- Rendez-vous de l'Institut
- Conference
Les jardins du palais de l’Alhambra par Agnès du VACHAT – ONLINE
The gardens of the Alhambra
Created in the Middle Ages and continuously maintained to this very day, the garden courtyards (patios) of the Alhambra and the Palacio de Generalife, in Andalusia, are among Europe’s oldest historic gardens. They bear witness to horticultural and hydraulic know-how stemming from Near Eastern civilisations and representing Arabo-Andalusian garden art. This conference will present the Alhambra’s various patios (outline, use of water features, plants and decorative elements) and will offer an overview of the fascination the site has inspired among artists and authors, from the Romantic period to the early 20th century.
Agnès du Vachat
A garden historian and qualified professor in philosophy, Agnès du Vachat is also an associate researcher at the National Graduate Landscaping School in Versailles, where she presented a thesis focusing on the emergence of the Spanish landscape through the writings of French travellers (1650-1936). A former scholarship holder at the Casa de Velazquez (Madrid) and the Fondation des Parcs et Jardins de France ‘Michel Baridon’ bursary, member of the Caen Academy of Science, Art and Litterature, her current research focuses on garden art in France, Spain and the Mediterranean.
Further reading :
« Les récits des grands voyageurs », in Jardins d’Orient. De l’Alhambra au Taj Mahal, Institut du Monde Arabe / Snoeck, 2016
Culture et paysage. Le jardin méditerranéen de Ferdinand Bac, éditions Petit Génie/Fondation des Parcs et Jardins de France, 2017
« Le jardin de la villa Les Tuaires : un jardin de collectionneur du XIXe siècle », avec Véronique Mure, in Mille et un Orients. Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (1804-1892), Musée de Langres/Serge Domini éditeur, 2020
Côté jardins: Histoir(e)s et représentations des jardins de la Méditerranée, sous la direction de Francesca Irene Sensini, Presses Universitaires Savoie Mont-Blanc, 2021