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Tuesday 12 November 2013

Le labyrinthe de Versailles

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a model of the maze imagined by Le Nôtre, that once graced the palace gardens. In a state of bad decay, it was destroyed by Louis XVI to be replaced by a grove. It was inspired by Aesop's and La Fontaine's fables. This model is exhibited at Versailles' beautiful public library (see all posts by clicking here) as part of the amazing Labyrinthe de Versailles exhibition (until 14 December, free). The last photo shows a 1732 view...

Mesdames et messieurs, voici la maquette du labyrinthe, inspiré des fables d'Esope et de la Fontaine, conçu par Le Nôtre et détruit par Louis XVI du fait de son état de délabrement et remplacé par le bosquet de la reine. La maquette est exposée à la magnifique bibliothèque municipale (que je vous montrais ici) dans le cadre de l'extraordinaire exposition le labyrinthe de Versailles (jusqu'au 14 décembre, entrée libre). Sur la dernière photo, un ouvrage de 1732...
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20 comments:

  1. Randy12/11/13 01:12

    I would be the one who got lost and died in that one.

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  2. Bob Crowe12/11/13 02:35

    Not too terribly hard to escape but still beautiful and sophisticated. Our family once went into a hedgerow maze in Edinburgh and, for a time, I thought I'd never see my home again.

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  3. William Kendall12/11/13 03:06

    A shame it ended up wiped out of history...

    I remember a maze on an island when I was a child. Apparently they're trying to reconstitute it. It'll take some years for the hedges to grow, of course....

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  4. Jack12/11/13 03:17

    Mazes are increasingly popular over here. I have never been in one. I suspect I would freak out if I got lost.

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  5. Olivier12/11/13 06:52

    ludique ce jardin,j'ai jamais été doué pour les labyrinthes ;)

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  6. Dave12/11/13 07:16

    It's interesting how mazes were sources of fun and entertainment in the past but are popular again as farmers creat mazes in their corn fields and open them up to the public.

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  7. Anonymous12/11/13 11:01

    It's great that models and views of it still remain, to show people what it originally looked like!

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  8. Bergson12/11/13 12:00

    heureusement tu as trouvé la sortie

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  9. Chattahoochee Valley Daily12/11/13 13:03

    Beautiful. Too bad it was destroyed, but I imagine the up keep can be labor intensive.

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  10. Tanya Breese12/11/13 13:05

    pretty amazing! (ha, see what i did there?!)

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  11. Wayne12/11/13 17:15

    Fascinating! I think it's great that they could construct a model.

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  12. VP12/11/13 17:50

    I never tried a maze...

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  13. Karl12/11/13 18:19

    I would make the same end as Randy...

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  14. RedPat12/11/13 18:48

    It would be such fun to wander there!

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  15. Stuart12/11/13 20:24

    I'm surprised to see that a maze would be included in such a formal French garden. Almost seems too playful.

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  16. James12/11/13 21:56

    Seems like an enjoyable way to learn about fables and get some exercise at the same time.

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  17. Michelle13/11/13 01:33

    A wonderful piece of history. Are those origami animals in the maze?

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  18. PerthDailyPhoto13/11/13 07:13

    Thanks for the link to the older pictures Ciel, what a wonderful library it is! I'm thinking it kills me keeping my hedges trimmed in my little garden, imagine the original maze..oh la!

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  19. Cezar and Léia13/11/13 09:42

    Very interesting to know more about the labyrinth!I confess I have fear about it!
    Léia

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  20. cieldequimper13/11/13 22:27

    @ Michelle: yes, they are!

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