Days near Paris . , with magnificent gardens laid out byLenotre, and internal decorations by Mignard and CharlesLebrun. The palace and gardens of Vaux cost eighteen millions, or,in the value of to-day, about thirty-five ; Fouquet built the palacetwice, and bought three hamlets, the ground of which was en- 264 DA YS NEAR PARIS closed in the immense gardens, partly planted by Lenotre, andthen regarded as the most beautiful in Europe. The fountainsof Vaux, which since have seemed less than mediocre after thoseof Versailles, Marly, and St. Cloud, were prodigies ; but yetbeautiful as was the house,
Days near Paris . , with magnificent gardens laid out byLenotre, and internal decorations by Mignard and CharlesLebrun. The palace and gardens of Vaux cost eighteen millions, or,in the value of to-day, about thirty-five ; Fouquet built the palacetwice, and bought three hamlets, the ground of which was en- 264 DA YS NEAR PARIS closed in the immense gardens, partly planted by Lenotre, andthen regarded as the most beautiful in Europe. The fountainsof Vaux, which since have seemed less than mediocre after thoseof Versailles, Marly, and St. Cloud, were prodigies ; but yetbeautiful as was the house, the expenditure of eighteen millions,the vouchers for which still exist, proves that he was served withas little economy as he served the king with. It is true that SaintGermain and Fontainebleau, the only houses of pleasure occupiedby the king, were far from approaching the beauty of Vaux ;Louis XIV. felt it and was annoyed. In every part of the housethe arms and device of Fouquet are displayed ; a squirrel with. CHATEAU DE the motto, Qtw non ascendant ? Whither can I not climb ? Theking asked for an explanation ; the ambitious tone of the devicedid not serve to appease the monarch. The courtiers remarkedthat the squirrel was everywhere depicted as pursued by a snake,which is in the arms of Colbert, The fete was superior to thosethat Cardinal Mazarin had given, not only in splendor, but intaste, the Le Fdchetix of Moliere was represented there for thefirst time: Pelisson wrote the prologue, whicli. was amusements conceal or prepare so often at court privatedisasters that, without the queen mother, the Superintendent andPelisson would have been arrested at Vaux on the day of thefete.— Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV, FONTAINEBLEA U 265 The glories of the chateau are celebrated in the Songede Vaux of La Fontaine :— Tout combattit a Vaux pour le plaisir du roi:La musique, les eaux, les lustres, les etoiles. Yet, eighteen days after his fete, Fouqu
Size: 1984px × 1259px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorhareaugu, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookyear1888
