Sacred Garden of Monsters

Sacred Garden of Monsters

The sacred forest or garden monsters (Italian Sacro Bosco, Parco dei Mostri) - garden and park ensemble in the valley at the foot of Castle Orsini family in the town Bomartso, maneristskogo kind adventure park, a remarkable monument of the Italian Renaissance. The park is decorated with mythological about 30 sculptures and fantastic facilities. 

 Among the sculptures of the park - Pegasus, two sirens, Proteus, the elephant Hannibal, dragon, giant tortoise, Hercules, dog Cerberus, two of Ceres, Aphrodite, the Gates of Hell, etc., of buildings - Falling house, a miniature garden of nature, the Temple of Eternity. Plots sculptures are supposed to go back to sleep Polyphemus, Bernardo Tasso's poem Floridant and passionately Roland Ariosto. Their allegorical symbolism repeatedly and variously interpreted by the researchers. Pegasus and the giant tortoise:

 History of the Sacro Bosco recovered from the well-known convention. The researchers decided that the park was built by Pier Francesco Orsini condottieri - otherwise Vichino Orsini (1528-1570 or 1574, 1588) and its construction began in 1548 and was completed in 1580. The park was designed by architect Pirro Ligorio (ok.1510-1583), also known as the ensemble of Villa d'Este in Tivoli. Erected in the Park Temple dedicated to the memory of Julia Farnese, wife Vichino Orsini (died 1560), designed to Jacopo da Vignola Barotstsi.

The first mention of the park is contained in a letter to the poet Annibale Caro (1564). Then the park was called the Sacred Forest, the name of the Garden of monsters he has received in the XX century. When, after several centuries of decline has been renovated to have acquired his family Bettini supported by the Institute of history and architecture of Rome and the French Academy in Rome, and then re-opened to the public (1954).

One of the first visitors to the park was in 1938, Salvador Dali, seen some of the motifs included in his painting The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1946). Garden motifs also took advantage of the enchanted landscapes of Charles Villink.
Michelangelo Antonioni's shot park on a documentary film monsters Villa (1950). A series of photographs made ​​in the park Brassaï (1953). The garden and its sculptures featured in the historical novel of Manuel Mujica Laynesa Bomartso (1962) and written by his explanation of the opera (1967), Alberto Ginastera. Sculpture Park was inspired by Niki de Saint Phalle, a few decades, creating a fantastic game in the Tarot Garden.

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