This highlight proposes
a quick approach to the ENCHANTED GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE.
[to know more]
Since man has existed, and, one might almost say, before man existed, there
have been gardens.
I will refer only to the Garden of Eden which was, after all, the place in
which man was born. It existed even before Adam and Eve came into the
picture.
One has heard of the gardens of Semiramis and the famous Hanging Gardens of
Babylon.
There are traces of an Egyptian Pharaoh's garden. It was the one designed by the
Pharaoh Tutmosis III within the temple complex at Karnak.
More recently, literature speaks of the splendors of the gardens of the Tivoli
patrons, contemporaries of the emperor Nero. From a point of view of taste, they
were considered to be the grandest, most beautiful and noblest that could be
imagined. This caused a jealous Nero to have even more beautiful ones designed.
They adorned the Domus Aurea. They were located under the present day parking
lot at the Colosseum.
You have certainly heard of the gardens that the Empress Theodora had designed
for her husband, Justinian, in Byzantium.
The monastery gardens of our grand 12th, 13th and 14th centuries were the
preferred resting places of the Virgin. Known as Ortus Conclusus, the enclosed
garden sheltered the miracle of the incarnation itself.
Even more recently, the gardens at Versailles, Schönbrun, Charlottenburg
and Nuremberg were high points of garden art.
As you have probably noticed, I have only spoken about Western gardens. I have
omitted those of China, Japan and Moghul India.
Wherever man exists, he finds the need to redesign, to recreate the world. A
more beautiful world, purer, sweeter smelling and more colorful. A garden is
probably the spot where the hopes for civilization are best captured. In fact,
man defines himself by his garden.
A garden's purpose changes from place to place, from civilization to
civilization.
- There are gardens in which to grow flowers, such as ours, as well as that of
Voltaire's Candide.
- There are parks -- Versailles is a beautiful example of this.
- There are gardens in which to hunt. Outside Naples, don't pass up the chance
to visit the castle in Caserta, whose fabulous park served mainly as a hunting
ground.
- There are gardens in which to meditate. This is true for most Japanese
gardens; Zen monastery gardens.
- There are gardens which must be contemplated as works of art. This is true
for the gardens of Classical China, notably those in Suzhou.
All three are located in the area surrounding Rome.
We shall approach these extraordinary properties which the Renaissance princes
built first across Italy and then all over Europe.
These princes considered these gardens to be far more than valued retreats. It
was an opportunity to create a three dimensional initiatory journey through a
summary of their century's thinking and a form of synthesis of their era's
aspirations.
These gardens were of far greater importance than we accord them today.
I shall try to show you that these Italian Renaissance gardens, which appear
to be simply pleasure gardens are, in fact, initiatory gardens.
I have organized them in a proper initiatory order, starting with the simplest
and going to the most complex.
At the end of the journey, I hope that you will be sufficiently familiar with
this concept of initiation to understand its true impact, its deep significance.
First step of the iniation: Bomarzo - The Sacred Grove - The Monsters' Grove
Bomarzo is a small town, located near Viterbo on the road to Orta.
It is the Orsini family's hereditary fief. The Castle rises at the edge of
this small town.
The residence's gardens were created by Vicino Orsini, the Duke of
Bomarzo. He was born in 1528 and died in 1588. An educated humanist, he
was interested in the Arts and was their patron. He devoted his life to the
happiness of his House and his wife, Julia Farnese. After Julia Farnese's
death, he created the plan for this garden.
He didn't call this garden a giardino, but Bosco Sacro, a Sacred Grove or Bosco
dei Monstri, the Monsters' grove. Monster must be understood in the Latin
meaning of monstrare, which means to show and demonstrate. This then means
that from stop to stop, from stage to stage, each element is a component of an
immense, very neoplatonic poem to his lost love. To create this garden, he
called on one of the greatest landscapers and architects of his time, Pirro Ligorio.
All the Italian princes came to visit, as did innumerable foreign travelers.
Unfortunately, as with most of the Renaissance gardens, the work was neglected.
When it was revisited in the beginning of this century, it was overgrown with
trees, everything was half collapsed, all of which merely gave the garden an
even more fantastic aspect. It was at this time that André Pieyre de
Mandiargue visited and wrote a sublime treatise on the sleeping garden of
Bomarzo.
Salvador Dali and Cocteau, the surrealists, discussed it at great
length. Bomarzo is in fashion.
Bomarzo is coming back to life.
Continue the initation in the Itineraries section with the Gardens of
The Villa Lante and the Villa d'Este.
