The family of Dezallier d'Argenville produced two writers and connoisseurs, father and son, in the course of the 18th century. The father, Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (1680–1765) is now best known for writing the fullest French treatise on the French formal garden style of his lifetime, as well as books on natural history, and as a significant collector of old master prints.
Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville.
Opening from the 1712 English edition of The Theory and Practice of Gardening - Wherein is Fully Handled all that Relates to Fine Gardens, Commonly called Pleasure-Gardens, as Parterres, Groves, Bowling-Greens &c. Suggested schemes for gardens of 6 (left) and 12 (right) acres.
The French formal garden, also called the jardin à la française, is a style of "landscape" garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the landscape architect André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV and widely copied by other European courts.
Gardens of Versailles
The Bassin d'Apollon in the Gardens of Versailles
Parterre of the Versailles Orangerie
Gardens of the Grand Trianon at the Palace of Versailles
