Date

Circa 1910

Henry IV laid out the Parterre du Tibre south of the Cour de l'Ovale and the Cour des Offices. It was so called because of the statue and fountain at its centre. Under Louis XIII, Louis Le Vau redesigned the Parterre du Tibre (1662). Henry IV made considerable alterations and additions to Fontainebleau. He enclosed a new courtyard (begun 1599) to the north of the Galerie François I and Cour de l'Ovale around the Jardin de la Reine (now the Jardin de Diane). The Jardin de Diane is now named after the Fountain of Diana, the plinth of which bears bronze figures (1603) by Pierre Biard. Outside the château Henry IV created an island garden, the Jardin de l'Etang, in the lake in front of the Cour de la Fontaine, laid out as a parterre de broderie (1595; island destroyed 1713). He also built a pavilion in the middle of the lake (rebuilt 1664; restored ca. 1811) and laid out the Parterre du Tibre south of the Cour de l'Ovale and the Cour des Offices. It was so called because of the statue and fountain at its centre. Under Louis XIII, Louis Le Vau redesigned the Parterre du Tibre (1662) and created an architectural cascade (largely destroyed 1723) at the head of Henry IV's canal. In the grounds Napoleon commissioned (1810) Maximilien-Joseph Hurtault (1765-1824) to remodel the gardens south of the Aile Louis XV into a Jardin Anglais and to restore the Jardin de Diane.