Vaux-le-Vicomte was built in just five years from 1637 to 1661 by Louis XIV's Minister of Finance Nicolas Foucquet, halfway between the royal summer houses of Vincennes and Fontainebleau.

Designed by Louis Le Vau, decorated by Charles Le Brun and with gardens laid out by André Le Nôtre, the house was still partially unfinished on the 17th August 1661 when Foucquet invited the King to the celebrated reception that was followed almost immediately by Foucquet's arrest. Within weeks, the house was under judicial seal, the whole team of craftsmen disbanded or removed to Versailles and Foucquet was in prison where he was to die 15 years later.

Despite its politically unstable history and a real threat of demolition during the French Revolution, Vaux has survived remarkably unaltered and intact.

The eminent architectural historian, Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos, describes the innovative construction of Vaux. He explains clearly how this great masterpiece of French classical art not only prefigures Versailles, but also anticipates many of the features that were to make the reputation of French gardens and architecture in the succeeding centuries.

Georges Fessy's remarkable photographs capture the extraordinary grandeur of the design and offer new views of the sumptuous interiors.

This is the first major book on Vaux-le-Vicomte since the beginning of the century.