- Rendez-vous de l'Institut
- Conference
Le jardin de Chenonceau : proposition de restitution d’un jardin entre tradition et modernité by Diane BROCHIER – Château de Bénouville
The Chenonceau gardens: proposed garden reproduction between tradition and modernity
This conference will offer a reproduction of the Chenonceau garden at the time of Diane de Poitiers. We will explain the project’s chronology, the construction of the island garden, plants and planting, and the formation of the plant and flower bed. We will also focus on how its access was emphasized and will reproduce the landscape around Diane’s garden in order to highlight the majesty of the project devised by the Duchess of Valentinois.
Diane Brochier
After studying at the University of Aix-Marseille I towards a Master’s Degree I on the work of Philibert de l’Orme at the Tuileries Palace, then a Master’s Degree II on the structure and evolution of French Renaissance gardens by the addition of terraces, Diane Brochier defended her PhD thesis entitled ‘D’Azay-le-Rideau à Chenonceau : l’eau et la mise en scène de l’ensemble château-jardin à la Renaissance (1513-1560)’ (From Azay-le-Rideau to Chenonceau: water and the staging of the castle-garden ensemble during the Renaissance period (1513-1560), on the 27th of January 2017. She also had the honour of publishing an article entitled, ‘Le chantier d’un jardin sur l’eau : l’exemple du parterre de Diane de Poitiers au château de Chenonceau’ (Working on a garden on water: the example of the border by Diane de Poitiers at the Château de Chenonceau), in the magazine Livraisons d’Histoire de l’Architecture, n°27, 1st semester 2014. She also contributed towards the drafting of the catalogue for the exhibition entitled ‘Des jardins et des livres’ (Gardens and Books), presented at the Martin Bodmer foundation in Geneva, via a notice on ‘le regole di architectura’ (the rules of architecture) by Sebastiano Serlio (Michael Jacob, Des jardins et des livres, notice 41, p. 180-181) and is preparing to publish an article in Fabrique et usages du jardin du XIVème XVIIème siècle (Follies and use of gardens 14th 18th century), directed by Alain Salamagne, proceedings of the colloquium held at the CESR (Centre for Renaissance Studies) in Tours from the 28th of June to the 2nd of July 2010, entitled ‘La fontaine du jardin de Diane de Poitiers au château de Chenonceau ou l’oeuvre de Cardin de Valence’ (The fountain in Diane de Poitier’s garden at the Château de Chenonceau or the work of Cardin de Valence).