Goddesses & Monsters. Three Gardens of esotericism, mystical symbols and monsters
The Mysteries of Il Sacro Bosco, The Garden of Monsters, Bomarzo
Once hidden away and forgotten, the Sacro Bosco (Sacred Wood) is a garden like no other. Made in the 1550’s by an Italian nobleman, its secrets have yet to be completely revealed. Enigmatic, encoded and mystical, academics continue to discover the meaning behind the grove with its literary allusions to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and references to Ariosto’s epic poem, Orlando Furioso, illustrating his descent into madness. Set in a region rich with incredible Renaissance gardens (and perhaps sharing some of the workmen and yet so different from them) it has become a garden that has intrigued artists since being rediscovered in the 1940’s. The site influenced a generation of artists and filmmakers, including Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden and Tomaso Buzzi’s La Scarzuola
Niki de Saint Phalle and Giardino dei Tarocchi
Niki de Saint Phalle, sculptor, painter and filmmaker represents something truly unique: combining her art with social and political activism, she was famous for shooting paint out of revolvers and spent her life creating her figurative, monumental ‘Nanas’. Inspired by Gaudi’s Parc Guell in Barcelona and the Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo, de Saint Phalle said she knew that one day she wanted to create her own ‘Garden of Joy’. That became a reality when 25 years later she made her Tarot Garden. Constructed on gifted land, she financed the making and building of it herself, 22 monumental sculptures inspired by the 22 Major Arcana, she even lived in one of the pieces, the Empress. Helped by friends, including her collaborator and husband Jean Tinguely (they were called “the Bonnie and Clyde of Art”), Marella Caracciolo Agnelli and the local postman, she created a garden of dazzling mosaic sculptures, now visited by seventy-five thousand people every year.
Tomaso Buzzi - La Scarzuola
A designer and architect, his work included urban planning, buildings, gardens, exhibitions, furniture, glass and interiors. His connection with Gio Ponte included not just design but writing for the wonderful Domus. He was aligned with the Novocento Milanese group and with the Studio di Sant'Orsola, which included Ponti, Michele Marelli, and Emilio Lancia. He was the designer darling who charmed Milanese nobility but by the 1950’s he was bored by the world he found himself in. He left it all behind to create his masterpiece, a miniature city on the site of a Franciscan monastery. This is the story of La Scarzuola his creation with versions of the Colosseum and the Acropolis, a Tower of Babel and seven theatres of different sizes for his own performances.
The Mysteries of Il Sacro Bosco, The Garden of Monsters, Bomarzo
Once hidden away and forgotten, the Sacro Bosco (Sacred Wood) is a garden like no other. Made in the 1550’s by an Italian nobleman, its secrets have yet to be completely revealed. Enigmatic, encoded and mystical, academics continue to discover the meaning behind the grove with its literary allusions to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and references to Ariosto’s epic poem, Orlando Furioso, illustrating his descent into madness. Set in a region rich with incredible Renaissance gardens (and perhaps sharing some of the workmen and yet so different from them) it has become a garden that has intrigued artists since being rediscovered in the 1940’s. The site influenced a generation of artists and filmmakers, including Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden and Tomaso Buzzi’s La Scarzuola
Niki de Saint Phalle and Giardino dei Tarocchi
Niki de Saint Phalle, sculptor, painter and filmmaker represents something truly unique: combining her art with social and political activism, she was famous for shooting paint out of revolvers and spent her life creating her figurative, monumental ‘Nanas’. Inspired by Gaudi’s Parc Guell in Barcelona and the Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo, de Saint Phalle said she knew that one day she wanted to create her own ‘Garden of Joy’. That became a reality when 25 years later she made her Tarot Garden. Constructed on gifted land, she financed the making and building of it herself, 22 monumental sculptures inspired by the 22 Major Arcana, she even lived in one of the pieces, the Empress. Helped by friends, including her collaborator and husband Jean Tinguely (they were called “the Bonnie and Clyde of Art”), Marella Caracciolo Agnelli and the local postman, she created a garden of dazzling mosaic sculptures, now visited by seventy-five thousand people every year.
Tomaso Buzzi - La Scarzuola
A designer and architect, his work included urban planning, buildings, gardens, exhibitions, furniture, glass and interiors. His connection with Gio Ponte included not just design but writing for the wonderful Domus. He was aligned with the Novocento Milanese group and with the Studio di Sant'Orsola, which included Ponti, Michele Marelli, and Emilio Lancia. He was the designer darling who charmed Milanese nobility but by the 1950’s he was bored by the world he found himself in. He left it all behind to create his masterpiece, a miniature city on the site of a Franciscan monastery. This is the story of La Scarzuola his creation with versions of the Colosseum and the Acropolis, a Tower of Babel and seven theatres of different sizes for his own performances.
The Mysteries of Il Sacro Bosco, The Garden of Monsters, Bomarzo
Once hidden away and forgotten, the Sacro Bosco (Sacred Wood) is a garden like no other. Made in the 1550’s by an Italian nobleman, its secrets have yet to be completely revealed. Enigmatic, encoded and mystical, academics continue to discover the meaning behind the grove with its literary allusions to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and references to Ariosto’s epic poem, Orlando Furioso, illustrating his descent into madness. Set in a region rich with incredible Renaissance gardens (and perhaps sharing some of the workmen and yet so different from them) it has become a garden that has intrigued artists since being rediscovered in the 1940’s. The site influenced a generation of artists and filmmakers, including Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden and Tomaso Buzzi’s La Scarzuola
Niki de Saint Phalle and Giardino dei Tarocchi
Niki de Saint Phalle, sculptor, painter and filmmaker represents something truly unique: combining her art with social and political activism, she was famous for shooting paint out of revolvers and spent her life creating her figurative, monumental ‘Nanas’. Inspired by Gaudi’s Parc Guell in Barcelona and the Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo, de Saint Phalle said she knew that one day she wanted to create her own ‘Garden of Joy’. That became a reality when 25 years later she made her Tarot Garden. Constructed on gifted land, she financed the making and building of it herself, 22 monumental sculptures inspired by the 22 Major Arcana, she even lived in one of the pieces, the Empress. Helped by friends, including her collaborator and husband Jean Tinguely (they were called “the Bonnie and Clyde of Art”), Marella Caracciolo Agnelli and the local postman, she created a garden of dazzling mosaic sculptures, now visited by seventy-five thousand people every year.
Tomaso Buzzi - La Scarzuola
A designer and architect, his work included urban planning, buildings, gardens, exhibitions, furniture, glass and interiors. His connection with Gio Ponte included not just design but writing for the wonderful Domus. He was aligned with the Novocento Milanese group and with the Studio di Sant'Orsola, which included Ponti, Michele Marelli, and Emilio Lancia. He was the designer darling who charmed Milanese nobility but by the 1950’s he was bored by the world he found himself in. He left it all behind to create his masterpiece, a miniature city on the site of a Franciscan monastery. This is the story of La Scarzuola his creation with versions of the Colosseum and the Acropolis, a Tower of Babel and seven theatres of different sizes for his own performances.