Mirrors of Infinity The French Formal Garden and 17Th-Century Metaphysics

From the Japanese Zen Garden to André Le Notre's Versailles, the history of landscape reveals that every garden embodies a philosophy. Focusing on the metaphysics, aesthetics, and theology of the seventeenth century, Allen Weiss's analysis offers new insight into the major gardens of this period: Vaux-le-Vicomte, Chantilly, and Versailles. From the Meditations of Descartes and Pascal's Pensés, to the intrigues of court politics, Weiss reveals how the structure of these gardens reflects -- sometimes literally -- the power of Louis XIV, the relationship between God, King, sun, and infinity, and the new science of optics. Weiss's sophisticated yet highly readable text combines contemporary theory with a careful historical reading. He gives us a richer understanding of gardens than allowed in more traditional formal and stylistic analyses.Weiss, Allen S. is the author of 'Mirrors of Infinity The French Formal Garden and 17Th-Century Metaphysics' with ISBN 9781568980508 and ISBN 1568980507.