MARIE-ANTOINETTE'S GARDEN. AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY HERBARIUM, EDITION EN ANGLAIS, Feydeau Elisabeth de

So you like flowers ? Louis XVI said to his young queen. Well, l have a bouquet for you - the Petit Trianon. And so it was that Marie-Antoinette took over the splendid former residence of Madame de Pompadour, transforming the gardens into an enchanted landscape. Elisabeth de Feydeau takes readers on a journey through Marie-Antoinette's eighteenth-century estate : stroll in the queen's footsteps through beds of hyacinth, buttercups, and anemones in the French Garden , follow winding paths among Judas trees in the English Garden , pass through conifers towards the Belvedere, where fabulous late night festivities were held , inhale the entrancing aromas of the shrubs surrounding the Temple of Love , enjoy the bountiful orchards and kitchen gardens of the Queen's Hamlet , and linger among the wildflowers in the Wood of Solitude. Using archival documents, Elisabeth de Feydeau recreates a fanciful herbarium, highlighting species that were newly discovered in Marie-Antoinette s time, detailing the cosmetic or medicinal uses of many of the garden's plants, and recounting vivid anecdotes from the royal court. The queen's gardens are captured in eighty-three eighteenth-century botanical illustrations, including watercolors by Marie-Antoinette's official court artist, the renowned botanist and painter Pierre Joseph Redouté.

Auteur : Feydeau Elisabeth de
Editeur : FLAMMARION
Date de parution : 05/11/2025
Nombre de pages : 240
Dimensions : 24.3 x 19.2 x 2.6