Morel garden catalogue: introduction

摘要

The Morel Garden Catalogue includes some 58 individual gardens attributed to Jean-Marie Morel. Each garden listed varies in degree of attribution authenticity, patron and documentation history, state of preservation, raw factual data, etc. The inclusion of a garden indicates that Motel's activity at the given site has been confirmed or suggested by primary or secondary sources; the authenticity of the attribution is ranked for each garden. Unfortunately, the degree to which Morel may have worked atany particular garden is often unknown, and represents one of the most challenging problems for the historical reconstruction of Morel's career. The starting point for the catalogue is Savalete De Fortair's Discours sur la vie et les oeuvres de Jean-Marie Morel (Paris, 1813), Appendix 'N': 'Liste des principaux Paysages, Parcs, Jardins et Fermes pittoresques, composes, executes ou decores avant et depuis la revolution en France par Jean Marie Morel, architecte'. Fortair's Discours lists some 40 placesfrom cities to lieux dits reputed to contain Morel gardens, and patron names. Some entries concern more than one garden: for example, in Besancon Fortair names three patrons corres-ponding to three gardens, and Sucy where two garden patrons are indicated. Fortair's published garden list is augmented from only 24 gardens named in the manuscript of his Discours at the Academie des sciences, belles-lettres, et arts de Lyon.