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Les jardins entourés d’eau de la Renaissance en Italie du Nord by Laurent PAYA – Château de Bénouville
Renaissance water-enclosed gardens in northern Italy
In the early modern period in France, engineers were perfectly capable of exploiting site hydrography to create hydraulic systems, essentially for defence, agronomy or movement. And, since usefulness and beauty are interlinked qualities, they most likely, from this early period, sought to make the most of the scenographic potential offered by water. To date, the origin of European gardens encircled with decorative ditches has not yet been established. Yet, this physiognomy of plains and valleys could well be influenced by the Italian Renaissance period. This survey acknowledges this in northern Italy, over a hundred examples of previously selected vestiges and by crossing in situ prospection and archive consultation. Analysis of results has also revealed the precocity and a binary typology, drawing a distinction between the gardens of fortresses and the gardens aimed at improving the land.
Laurent Paya
As a landscape engineer (INHP, Angers) and doctor in History of Art (CESR, Tours), Laurent Paya teaches landscape design and development and the graphical representation of projects. As a member of the CESR (Centre for Higher Studies on the Renaissance – University of Tours), he conducts research on the aesthetics of gardens, of ornaments, decors, landscapes and urban forms, in France and across the globe, during the early modern period. His work, which focuses on the elaboration and the dissemination of artistic, scientific and technological knowledge on the socialisation of nature, has led to a series of publications.