Art is everywhere in Paris. Even in places where you might not expect it.
We recently strolled in the parks that border the eastern half of the Champs-Élysées and saw some thriving flower gardens. We marveled at the artistry of the flowerbeds, with the varied types and colors of flowers and their different heights. Each scene could be a painting.
We continued our stroll in the nearby Jardin des Tuilieries. There, we saw flowerbeds that we have seen several times during recent visits.
This time, however, we noticed a small sign that we missed before.
The sign explains that the flowerbeds are an homage to an artist, Leonardo da Vinci. The gardeners are celebrating an upcoming exhibition at the Louvre that will commemorate the 500th anniversary of da Vinci's death in Amboise, France, where he spent the last three years of his life. The gardeners selected one of da Vinci's paintings that he completed in France as a palette for choosing flowers for the garden.
Below is a better photo of the painting, which hangs in the Louvre.
 |
La Vierge à l'Enfant avec sainte Anne by Leonardo de Vinci (1503-1519) |
Using the colors in the painting, the gardeners selected seven different species to "paint" the flowerbed.
Artistry in flowerbeds. Who knew?
ADDENDUM (August 13, 2019):
When we first published the post above, we shared photos of special flowerbeds in the Tuileries garden. They were special because they were selected and arranged to evoke a da Vinci painting in honor of an upcoming exhibition. The artistic theme of the flowerbeds was "Silent Sorrow".
Well, since then, we discovered another group of flowerbeds with a different artistic theme--"Smokey Blues". The flowerbeds still evoke da Vinci's painting, but they focus on another aspect with different types and colors of flowers. As you will see below, the master gardeners know flowers.
The master gardeners of the Tuileries garden are truly masters of their art.
Thanks for returning to the Tuileries garden with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment