Garden Gallery

Paris's Jardin des plantes is part of the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle. Founded as Louis XIII's medicinal herb garden, the Jardin des plantes was a leading center of botany in the eighteenth century. Today the garden houses three main conservatories--the Serre de l'histoire des plantes (1833-36), Serre de Nouvelle-Calédonie (1833-36), and Serre des forêts tropicales (1935-37). 

Two recent exhibitions explore the popularity of the garden  and nineteenth-century artistic engagements with the French horticultural revolution:  Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence (The Met) and Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse (CMA and RA).