Claude Mollet
Encyclopedia
Claude Mollet premier jardinier du Roy— first gardener to three French kings, Henri IV
, Louis XIII
and the young Louis XIV
—was a member of the Mollet dynasty of French garden designers in the seventeenth century. His father was Jacques Mollet, gardener at the château d'Anet
, where Italian formal gardening was introduced to France and where Claude apprenticed, and his son was André Mollet
, who took the French style to Holland, Sweden and England.
In the woodcuts in Olivier de Serres
' work dedicated to Henri IV, (Paris 1600), the plans laid out in royal gardens are by Claude Mollet, who was a friend of the author, who praises Mollet's designs for the herbs and shrubs speaking in letters, devices, cyphers, coats-of-arms, frames, ships and other things, imitated with marvelous industry and patience.
As de Serres did, Mollet maintained two tree nurseries, in the outskirts of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, west of Paris. He claimed to have introduced boxwood
as an edging to his parterre patterns, each like "un tapis de Turquie" ("a Turkish carpet") isolated in 6 feet (1.8 m).
Mollet's volume Théâtre des plans et jardinages, which contains autobiographical information, was published by his son in 1652, after his death. The manuscript was written many years before, about 1613–15, and revised over the years. A handsome calligraphic copy now at Dumbarton Oaks
was dedicated to Louis XIII shortly before the king's death (1643).In it he acknowledged the influence upon him of Étienne Dupérac
, the architect of Saint Germain-en-Laye. Mollet states that Henri IV commissioned him to lay out the terraces at the new château of Saint Germain-en-Laye in 1595 and thereafter at Château de Fontainebleau
, and at Montceaux-en-Brie as well as at the Tuileries, where he was in charge throughout his active career (Karling, p. 7) and where the central garden axis that he remade after depredations by soldiers in 1593 has been extended far to the west, as the axe historique
of Paris.
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
, Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
and the young Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
—was a member of the Mollet dynasty of French garden designers in the seventeenth century. His father was Jacques Mollet, gardener at the château d'Anet
Château d'Anet
The Château d'Anet is a château near Dreux, France, built by Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France...
, where Italian formal gardening was introduced to France and where Claude apprenticed, and his son was André Mollet
André Mollet
André Mollet was a French garden designer, the son of Claude Mollet—gardener to three French kings—and the grandson of Jacques Mollet, gardener at the château d'Anet, where Italian formal gardening was introduced to France....
, who took the French style to Holland, Sweden and England.
In the woodcuts in Olivier de Serres
Olivier de Serres
Olivier de Serres was a French author and soil scientist whose Théâtre d'Agriculture was the text book of French agriculture in the 17th century..Serres was born at Villeneuve-de-Berg, Ardèche...
' work dedicated to Henri IV, (Paris 1600), the plans laid out in royal gardens are by Claude Mollet, who was a friend of the author, who praises Mollet's designs for the herbs and shrubs speaking in letters, devices, cyphers, coats-of-arms, frames, ships and other things, imitated with marvelous industry and patience.
As de Serres did, Mollet maintained two tree nurseries, in the outskirts of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, west of Paris. He claimed to have introduced boxwood
Buxus
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood ....
as an edging to his parterre patterns, each like "un tapis de Turquie" ("a Turkish carpet") isolated in 6 feet (1.8 m).
Mollet's volume Théâtre des plans et jardinages, which contains autobiographical information, was published by his son in 1652, after his death. The manuscript was written many years before, about 1613–15, and revised over the years. A handsome calligraphic copy now at Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks is the conventional name for the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, situated on a historic property in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The institution is administered by the Trustees for Harvard University. Its founders, Robert Woods Bliss and his wife...
was dedicated to Louis XIII shortly before the king's death (1643).In it he acknowledged the influence upon him of Étienne Dupérac
Étienne Dupérac
Étienne Dupérac was a French painter, draughtsman and engraver, and a topographer and antiquary, who arrived in Rome in 1559...
, the architect of Saint Germain-en-Laye. Mollet states that Henri IV commissioned him to lay out the terraces at the new château of Saint Germain-en-Laye in 1595 and thereafter at Château de Fontainebleau
Château de Fontainebleau
The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards...
, and at Montceaux-en-Brie as well as at the Tuileries, where he was in charge throughout his active career (Karling, p. 7) and where the central garden axis that he remade after depredations by soldiers in 1593 has been extended far to the west, as the axe historique
Axe historique
The Axe historique is a line of monuments, buildings and thoroughfares that extends from the centre of Paris, France, to the west. It is also known as the "Voie Triomphale" ....
of Paris.