Le théâtre d’eau de Tommaso Francini en son jardin de Grandmaisons

Abstract

The waterworks created by Tommaso Francini in his seigniorial gardens at Grandmaions (Villepreux, Yvelines) are one of the lesser known pieces among his works and in the history of French gardens in the first half of the 17th century. An unpublished description and ground-plan show that the fountain-engineer, who became director of French water-ways and fountains, conceived for his own use hydraulic installations with a strong scenography that orchestrates his fidelity to Maria de Medici. This garden is also characterized by the most up-to-date forms of the years 1620-1650 (a great circular waterworks, a great square waterworks, small waterways), but also by certain traits that would become characteristic of the French garden in the second half of the 17th century (alignment of the main parts of the garden according to an overall plan and the fixing of a viewpoint that could apprehend the ensemble at a glance).