A look back at the International Symposium: The Renaissance garden between arts and sciences

2019 celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France.

To mark the occasion, the Château d'Ainay le Vieil, a perfect illustration of this period with its Renaissance main building and water gardens from the same period, hosted an international symposium on July 16 and 17 on the theme: "The Renaissance garden between arts and sciences".

The symposium was organized and coordinated by Marie-Sol de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vice President of the Fondation des Parcs et Jardins de France, in charge of the gardens at Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil. Its scientific organization was assured by Michael Jakob, Professor at the Haute École du paysage, d'ingénierie et d'architecture de Genève and the Politecnico di Milano, and by Benoist Pierre, Director of the Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance (CESR, University of Tours) and of the ARD program Intelligence des Patrimoines.

Surrounded by top-quality speakers from the four corners of the globe, the symposium aimed to show the extraordinary richness and creativity of the Renaissance, a period that reinvented the garden, which had all but disappeared for many centuries, to deepen and compare the knowledge of specialists on the art of the Renaissance garden, and to educate the public of amateurs and scholars who took part in these study days.

A symposium rich in cultural and human exchanges, the proceedings of which will be published at a later date.

The Association des Amis du Château d'Ainay le Vieil gratefully acknowledges the support of the Région Centre Val de Loire, the Programme régional Intelligence des Patrimoines, the Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance, Christie's, the Fondation des Parcs et Jardins de France and MYL Consulting.