Sciences at Versailles part 5: botany & zoology, a taste for exoticism

Plan of the King’s vegetable Garden

Created between 1678 and 1683 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646-1708) and Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, the new vegetable garden of Versailles - occupying nearly nine hectares – took over from the smaller garden, one third of its size, created for Louis XIII.

As indicated in the plan drafted by Jean Chaufourier (1679-1757) in 1720, the King’s Vegetable Garden consists of sixteen large squares of vegetable plots distributed around a large pond, a large planted terrace and, all around it, behind high walls, twenty-nine walled gardens planted with free-standing or espaliered fruit trees, vegetables and small fruit.

Zoology

Although initially created for pleasure, the Royal Menagerie of Versailles contributed to the development of zoology and comparative anatomy by providing scientists at the time with the dead bodies of animals. For the publication of his Natural History of Animals, Claude Perrault and the anatomist Joseph Du Verney, dissected rare species at the Académie des Sciences in Paris, and even at Versailles in the presence of the king. In January 1681, the dissection of the Congo elephant, a gift from the king of Portugal, in front of the entire Court was quite a social event.

“An Elephant of the Versailles Menagerie having died, the Academy was commissioned to dissect it; Mr Du Verney carried out the dissection, Mr Perrault wrote the description of the main parts, and Mr de La Hire drew them: there has perhaps never before been such a brilliant anatomical dissection, either by the size of the Animal, or by the precision of examination of its different parts, or by the quality and number of the Assistants. The subject was laid on a sort of fairly high operating table. The King did not deign to be present at the examination of certain parts: when he came, he eagerly asked where the Anatomist was, who he couldn’t see; Mr du Verney immediately rose from the flanks of the Animal, in which he was, so to speak, engulfed.”

Memoires of the Académie royale des sciences, From 1666 to 1669, Paris, 1733.

The stunning setting created by the architect, with its radial design and circular distribution of the courtyards around a raised observation point, made it a real attraction for the Court. This is why it is considered as the first zoo in the world. It also played an important role in the history of science, contributing to the progress of comparative anatomy through the dissections of dead animals.

It mainly contained large birds, but there were also elephants, camels, ostriches, crocodiles, tortoises etc. This prestigious collection of exotic and rare animals (either acquired or received as diplomatic gifts) was presented to princes and ambassadors and directly contributed to the Crown’s policy of prestige and magnificence.

Meteorology

Climate played a crucial role under the Ancien Régime. Poor weather conditions could cause bad harvests, leading to food shortages and famine. Science at the service of climate thus made it possible to predict the vagaries of the weather to some degree and thus to anticipate disasters, but also to cultivate exotic fruits.

Grand barometer of Louis XV and Louis XVI

Made in 1772-1775 by the sculptor Jean-Joseph Lemaire, this monumental sculpted barometer consists of a bay-tree rising up from a rocky terrace and supporting several military attributes, a globe with the royal arms, all between two figures of winged children that seem to be pointing at the dial. The mechanism was made by the optician Jean-Baptiste Toré, and mercury tanks were initially lodged inside the child figures. This barometer indicating "set fair" is a veritable allegory of Peace.