Information provided by Wendell Kellar, wendell.kellar@dc.gov

Book Hill Talks: French Garden Spirit

Art Historian Vanessa Badre will stop by the Meeting Room to discuss her research on French gardens.

"From the marvel of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, to the mythologic Garden of the Hesperides, from the Virgin Mary hortus conclusus, to Venus garden of The Dream of Poliphilus, the garden belongs both to myth and reality. It feeds our imagination. What is the spirit of the French formal garden, the famous type of garden which inspired the entirety of 17th century Europe? Geometrical lines imposing order to nature reveal a vision of the world where man is "master and owner of nature" as French philosopher René Descartes wrote. The garden is a microcosm which expresses the desire of an everlasting power."

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