Lorraine des Jardins

A landscape is defined as picturesque when it is hilly, has varied aspects and textures and changing light conditions. Picturesque gardens began to spread in France from 1760 as a reaction against the classical gardens designed by Le Nôtre. Gardens celebrated a new relationship with nature, based on the idea of a possible harmony between nature and man. Designed to be closely integrated into the environment, a picturesque garden favoured curved lines, displayed the natural components of the landscape to their best advantage and emphasized the profusion of water and vegetation. This succession of “tableaux” was meant to provoke a wide range of feelings as you walked along: daydreams, surprise, apprehension, admiration and melancholy.