Plattegrond van kasteel en tuinen van Versailles, ca. 1702 1702 - 1703

Around 1702, Adriaen Schoonebeek created this copper engraving, offering a bird's-eye view of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles. The print presents an elaborate, symmetrical composition, meticulously detailing the architectural layout and garden design. The linear precision and contrasting textures create a visually striking, almost abstract representation of landscape and power. The engraving employs formal elements to communicate control and order. The rigid geometry of the gardens, with its radiating paths and neatly arranged parterres, reflects a desire to impose structure onto nature. This links to broader philosophical concerns of the era, particularly the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and the monarch’s power to organize the state and society. Semiotically, the garden's layout functions as a sign of royal authority, an assertion of dominance through spatial organization. Ultimately, Schoonebeek’s print captures Versailles not just as a physical place, but as a constructed symbol of absolute monarchy, inviting ongoing analysis of its formal properties and socio-political meanings.