Jeux d'eaux à La Granja. Les fontaniers français en Espagne au XVIIIe siècle [Water games at La Granja: French plumbers in Spain in the eighteenth century] by Sophie Omère (review).

Abstract

Reviewed by: Jeux d'eaux à La Granja. Les fontaniers français en Espagne au XVIIIe siècle [Water games at La Granja: French plumbers in Spain in the eighteenth century] by Sophie Omère Antoni Roca-Rosell (bio) Jeux d'eaux à La Granja. Les fontaniers français en Espagne au XVIIIe siècle [Water games at La Granja: French plumbers in Spain in the eighteenth century] By Sophie Omère. Paris: Transvalor-Presses des Mines, 2021. Pp. 325. Historians of technology are closer and closer to the "actual" life of technology, going beyond great contributions or spectacular realizations. Omère's book is devoted to the design and construction of the famous hydraulic system of the palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso in Spain during the eighteenth century. This subject lays in a field shared by the history of art, technology, and engineering, and in regard to the latter, especially of sumptuary plumbers ("fontaniers"). The book has seven chapters in three parts: 1) the plumbers of Philip V; 2) a hydraulic system between innovation and tradition; and 3) the mobility of men and techniques in La Granja. When Charles II of Habsburg (1661–1700) died without a successor, the French Philip of Anjou (1683–1746) was selected as new king of Spain. The reign of Philip V faced very great challenges—a civil war included—and in 1724 he abdicated in favor of his son Louis. Nevertheless, he was back to the throne given that Louis died after six months. Philip V decided around 1719 to build a new royal palace, perhaps for his retirement. He chose a singular place within the mountain range of Guadarrama, in the north of Madrid, covered with woods and rich in water resources. The site is called La Granja de San Ildefonso [The Farm of Saint Ildefonso], where a palace and an enormous garden were built. Taking advantage of the slope of the mountain, the garden had a hydraulic system based only on gravity, with a number of fountains including spectacular sculptures and no less spectacular water games, with several very high water jets. Philip V contracted several French plumbers to design and build this system of fountains. From the beginning, the plumbers were selected from the technicians working for the king of France, mainly in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. Thanks to intensive and extensive archive work (bills related to the works, contracts, last wills, etc.), Omère has found the biographical data of these technicians. The result of this prosopography is highly interesting: she identified a set of specialized technicians, showing, for example, that the French plumbers used to belong to families of plumbers with continuity in Spain. In the second part, the author analyzes the introduction of some new technologies developed in the royal and noble palaces in France. One example was the use of lead or iron pipes, instead of ceramic ones. To provide the needed metal water pipes, some materials were imported from [End Page 1239] France (especially from the Champagne region), but also made in the north of Spain. A forge was installed in La Granja where the tubes and the sculptures were produced. In the third part of the book, Omère analyzes the circulation of knowledge and experts, centered on the case of the sumptuary hydraulics. The last chapter deals with the relationship between the plumbers of La Granja (also active in other Spanish royal palaces) and the Spanish tradition in hydraulics. The author recognizes that many innovations had occurred in Spain first, thanks to Islamic heritage (as demonstrated by the Alhambra) within the country, and afterwards, thanks to the great mobility of technicians, architects, and engineers in the Spanish Empire, given that it included regions of a high technical creativity, such as Italy and the Low Countries. The author considers these Italian, Dutch, or Belgian technicians as "foreign" people, a usual anachronism. Sumptuary fountains at La Granja were a relevant part of the king's exhibition of power, and in the end, he was successful: this system of fountains centered the interest of many visitors and continues today to be a tourist attraction. Omère explains the origin of the...