André Le Nôtre

Timeline

1. 1613–1655Tuileries Garden · ParisBorn in Paris on 12 March 1613, his father Jean Le Nôtre was chief gardener to Louis XIII at the Tuileries. He studied perspective and optics under Simon Vouet and sought architectural advice from François Mansart. In 1637 he succeeded as gardener of the Tuileries, later becoming draftsman to the king and working on royal estates such as Fontainebleau, developing a method of shaping space through axes and controlled sightlines.
2. 1656–1661Vaux-le-Vicomte · Île-de-FranceWorking for Superintendent of Finances Fouquet in collaboration with Louis Le Vau and Charles Le Brun, he achieved at Vaux-le-Vicomte the first complete geometric unity of château and garden: embroidered parterres, hidden canals, forced perspective, and terraced levels made the garden an extension of the building. After the famous 1661 banquet Fouquet was arrested, and the same team of craftsmen passed into the direct service of Louis XIV.
3. 1661–1700Versailles · Île-de-FranceIn 1661–1662 he was commissioned to transform the Versailles grounds, reshaping terraces, parterres, bosquets, and the Grand Canal along east–west and north–south axes; the work continued for some forty years, with details repeatedly discussed with Colbert, Le Brun, and the king himself. Around the same time he directed Chantilly, Saint-Cloud, and the Trianons, and extended the westward vista from the Tuileries, later developed into the Champs-Élysées. Around 1675 he was ennobled, raising his social standing. He died in Paris on 15 September 1700.