a poetic turn already perceptible in the mute architectures of the Scenographiæ by Hans Vredeman de Vries (Antwerp, 1560).