The art of the garden in France and the influence of the Ottoman Empire during the ‘scandalous alliance’ period
Résumé
The Ottoman Empire and Europe maintained a long relationship characterized by frequent cultural exchanges. France was particularly involved in these relationships because of the Ottoman embassies to France in 1533 and 1534. From the arrival of the ambassador Jean de La Forest (d. 1537) in 1535, the largest European embassy in Istanbul was the French.¹ These exchanges, clearly associated with geopolitical stakes, were evidence of a commercial economy. The consumption of artistic goods—silks, carpets, faiences, and so on—contributed to the development of an international material and aristocratic culture common to both Western and Eastern princes.² This commercial network...