Research Interests:
“La Nouvelle Maison Rustique” was a publication by the agronomist Louis Liger which remained popular throughout the 18th century, leading to numerous reprints. The publication covers all of the important topics of what was called the... more
“La Nouvelle Maison Rustique” was a publication by the agronomist Louis Liger which remained popular throughout the 18th century, leading to numerous reprints. The publication covers all of the important topics of what was called the “bucolic” life, in the conceptions of the period.
The main topics are: the farmyard, beekeeping, horses and cattle, crops, ponds and rivers, the orchard, pruning and grafting, vegetable gardening and the vineyard. The last volume of the work deals with cooking, and includes many recipes, for meat, game and fowl, vegetables, jams and fruit preserves, and pastries; following this are nine chapters dealing
with hunting of deer, boar, hare, fox, rabbit, wolf, fallow and roe deer.
Liger’s technical-scientific dissertation and recommendations on agricultural practices and on hunting are largely derived from a well-known preceding work, by Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault: “L'agriculture, et maison rustique ; plus un Bref recueil des chasses et de la fauconneri”. Apart from the text, what is most striking about the Liger work is the number, variety and quality of illustrations. Can these illustrations, typical to a handbook on agronomy, be relied on for authentic information on the landscape? The more than thirty engraved plates of the text can be divided into categories. The “scientific” type offer detailed descriptions of animal anatomy, rural tools and agricultural
implements. The “landscape” type, can be further divided into a first category, of illustrations of concepts and advice for the beautiful garden, rich in fountains, shrubs, sculptures and classically inspired columns, and a second category of images in which the countryside serves as the background to bucolic activities. The last category are highly
communicative in character, offering glimpses of an idealized rural landscape, in which the manner of depicting nature recalls pictorial models of a certain calibre.
The main topics are: the farmyard, beekeeping, horses and cattle, crops, ponds and rivers, the orchard, pruning and grafting, vegetable gardening and the vineyard. The last volume of the work deals with cooking, and includes many recipes, for meat, game and fowl, vegetables, jams and fruit preserves, and pastries; following this are nine chapters dealing
with hunting of deer, boar, hare, fox, rabbit, wolf, fallow and roe deer.
Liger’s technical-scientific dissertation and recommendations on agricultural practices and on hunting are largely derived from a well-known preceding work, by Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault: “L'agriculture, et maison rustique ; plus un Bref recueil des chasses et de la fauconneri”. Apart from the text, what is most striking about the Liger work is the number, variety and quality of illustrations. Can these illustrations, typical to a handbook on agronomy, be relied on for authentic information on the landscape? The more than thirty engraved plates of the text can be divided into categories. The “scientific” type offer detailed descriptions of animal anatomy, rural tools and agricultural
implements. The “landscape” type, can be further divided into a first category, of illustrations of concepts and advice for the beautiful garden, rich in fountains, shrubs, sculptures and classically inspired columns, and a second category of images in which the countryside serves as the background to bucolic activities. The last category are highly
communicative in character, offering glimpses of an idealized rural landscape, in which the manner of depicting nature recalls pictorial models of a certain calibre.
Research Interests:
Work of the agronomist Louis Liger that met a considerable success and numerous reprints over the XVIII century, la Nouvelle Maison Rustique covers all of the most important topics of the bucolic life, that was very considered in this... more
Work of the agronomist Louis Liger that met a considerable success and numerous reprints over the XVIII century, la Nouvelle Maison Rustique covers all of the most important topics of the bucolic life, that was very considered in this period. The main topics he covered are: the farmyard, the beekeeping, the horses, the cattle, the farming, the ponds and the rivers, the orchard, the pruning and the graft, the vegetable garden and the vineyard. His last book involves cooking and includes many recipes: meat, wild game and winged animals, legumes, jam and canned fruits, confectionery. At the end of this culinary treatise follow nine chapters based on hunting: deer, boar, hare, fox, rabbit, wolf, fallow deer and roe deer. Beyond the technical scientific dissertation and the recommendations on the agricultural practices and on hunting, taken in mainly from the famous work L'agriculture, et maison rustique ; plus un Bref recueil des chasses et de la fauconneri by Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault what is most striking in the Liger work is the quality and the variety of the numerous pictures. Can these typical illustrations taken from an agronomy handbook give us authentic information on the landscape? The thirty or more planches gravées in the text can be divided into different categories. We can admire the scientific type, that give detailed descriptions of the animals' body or rural tools; the landscape type, can be divided again into illustrations of ideas and advice on how to obtain a beautiful garden, rich in fountains, shrubs, sculptures and columns classically inspired; and others in which the countryside is the background to the bucolic activities. These last ones in particular give us a glimpse of an idealized rural landscape, in which the nature seems to recall pictorial models of a certain caliber and especially a great communicativeness.
