François Racine de Monville
Encyclopedia
François Racine de Monville (October 4, 1734, Paris
- 1797) was a French aristocrat, musician, architect and landscape design
er, best known for his French landscape garden
, Le Désert de Retz
, which influenced Thomas Jefferson
and other later architects.
. He was born on October 4, 1734 in the hôtel de Mesmes on rue Sainte-Avoie in Paris
. He was the son of the treasurer-general for bridges and highways and receiver of finances of the town of Alençon, who had been found guilty of fraud in 1742 and imprisoned in the fortress of Port-Louis, where he died in 1750. Monville was raised by his maternal grandfather, who gave him a good education.
After trying unsuccessfully to be named host for visiting ambassadors for Louis XV, he purchased the title of grand master of waters and forests for Normandy in 1757, a title which he resold in 1764. At the court of Louis XV, he was very successful because of his multiple talents; he excelled at fencing, handball, and archery; he was an excellent musician, singing and playing the flute and harp, singing and composing music, in the company of writer Stephanie de Genlis, playwright Pierre Beaumarchais
and composer Christoph Gluck. He was also noted for originality as an architect, designing two town houses, the Grand and Petit Hotel de Monville, which were built by architect Etienne Louis Boulée in Paris at the corner of the rue d'Anjou and rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. He was also known for his liaisons with the courtesan Madame du Barry
, opera singer Sophie Arnould
and Madame d'Esparbès, a favorite of the King.
. He resolved to create a French landscape garden
, a new style influenced by the English garden
. He called the garden le Désert de Retz, and planted it with four thousand trees from the royal greenhouses, and rerouted a river and created several ponds.
The garden, completed in 1785, contained twenty-one fabriques, or architectural constructions, representing different periods of history and parts of the world; they included an artificial rock, a temple of rest, a theater, a Chinese house, a tomb, a ruined Gothic
church, a ruined altar an obelisque, a temple to the god Pan
, a Tatar tent, and an ice-house in the form of a pyramid. The best-known feature was the ruined classical column, large enough to hold a residence inside.
The new garden was visited by members of the Court of Louis XVI, including Jacques Delille
, Marie-Joseph de Chénier, Hubert Robert
, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun; and visitors from abroad, including Benjamin Franklin
. Thomas Jefferson
designed rooms inspired by the round interior rooms of the column for his own residence in Paris, the hotel de Langeac, and for his house at Monticello
, and for the library of the University of Virginia
in Charlotteville, . King Gustav III of Sweden
reproduced the ruined column and the Tatar tent in his own gardens at Haga, and Marie Antoinette
imitated the dairy and the designs for the parterres for her garden at the Petit Trianon
at Versailles. In addition to the Desert de Retz, he designed a French landscape garden for Jeanne du Barry at Louveciennes
, and created several fabriques for the Parc Monceau
in Paris.
and with the duke's advisor, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
, and was dining with the duke when the Convention ordered the duke's arrest. Monville was arrested in 1794, imprisoned in the Conciergerie, and found guilty by a Revolutionary Tribunal. He was held in the maison Talaru until the end of the Terror. Completely ruined, he died of gangrene in April 1797.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- 1797) was a French aristocrat, musician, architect and landscape design
Landscape design
Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practised by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice landscape design bridges between landscape architecture and garden design.-Design scope:...
er, best known for his French landscape garden
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden is a style of garden inspired by idealized Italian landscapes and the romantic paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, European ideas about Chinese gardens, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
, Le Désert de Retz
Désert de Retz
The Désert de Retz is an Anglo-Chinois or French landscape garden - created on the edge of the forêt de Marly in the commune of Chambourcy, in north-central France. It was built at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville on his estate...
, which influenced Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and other later architects.
Childhood and life at the court of Louis XV
Monville was a distant relative of the playwright Jean RacineJean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
. He was born on October 4, 1734 in the hôtel de Mesmes on rue Sainte-Avoie in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He was the son of the treasurer-general for bridges and highways and receiver of finances of the town of Alençon, who had been found guilty of fraud in 1742 and imprisoned in the fortress of Port-Louis, where he died in 1750. Monville was raised by his maternal grandfather, who gave him a good education.
After trying unsuccessfully to be named host for visiting ambassadors for Louis XV, he purchased the title of grand master of waters and forests for Normandy in 1757, a title which he resold in 1764. At the court of Louis XV, he was very successful because of his multiple talents; he excelled at fencing, handball, and archery; he was an excellent musician, singing and playing the flute and harp, singing and composing music, in the company of writer Stephanie de Genlis, playwright Pierre Beaumarchais
Pierre Beaumarchais
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a French playwright, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary ....
and composer Christoph Gluck. He was also noted for originality as an architect, designing two town houses, the Grand and Petit Hotel de Monville, which were built by architect Etienne Louis Boulée in Paris at the corner of the rue d'Anjou and rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. He was also known for his liaisons with the courtesan Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
, opera singer Sophie Arnould
Sophie Arnould
Sophie Arnould was a French operatic soprano.Born Magdeleine Sophie Arnould, she studied in Paris with Marie Fel and La Clairon, and made her stage debut at the Opéra de Paris on 15 December 1757 and sang there for 20 years.She created for Christoph Wilibald Gluck the roles of Eurydice in Orphée...
and Madame d'Esparbès, a favorite of the King.
Désert de Retz
In 1774, de Monville bought a country estage at Saint-Jacques-de-Retz, which had a farm, lands, and a formal garden à la françaiseGarden à la française
The French formal garden, also called jardin à la française, is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature. It reached its apogee in the 17th century with the creation of the Gardens of Versailles, designed for Louis XIV by the landscape architect André Le...
. He resolved to create a French landscape garden
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden is a style of garden inspired by idealized Italian landscapes and the romantic paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, European ideas about Chinese gardens, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
, a new style influenced by the English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
. He called the garden le Désert de Retz, and planted it with four thousand trees from the royal greenhouses, and rerouted a river and created several ponds.
The garden, completed in 1785, contained twenty-one fabriques, or architectural constructions, representing different periods of history and parts of the world; they included an artificial rock, a temple of rest, a theater, a Chinese house, a tomb, a ruined Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
church, a ruined altar an obelisque, a temple to the god Pan
Pan (mythology)
Pan , in Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein , meaning "to pasture." He has the hindquarters, legs,...
, a Tatar tent, and an ice-house in the form of a pyramid. The best-known feature was the ruined classical column, large enough to hold a residence inside.
The new garden was visited by members of the Court of Louis XVI, including Jacques Delille
Jacques Delille
Jacques Delille was a French poet and translator. He was born at Aigueperse in Auvergne.-Life:He was an illegitimate child, and was descended by his mother from the chancellor De l'Hôpital. He was educated at the College of Lisieux in Paris and became an elementary teacher...
, Marie-Joseph de Chénier, Hubert Robert
Hubert Robert
Hubert Robert , French artist, was born in Paris.His father, Nicolas Robert, was in the service of François-Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville a leading diplomat from Lorraine...
, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun; and visitors from abroad, including Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
designed rooms inspired by the round interior rooms of the column for his own residence in Paris, the hotel de Langeac, and for his house at Monticello
Monticello
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...
, and for the library of the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
in Charlotteville, . King Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
reproduced the ruined column and the Tatar tent in his own gardens at Haga, and Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
imitated the dairy and the designs for the parterres for her garden at the Petit Trianon
Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon is a small château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.-Design and construction:...
at Versailles. In addition to the Desert de Retz, he designed a French landscape garden for Jeanne du Barry at Louveciennes
Louveciennes
Louveciennes is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, between Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and adjacent to Marly-le-Roi.-Sights:...
, and created several fabriques for the Parc Monceau
Parc Monceau
Parc Monceau is a semi-public park situated in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, at the junction of Boulevard de Courcelles, Rue de Prony and Rue Georges Berger. At the main entrance is a rotunda. The park covers an area of 8.2 hectares ....
in Paris.
The French Revolution and the death of de Monville
After the French Revolution began, in 1792 Monville tried to raise money to emigrate by selling his houses and the Désert de Retz. He became a simple citizen of Paris, known as "François Racine dit Monville". He met frequently with Louis Philippe II, Duke of OrléansLouis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...
and with the duke's advisor, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses ....
, and was dining with the duke when the Convention ordered the duke's arrest. Monville was arrested in 1794, imprisoned in the Conciergerie, and found guilty by a Revolutionary Tribunal. He was held in the maison Talaru until the end of the Terror. Completely ruined, he died of gangrene in April 1797.