MARC.HKHITA AZZI VISENTINI
GARDEN SCULPTURE AND FRESCO DECORATION IN 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY VENETIAN VILLAS
One of die most striking aspects <>f Italian Renaissance and las.2 Statuary appeared in the villas of the V'eneto in the Baroque villas is die dose connectJon thal links architecture 1530s-1540s, contemporaneously. or even before fresco and gardens. The two parts of (he residence consiitute. ar- decoration. Among the earliest examples are Villa Garzoni chitecturally speaking, a unity, iliey were planned aecord- at Fontrecasale. work of the architect and sculptor Jacopo ing to tlie same rules and lie on tlie same axes. The garden. Sansovino. who executed bJmself the two imponant fire- in tbe quattrocento just a small outdoor extension of die places with mantelpieces and possibly the statues ol [he in• house, to which it was often connected by tlie intermedian- ner courtyard and of the front garden. and Villa Brenzone of a porch or a loggia, gradually increased its dimensions at Funta San Vigilio, where antique and modern sc ulptures, and importance. Its decoration liecame richer and compli- aecompanied by bitin inscriptions. were distributed along cate. and in some interesiing Gases an iconography linked the itinerary of the garden. aecording to the program de- to thal inside the nearby house was adopted also föt die vised around 1540 by the owner himself. Agostino Bren• garden: Along the itinerary of liouse and garden a story was zone. Since the 1530s. with Sansovino's Biblioteca Marcia- re> ealed, through paintings and statu es as well as by means na and l.oggetta, both in Venice. Statuary became a funda• of die Vegetation. A detailed letter written by Alessandro mental ornament of Venetian Renaissance architecture. Hniccesi to Bernardo Bembo around 1480 explained thal In Iiis Quattro libri deH'archiicttura' (published in 1570) the choice of plants in the Medici Villa at Careggi near Flor- Falladio sometimes mentioned the sculptors of Iiis build• ence corresponded t<> their mythological connecdons. ings. as it was the case for the sculptures for the four en- Statues were adorning gardens since antiquity. At the lx-- trance stairways of the Rotonda. a work of Lorenzo Rubini. ginning of the sixteenth Century in Rome. starting with the and always reproduced them in the illustrations, bin he did Belvedere Court in the Vatican. archaeological collections not exteml Iiis attention to the garden. On the contrary. Vin- were usually exhibited in gardens, coneeived as sort of cenzo Scamozzi, in Iiis Idea della architettura universale', open air museums. Since around 1550. aütique statues (in published in Venice in 1615. wrote of statues in villa gar• case of necessity completed with modern ones) became dens, recommending to distribute them so as to lel the ax• part of the general program which involved every aspeel of ial view unobstaicted. and suggested as subjects of foun• the compositum, from painted and plastic decoration to the tains Neptune. Moses striking w ater. Apollo, young Tritons, Vegetation and the fountains, giving form to an effective river gods, nymphs, putti with dolphins and so on. Gesamtkunstwerk. At thal time the so-called "iconogra- From the second half of the seventeenth Century statues pher" came to the fore, a highly culüvated person whose in the gardens of the \eneto increased incredibly in num- ptofound knowledge was employed to establish the so- ber and importance. becoming, together with plants in potS phistlcated iconographic program, thal usually celebrated (espedally citrus)1, the diain feature and ornament 01 the the patron and Iiis CÜcIe. This was the case for Villa Medi• otherwise (|uite simple layoul of the gardens. that where ci at Castello near Florence, Villa Giulia in Rome. Villa generally rectangular in form and subdivided in Square d'F.ste in Tivoli. Villa I'arnese at Caprarola and Villa Aldo• conipartments by perpendicular roails. The prolileralion of brandini at Frascati, whose iconographic programs were statues w as due to the combination of two factors: the avail- suggested by the well known scholars Benedetto Varchi. ability of an easy to work and quite resistant limestone. the Annibal Caro, Firro I.igorio and Giovan Battista Agucchi. SO-called pietra tenera from the Berici and Euganean Hills. and (with the exception of the program ot the villa ol Cas- Costozza and Nanto. and of extremely able artisans. or hei• tello which w as limited in the garden), Involved both inter- ter artists, who. working for generadons in large "botteghe". ior and exterior. i.e. buildings and gardens. The texts ot Fir- or Workshops, transmitted their prolession from father to ro Ligorio and Father Agucchi are detailed descriptions of son and to a large group of pupils. They could deliver in the iconographic programs of Villa d Este and of Villa Aldo• shtMl time an incredible numlxT of pieces of quite a high brandini, while Giorgio Vasari illustrated. in Iiis Vite de' piü quality. The Marinali of \ icenza and the Bonazza of Fadua eccellcnti Aicbitetü Fittori, et Scultori italianf, the program are the most famous botteghe. but many others could be of the garden of Castello.1 mentioned.' So. [he villas of the V'eneto were invaded by a The same development look place in the Venetian lerra- silent, white crowd. amounting up to one hundred and ferma, where, as it is well know n. villa architecture was pri- even more, in the same garden. The tarne of Venetian art- marily linked to the agricultural exploitation of the lields. in ists reached all Furope: In 1717 Giovanni Bonazza seht stat• conirast to the leisure purpose of most of central Italian vil• ues of the four parts of the day to the Kussian court for the
H7 garden of the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg. For Peterhof To the original nucleus new statues were added in time and Iiis sog Antonio executed in 1757 statues of Flora. Pomona. others were eliminated. sold or transferred, so that it is dif- Zephyr and Vertumnus, Between che more common sub- ficult to reconstruet their original number and display. The jects 6f statuary, whose purpose was to celebrate the own- minor interest of scholars for sculpture and gardens com- er and Iiis family. Iiis ideals. virtue. fame over time. vvisdom. pared to paintings make tliings even more difficult. A limit• Gulture and agriculture (the inain reason of the existence of ed number of inventories of statues in the gardens of the the villa) were allegorical figures, the four parts of the Veneto exist, Few attempts have been made to study their world. the four Clements, the four seasons. the four parts of meaning and reason. However. with the help of interesting the tlay. the arts. Olympic deities. Roman heroes. nymphs documenis. we will try to consider some cycles that are still and satyrs - a repettory traditional since the sixteenth Cen• readable. tury represented also in the fresco decoration inside. Their The first. early example. is Villa Barbarei at Maser, built imagcs were taken from classical manuals, like Vincenzo around 1556 on plans prepared by Andrea Palladio togeth- Cartari's 'Imagini de i dei'j and Pierio Valeriano"s 'Hiero- er with the patron Daniele Barbaro on the final slopes of glj phica', published both in 1S56, the First in Venice and the the Asolo hüls, and completed in the following years with second in Basel, and Cesare Ripa's Iconologia', whose first frescoes by Paolo Veronese and sculptures by Alessandro edition, followed by several others. appeared in Rome in Vittoria. This perfect example of the Integration between in- 1593- Between the most interesting documents we must re- teriorand exterior decoration follows the iconographic pro- member the so-called album del Marinali', a rieh dossier of gram proposed by Daniele Barbaro himself. The precise drawings by Orazio and Iiis Workshop reproducing. in sev• meaning of the decorative program of Villa Barbaro. ex• eral sheets, a varied repertory of statuary for gardens. but pressed thrOUgh frescoes, stuecos and statuary. partly paint- also for churches, with possible alternatives, today at the ed in the lipper störe of the building and partly tridimen- Museo Civico of Bassano del Grappa. near Angarano, birth- sional. in the garden. is not clear in every detail. Many place of the slonecutters" family." scholars have been involved to deeipher it. Harmony in the W ith time new Images were added to the traditional ones. microcosm of the family. in the government of the land. in like peasants, exotic Indians. Turkish and oriental men. gro- Venetian politics and in the cosmos is certainly one of the tesque figures and witty dwarfs. masques and character.s main items. Harmony is intended in a Wide sense. as for- from the commedia dell'arte. interacting one another as in lune, peace, love. concord. Allegorical and mythological a lively open air theatre. A good example is the statuary of figures are elements of the language through which this the garden of the Baroquc villa Widmann at Bagnoli di So- message is expressed. Veronese. Vittoria and also the other pra. composed öf one hundred and sixty pieces being pari patron, Marcantonio Barbaro. brother of Daniele, were of different cycles. between which those executed by Anto• responsibte for its display in the interior. in the giardino nio Bonazza and followers in 1742 for Lodovico Widmann segreto at the back, and in the garden in front of the representing putd holding the twelve Zodiac signs, but al• mansion." so soldiers. masques. an aristoeratie couple. a hunter and a Let us now consider a later example, Villa Manin at Pas- peasant vvoman. an old man and an old woman quarrelling. sariano. the residence of the powerful family which bought giving the impression of assisting to one of the goldonian the accession in the Venetian nobillty at a high price in 1651 plays often represented here in the eighteenth Century." during the Cretan war. The constaiction of the villa. locat- Partieularly lively are the so-called indiös of Villa Breda al ed near Codroipo in the eastern district of the Serenissima Ponte di Brenta. the work of Giovanni Bonazza. The dis- called Friuli, staned with Luclovico I Manin before 1656 and play of statues was intended to transmit a message, exactly was frequently interrupted and therefore aecomplisbed like the frescoes inside. as we said. But while most paint- ings are still there and. even if in ptx^r condition. are usu- ally readable. have Ix-en photographed and studied," stat• Fig. >. Villa Manin ai Passarkmo, Ball lookina north tQwards ibe ues have beeil often removed from one place to another. gardens. painled by Louis Dorigny with the Triumph of Spring' and allegorical figures
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HH only one Century later. Villa Manin has an ambitious archi- From the general flatness of the site emerged elements teetUial plan in which elements of tradilional Venetian villa like the hüls, suspended gardens. a Perimetrie walk along architecture were reinterpreted in the Light of che Roman Che walls, towers and belvederi. Chat allowed an elevated Baroque. CO w hich refers ihe large 'piazza quadra" (begun overall view. The four hüls, smaller the lateral ones, higher in 1707) and "piazza rotonda" in front (begun in 1718). The the central ones, crowded with statues, are used as setling two towers at the side of the entrance gate, preceeded by for the representation of mythological events.'-' From vvest the drawbridge over the "peschiera". allude to the feudal to east they represent: The sons of Saturn. Jove, Neptune power of the new aristocracy and remind us at the same and Vulcan. sharing the world between themselves; Mount time the utilitarian " torri colombare" of local tradilion. Two Etna with Pluto in Iiis chariot rapes Proserpina. while the representalions of Herculean labours on top of the entrance crying nimph Ciane is transformed in a fountain: Mount welcome the visitor and others were visible in the huge rec- Parnassus with Apollo. Muses and Pegasus: and Apollo tangular garden at the rear of the mansion. begun around shooting arrows lo the Piton. The Farne propagates these 1715. completed fifty years later in its original geometrical achievements with a trumpel. a figure often represented in form, and in great part destroyed at the beginning of the painted cycies. A precise correspondence links the frescoes nineteenth Century to give place to a picturesque park. Rear in the west and east staircases. executed between the end gardens and front courtyards are clearly conceived as out- of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth Cen• side extention of the palace. according to the Renaissance tury, with ihe hüls at the northern end of the garden: Jove and Baroque tradition. A great amount of statues, more strikes with lightnings the giants is linked to the outside Et- than two hundred, are distributed in the villa, as well in the na, at whose feet the giants were buried. More. Latona buildings as in the open air Spaces. To go back to the eight- transforming the inhabitants of Lycia in frogs in the ceiling eenth Century formal aspect of the garden, that had an of the east staircase is related to Apollo and Mount Parnas• extension of eighty "campi". we must relay on documents. sus, and the spring room painted by Dorigny corresponds Visual and written. Contemporary writings. as Daniele also lo the hill Parnassus, while ihe allee of the Erme is a Florio's 'Le Grazie', illustrate the villa and its gardens. Of reference to the fecundity of the land and to the agriculcu- great interest is a refined series of tvvelve eighteenth-centu- ral interests of (he Manin :ii Passariano." Frescoes and stai- ry prints which illustrate in details. with the help of the two uary in the Manin Olympus of Passariano allude to the glo- legenda, lndice delle cose piü notabili del locco di Perse- reano di NN HH Co. Co. Manini', the general plan of the garden, divided in quadrangular companments by pcrpen- Fig. •). The 'macebina' of Villa Lampertico, called La Deltetasa', at dicular roads. with pavilions like the Bagno di Diana, two Moiitegeilc/ella. in ci dreiteilig qf OraXiO Meniiuili. Uassano, Museo fortresses in miniature, one regulär and one irregulär, refer- Civico ring perhaps to the nearby Palmanova and to the models of the French military engineer Vauban, an open air theatre, a labyrinth. water towers, sun-dials. fountains, basins, and X four small artificial hüls at die north end, opposite to the front of the palace. which are the only surviving part of the Baroque plan." rificattop of Che family. its noble position. its interest in ihe ular roads. Its elements are almost all there, and in their ans. iis political view, its admiration for Baroque Rome and original place, except for the Vegetation. Instead of the for the France of Louis XIV. Ltke in Versailles \ve meet Apol• completely controlled growth of the evergreen parterres, lo, Diana and their mother Latona. The name of the patron, topiary and pergolas of the formal seventeenth-century gar• Ludovico, is linkeel to (hat of tbe king of France. The rela- den. exotic shrubs and trees have beert planted at the end tion betvveen exlerior and interior decoration in Villa Manin of the eighteenth Century, aecording to the vogue of the remembers ihai beiween the two vases of War and Peace .11 landscape garden. vvhich. with their uncontrolled growth, the beginning of the tapis vert and the two rooms with the have submergeel every other element. The initial State of the same name at the extremities of the Galerie des glaces, at villa and garden is testified by the illustrations in the album Versailles. Co-ordinator of a great part of the program was of Domenico Rossetti, Le fabbriche e i giardini dell'Ecc.ma probably Giovanni Ziborghi. "mastro di Casa" from 1730 to Casa Barbarigo', pablished in Verona in 1702. while the 1765. and. later. Bernardino Zendrini." painting of the late seventeenth Century by an unknown an• In Villa Barbara a few inscriptions in the interior of the ist, gives an extremely accurate image, panly ideal, as sug- house. in the secret garden and in the grotto heip us to un- gested by the exactly symmetrica] strueture, with its rectan• derstand the program of the Villa. As already mentioned, in• gular plan geometrically subdivided in 24 square compart• scriptions linked to statuary were the gniding line of the ments, and by the impossible frontal view. garden of Villa Brenzone at Punta San Vigilio. Even more The statues, probably in great part executed by Enrico relevant is the role of inscriptions in the garden of Villa Bar- Maregno (active between 1679 and 1714)" were originally barigo at Valsanzibio in the Euganean Hills, started around emerging elements, with fountains and a few pavilions, like 1660 and completed before the end of the Century, one of the imposing Bagno di Diana, presented in front and side the best preserved Baroque gardens of the Veneto. and al• in the painting. They carry the message that the garden in- so one of the more richly documented. It lies in a Valley be- tends to transmit. illustrated by the distich inscriptions pub- tween two hüls, and has a simple, quite rectangular plan, lished by Giacomo Salamone in Iiis "Agri patavini inscrip- divided in twenty-four Square compartments by perpendic- tiones sacrae et prophanae'of 1696, (the inscriptions. the author informs us. were copied in 1690) and today are still F$g; 5. The mciccbiiia'DJ Villa lamperHcö, caSed 'LaBetiztosä', ai in great part readable. Diana is a central figure, dominating Montegaldeüa, in a drawtng Fig. 6. Ihe macchiiia oj Villa lampertico, called IM Deliziosa'. al Montegaldella V; L n H -t.zr.txi- .i-J--'J— •--(%. m w. - J 3&* vi m mm j. ' ''""'«P" <.™ k "llcgoric dd qmmro cominenn dclla icrra L limlino poslerwre d, vHIl CoMß, Umpcrüco j MontcyilJelh UM lovers. Endimione and Alteone. At her sides, at the top of dens up to the peschiera. reaching al the end a complicat• the Bugno, are Hercules and Mercurius. Local rivers (Bren- ed plastic group dominated by Jove and Minerv a, with alle• ta and Bacchiglione) and Winds (Fountain of Eolus) repre- gorical figures representing the victory of ihe Beregan lam- sent the generous nature of the Euganean Hills. Mytholog- ily over cupidity. by means of religion. philosophy and vir- ical and allegorical figures (the giants Polifemo and Tifeo, tue. The subject appears exactly as the counterpart of con• Ope with the child Jove, Time, the four liberal arts) allude temporary frescoes. with moral allusions well representing to the paradise of the Villa as opposed to the hell outside, the principles of enlightenment.1'' Moreover. the description and accompany the visitor in a kind of initiatory walk that of the statues of the Beregan parterre recalls. in the articu- introduces to the terrace in front of the house. through the lation of the allegorical figures, the description of the stairs where the essence of the complicated message is ex- "grande commande" made in 1674 by Colbert to Le Brun, plained culminating on the terrace in front of the house, related to twenty-eight statues for the parterre deau of Ver• preceded by the long inscription on the Steps."' where na- sailles, of whom Claude Nivelon, biographer of Le Brun, ture and an finally find a perfect balance, well illustrated by gave the detailed allegorical program: "Ce parterre est une the group of statues representing health. fecundity, joy, representation de toute la masse ou constaiction univer• abundance, rest, agriculture, flora. genius and solitude, (Sa- selle. Les ciuatre elements etaient places aux angles du par• lubritä. Diletto, Allegrezza. Abbonclanza, Riposo, Agricoltu- terre representes sous la figure de quatre enlevements (...) ra, Flora. Genio, Solitudine). Recently in the program of the De plus, vingt-quatre figures qui ont ete placees dans le garden were read allusions to the contemporary political tour d'un autre parterre sont les quatre representalions cles Situation of Venice and of the Barbarigo family, who was in- elements simples, les quatre parties de l'annee, les quatre volved in the war against the Türks.1" panies du joüf, les quatre parties du monde, les quatres Only four statues survived of the original group of twen- poemes. les quatre complexions de l'homme, le tout avec ty-three made probably by Giovan Battista Bendazzoli for leurs attributs en general. par lesquels est depeint et figure. the late eighteenth-century garden of Villa Beregan. situat- comme est dit, l'union ou l'enchainement de ce qui com- ed at the edge of Monte Crocetta. in a picturesque site just pose l'univers.The drawings by Le Brun derive from outside Vicenza called Ie Maddalene. but a short poetry Ripa's richly illustrated French edition of tlie 'Iconologia'. writlen by the owner himself. Nicolö Beregan. illustratc the published in 1644. message transmitted by them.ls In Beregan's "parterre filo- While in Villa Barbaro and Villa Beregan the iconogra- sofico ". as the garden was called. allegorical statues ("scol- pher was the owner himself, and in Villa Manin probably ti sassi, che fan Corona al verde smalto"), in group of four the "maestro di casa", in other cases the general program (the elements: the paus of the world; the arts linked to the was supervised by one of the artisis involved. We woncler, ground: fiunting, fishing, pastoral, agriculture; the parts of for example, if Giambattista Tiepolo, while painting the agriculture: cereals. vines. meadows. orchard; the sciences frescoes in Villa Loschi Zileri Dal Venne at Biron di Monte- needed for a good agriculture: geometry. astronomy. mc- viale, Villa Cordellina at Montecchio and Villa Valmarana ai chanios and natural history; the two forces that inspire all Nani. all near Vicenza, gave also suggestions for the plastic human actions. tnterest and pleasure) accompanied the vis• ornamentation of their gardens, which were reorganized itor from the entrance courtyard. through house and gar- more or less at the same time. Allegorical statues in grisaille were painted by Tiepolo in Villa Loschi. for whose garden Francesco Muttoni presented a project actually never exe- l-'ig. 7. Villa Cordellina Lomhardi. Monteccbio Magglofe, frönt cuted. Were the two artists in contact with one another? garden, sc alpin res representing Man and Venus or Rinaldo and Still more queslions arise with Villa Cordellina at Montec• Armida. allrihnted to Antonio and Francesco Uonazza chio Maggiore, near Vicenza. built for the rieh lawyer Car- o Cordellina from 1735 to 1747 aecording to plans by Gior- l-'ifi H. Oiamlxitlisla Tiepolo. pre/xiratoiy dmwirtg/or a scitl/'/iiral group npresentiiifi Rtruüdo and Armida. (London. Victoria and Albert Museum), probably for Villa Cordeilina Lombard! <• K i •ä Mr- HWk^fS -v b gio Massari, perhaps with the participaiion of Francesco whole. How much did Francesco Muttoni and Girolamo Muttoni for the additions used as horse Stahles and guest Frigimelica inlluence the figurative ornamentation of build• house. Giambaitisia Tiepolo painied the main hall in 1743 ings like the portals of Villa Trissino, topped with fanciful and the Bonazza executed al the same titüe the statues for volutes. urns and trophys, and the hexagonal Orangerie of buildings and gardens.-'1 The same Spirit and cultural back- Villa Pisani. culminating with twelve statues of the arts? Per• ground preside painted and plastic decoration inside and haps the involved artists collaborated so closely together in outside, the main topics being the virtues and moral quali- such works that it is difficult to define the precise role of ties of a good lawyer and the happiness of aristocratic rural each one. This was. probably the case for the complex life and of agricullure. for vvhose improvements Carlo Cor• '•macchina" of Villa Conti Lampertico, called "La Deliziosa". dellina was actively involved. The same mythological and at Montegaldella. a huge composition where the four parts allegorical fignres are represented in the frescoes and in the of the world and the four corresponding rivers are Süper- statues. Tiepolo, probably on suggestions by Francesco Al- posed in a octagonal planned structure,-'" topped by a group garotti, gave Sketches for some statues. Seven drawings by of two male figures, one sitting and one staying, animated Tiepolo are clearly connected to the two groups of lovers by sprightly putti astride capricious volutes, a motive recur- in the southern court, even if the subjects are not exactly rent in the work of Muttoni. We know two drawings relat• the same. as the sculpted groups represent Jove and Juno. ed to this composition: One drawing. probably made by Mars and Venus, vvhile the drawings represent Rinaldo and Orazio Marinali, to whom the sculptures have always been Armida. Zefir and Flora. Diana and Endimion. Diana and attributed, or by somebody of Iiis Workshop, lacks the plas• Orion. '-' Kight fine urns representing the fourseasons, posi- tic group at the top. This drawing was found in the already tioned at couples on top of the pilasters of the four gates mentioned album del Marinali' at Bassano's Museo Civico.-" that link the southern "corte nobile" to the side gardens The other draw ing is more detailed and complete and was with the "cedfara" (i.e. oraugeiie). and these with "orto" made by Francesco Muttoni, w ho probably gave the gener- and "hrolo". They show lively scenes of family and country al plan of the "macchina". An inscription on the drawing life and are topped with llowers and fruils corresponding to reads " Nel Sitto A sarä colocato un Gruppo di Statue rap- the represented season. These urns are probably the work presentanti l'acqua e il fuoco". This refers perhaps to the of Antonio bonazza. bul their elegante recalls the an of sculpture group at the top-'" and seems to be a good exam- Giambattista Tiepolo. A similar um is painted in the "Mytho• ple of collaboration! logical Scene' by the young Tiepolo, at present in a private Sculpture is an essential part of these compositions, as we collection at Geneve." have seen. Therefore we are concerned if it is separated The same question could be advanced for Villa Valmara- from the environment for which it was planned. That hap- na ai Nani: Were Giambattista Tiepolo and Iiis son Giando- pened often in the past. Statues from Venetian villas are to- menico. painters of the fescoes in the villa and in the guest day in Villa La Pietra near Florence and in the I Huntington house. also responsible for the garden statuary? In particu- Gardens. San Marino, California, just to mention two rather lar the seventeen statues of dwarfs that give the name to the satisfactory examples."1 That still happens today. We regret villa w ere somehow inspired by the Tiepolos? The dwarfs that an auction house of international renown recently pro- represent a soldier. a servant. a king. the guardian of the Se• posed the sale of a series of statues of the Honazzas and rail, and other professions which recall the figures of the guaranteed that they were from a garden near Padua and commedia dell'arte, and of the conicmporary Goldonian could be sold. as a group or separate. This provoked not theatre. This subject is not frequent in villa gardens. only the irreparable mutilation of that garden. but the loss, Six excellent dwarfs. probably made by Orazio Marinali. with the works of an. of the key for reading the message are in the Orangerie staircase of Villa Trento da Schio at Co- that the entire villa intended to transmit." stozza di Longare. another group at Villa Nani Mocenigo at Monselice. where they refer to the family name, and others in the Giardini Valmarana al Castello in Vicenza. Lionello FOOTNOTES l'uppi associates the iconography of the dwarfs to the Ger• man edition from P16 of II Callotto resuscilato". with prints 1 Margherita Azzi Visentini. Die italienische Villa. Bauten des 15. derived from grotesque figures of Callot, Tiepolo could und 16. Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart 1997, with detailed bibliogra- have seen this publication during Iiis stay in Würzburg, just phyj (dem, Scritti teorico pratici suli'atte dd giardini, Milano, II Polifilo (in publication). before he started to work for the Valmaranas.-"' Today the 2 The bibliography on Venetian villas is extreniely rieh. See, for statues are Standing on the enclosure Walls and look out• the essential references, Margherita Azzi Visentini 1997 (see: side. a Situation that evidently does not correspond to the f(X)tnote 1), pp. 221-294, .352-355 (bibliography). original one. It is possible that they were moved there 3 Vincenzo Scamozzi. L'idea della architettura universale. Venezia around I'HT during the renovalions commissioned by Ele• I6l5, p. 344. na Garzadori. daughter-in-law of Giustino Valmarana. pa- ^ Alessandro Tagllolinl and Margherita Azzi Visentini (editors), Ii giardino delle Esperidi. Gli agrumi nella sioria. nella letteratu- ttföri of the Tiepolos. At that time. a lot of previously ne- r.i e neü'ane, Firenze 1996. Apart citrus, Vegetation w as limited glccted statues. some of them of great quality. were re- to Rower lx?ds near the house. in Order "to leave free the paired and re-expound. vista". and to row trees archilecturally cut to form pergolas And again we wonder about the relationship between ar- or espaliers along the edges of the garden. The introduclion chitect and sculpior in the planning of garden pavilions ot exotic trees like magnolia grandiflora. liriodendron tulipifc- and gateways like at villa Trissino-" and at villa Pisani at ra, ginkgo biloba, taxodium distichum etc., at the end of the dghteenth Century, changed completely the traditional relation• Stra,-" both masterpieces of Venetian Rococo. where struc- ship between archilccture. garden and landscape in Venetian tural and decorative parts are conceived as an inseparable villas. 92 5 See: Camillo Semenzato, La scultura vcnela del .Seicento e Set- pp. 31-55; Francesca Venuto. I Manin e la «Uta di Passariano: lecento. Vene/ia 1966; Idem. Bonazza. in: Jane Turner (edilor). Storia di un sito. di un palazzo e di un giardino. in: Gillx-rto The Dictionary of Art. 4. 1996, pp. 310-311: Idem. Marinali. in: Ganzer (edilor). Splendori di una dinaslia. exhibition calalogue. Jane Turner (editor). The Dictionary of Art. 20. 1996. pp. 422- Milano 1996, pp. 26-32: Francesca Venuto. La staluaria di Villa 423. with bibliography. Manin. in: Mariella Moreno (edilor). Codroipo. Inventario dei 6 On Marinali's albuni see: Franco Barbieri and G. Menato. Pietra Beni Cullurali del Comune, 26. Passariano 1996. pp. 155-173. di Vicenza. Vicenza 1970: Franco Barbieri. Le scene della scul• Venuto's text is completed with plans indicating the actual lo- lura. in: I Tiepolo e il Seitecenlo vicentino. exhibition cata- cation of each statue. logue. Milano 1990. pp. 226-245, ai pp. 231-236; M. Azzi Visen- 12 The siatues in the hüls were bigger ihan the others and rough- lini. "Kl in Arcadia cgo". Innovazioni e tradizione nel giardino ly refined. Originally they were plastered and probably paini• venelo del Seitecenlo, ibidem, pp. 350-381. ai pp. 377-79. ed. The remaining plaslic decoration of the garden, composed Drawings ofthe Marinali are also in Vicenza's Museo Civico. of around one hundred pieces. mainly siatues. bin also herms. 7 Francesco Cessi. Lo zodiaco di A. Bonazza e della sua scuola vases. trophes etc., is loday aligned along the main allees. The nel giardino di Villa Widmann a Bagnoli. in: "I'adova e la sua elegant turkish trophies are a clear homage lo Giulio-Anlonio provincia". XI. 1965. 1. pp. 9-12. Manin. who died at Candia serving Iiis country. Together with 8 On tiM painied decoration of Venelian villas see: Luciana Cro- ihe siatues in the front counyards. in ihe bulldingS and in the sato. Gli affreschi nelle ville venete del Cinquecento. Treviso chapel they amount lo 230 pieces. Giovanni Bonazza and Iiis 1962; Mercedes Precerutti Garberi. Affreschi settecenteschi sons Francesco and Tommaso are responsible for the most con- delle ville venete. Milano 1968: Francesca D'Arcais, Giuseppe sLstent group (around one hundred pieces) and ihe mosi re• Pavanello. Franca Zava Boccazzi. Gli affreschi nelle ville venete fined. Agostino Testa. Antonio Pietrolx-Ili. Orazio Marinali. Giu• dal Seicento all'Ottocento. with an introduction by Kodolfo Pal- seppe and Paolo Groppelli, Francesco Bertos. Giuseppe Zimin- lucchini. Venezia 1978. 9 Explaining the view of the garden of Villa Sagredo al Marocco in Iiis 'Istoria e coltura delle piante', published in Venice in 1726. Paolo Bartolomeo Clarici rememlxrs the great numlx-r of "marmoree Statue, che in forma gigantesca sopra eminenti ba- V» si s'innalzano". or "annicchiale ne riparti del Giardino (...) ries- cono di prospetto. ed ornamento in qualsivoglia situazione". 10 On Venelian statuary. apart the already menlioned writings by Semenzato and Barbieri. see Camillo Semenzato. Antonio Bo• nazza (1698-1763). Venezia 1957; A. Nava Cellini. Storia dell'arte in Italia. La scultura del Seicento. Torino 1982: Idem. Storia dell'arte in Italia. La scultura del Setlecento. Torino 1982: Paolo Goi, II Seicento e il Settecento. in: Idem (edilor). La scul• tura nel Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Dal Quattrocento al Novecento. Pordenone 1988. On the iconographic meaning of the decora• tion of Villa Barharo see R. Oxke, Veronese und Daniele Bar- baro: The Decoraiion of Villa Maser, in: 'Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'. XXXV. 1972. pp. 226-246; Douglas Lewis, II significato della decorazione plastica e piltorica a Mas• er, in 'Bollettlno del Centro [niemazionale ih studi di archltet- tura Andrea Palladio'. XXII. 1980 (1985), pari I. pp. 203-213; Lu• ciana Crosato Larcher. Considerazioni sul programma icono- grafico di Maser, in: Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen lasti- tutes in Florenz', XXVI. 1982. pp. 211-256; I.J. Reist. Divine Love and Veronese's Frescoes at the Villa Barbaro, in: USe Art n Bulletin'. LXVM. 4. 1985. pp. 614-635. 11 Fighteenth-century prints and writings help to understand the meaning of the iconographic program of Villa Manin. Of great Fig. 9. Hunazza's Workshop, urm wilb molffs of spring, eastern interest are especially the fourteen prints, ten related lo the gar- "brtifa". Villa Corclelliua iombardi, Munlcvchiu Mtinf>itnv dens, of the series Locco dei N.N. H.H. Co.Co. Manin di Perse- reano. of which only iwo copies are known, one in the Biblio- teca Civica di l'dine (Archivio Manin) and the other in the Mu• seo Correr. Venice. Important informalions are given by the ian and Pieiro Danielen! collaborated i<> the ptaath decoration contemporary writings of F. Beretla. La Patria del Friuli descrit- of Villa Manin We lind iwo artificial hills al the limii of the gar• la e illustraia colla storia e monumenti di l'dine sua capitale e den. al ihe sides of the "stradon" inlroilucing lo the Heids, niore delle allre cittä e luoghi della prov incia. Venezia 1753; Natale or less like in Villa Manin. in other gardens ol the Vcneto. Villa Dalle Laste. A S.E. Co. Lodovico Manin. Procuratore di S. Mar• Cornaro (called "II Paradiso") at Castelfranco hat! Hills with pa- co. Gratulazione dei Deputati della cittä di l'dine. Venezia I764j vilions descrilx-d by Petr Andrcevic Tolstoj in 1697, today still D. Durand, Peraereano, Cinii due per le nozze del H.H. signor sun iving in ihe landscape garden. crowned with horses once Conte Giovanni Manin e la N.D. Signora Samarilana Delfin. in- al their feet. See Margherila Azzi Visenlini. Li \ illa Cornaro. del• dirizzati agli ecccllcntissimi sposi. l'dine 1765; D. Florio. Le la "II Paradiso ", pol Kevcdin-Bolasco, a CuteUnnCO Venelo. in: Grazie. Poemello per le nozze del cav. Giovanni Manin colla II giardino COme labirinlo della sloria, II. papers of die meeling N.D. Samarilana Dcifino, Venezia P6K. See Francesca Vcnulo. i 1985), Palermo 1990. pp. "-II: Margherita Azzi Visenlini, Villa La Wcenda edilizia del complesso di Passariano, in: 'Ane in Cornaro. Casiellranco Venelo. in: Idem (edilor). Die Gürten lies Friuli - Arte a Trieste". 7. 1984. pp. 53-"' t: Lionello Puppi, "For- Venelo, München 199=1, pp. 129-131. Artificial hüls were bullt in tunam Virtus vincere sola polest". LOlimpo dei Manin a Passar• ihe same posiiion m the gardens ol Villa Grimanl al Martettago tano, in: 'La letleratura e i giardini. papers of the meeling. Fi- See: Bernanl Aikema. A French Garden anil the Venelian Tra• renze 198". pp. 39S-M9: Martina Frank. I na fervida siagionc di dition, in: Arte Veneta . XXXIV . 1980. pp. 12~-13" commitlenza gentilizia: I Manin. in: Studi veneziani. n.s.. XXIII 13 On the fresco decoration of Villa Vlanin see: Francesca 11992). pp. 1 r i(>>: Martina Frank. Virtü e fortuna. II mecena- D'Arcais. Giuseppe Pavanello. Franca Zava BoCCaZZi 19~8(see: lismo e le committenze artisliche della famiglia Manin tra Friu• foptnoteffi p. 210. law. 231-232; Martina Frank 1990 (see: fiKH- li e Venezia Giulia nel XVII e XVIII secolo, Venezia 1996. note 11 > pp. -i6-53. '»3 11 scr: Michelangelo Muraro, La villa cli Passariano e l'architetto white on the "sovrapporle" were painted the four continents. Giovanni Ziborghi, in: Tagungsbe rieht der Dreiländer-Fachta• On the iconographic programme of Tiepolo's frescoes. prolv gung der Kunsthistoriker, Graz 1972. pp. 44-60; Francesca Ve- ably inspired by Francesco Algarotti. see: Lionello Puppi. Carlo nulo. Giovanni Zlbörghi "maslro cli casa" Manin. in: "Venezia Cordellina committente d'artisti. Novitä e appunti SO G. Massa• Arti-, 5, 1991, pp. 73-80. ri, G.B. Tiepolo. F. Guardi, F. Lorenzi. O. Calderari, in: 'Arte Ve• 15 As suggested by Camillo Semenzato, Una proposta per il giar- neta'. XXII. 1968. pp. 212-216: Barbara Mazza, Ii trionfo della dino di Valsanzibio. in: Arte Veneta', XXIX, 1975. pp. 219-223- Ragione. Giambatlista Tiepolo per Carlo Cordellina, in: Lionel• Bul differeni hands have executed Ehe statuary of the garden. lo Puppi (editor). La Cordellina cit., pp. 306-315. Statues, vases. On Villa Barbarigo see: Lionello I'uppi. The Giardino Barbari- trophes and various plastic decoration figure in Tiepolo's paint• go at Valsanzibio, in: 'Journal of Garden History', CD, 1983. ings. bul mostly copied from different models, particularly an- pp. 281-300: Margherita Azzi Visentini (editor). Die Gärten eil., cient ones. made available by recently published repertories. pp. 138-141; Lionello I'uppi. "Quivi e l'inferno e quivi il paradi- On the subjeel see now: Giuseppe Pavanello and Paola Rossi so". II giardino di Villa Barbarigo a Valsanzibio nel l'adovano. papers of the congress on Giambattista Tiepolo. Lionello Pup• in: Monique Mosser and Geroge Teyssot (editors). L'architettura pi (editor). in preparation. On the conservation problems of the del giardino d'oecidente, Milano 1992. pp. 181-183; Loris Fon• garden statues see: Filippa Aliberti Gaudioso. Le sculture del tana. Valsanzibio. Valsanzibio (Padova) 1990. giardino. Vicende e problemi di conservazione. in: Lionello 16 On the Steps between the garden antl the terrace in front of the Puppi (editor). La Cordellina cit.. pp. 324-328. house the following long inscriplion is addressed to the visitor: 22 Tiepolo's drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum were first "Tu. ehe curioso giungi. 8 ä parte, ä parte f Giri per rintracciar connected to the Cordellina's statues by George Knox. Cata- vaghezze rare. / Osserva. e di. che. s'una pur n'appare. / E tut- logue of the Tiepolo Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Mu• tO di Natura, e nulla d'Arte. / Qui piü splendenti il Sol suoi rai seum. London 1960, nn, 74-80, pp. 16-17. 55-56. For George eomparte, / Qui Venere piü bella esce dal Mare: / Sue mutanze Knox the plastic group generally identified as Mars and Venus la luna hä qui piü ciliare. / Qui non giunge ä turbar furor di represents instead Rinaldo and Armida. the sanie subject of two Marie. .' Quivi Salurno i parti suoi non rode. / Qui Giove gio- drawings. Five similar drawings of group of figures related lo va. ed'hä Sereno'l Viso; / Quivi perde Mercurio ogni sua frode. Statuary, with their pedestal, by Giambatlista. numbered by the / Qui non ha luoco il pianto, hä sede'I riso; / Qui della Corte'l anist's own band, in the Berlin Printroom (inv. Nn. 4487-90 and fulminc non s'ode; / Quivi e l'inferno, e quivi il Paradiso." 12322), are mentioned by J. Byam Shaw. Domenico Tiepolo. 17 On the program of ihe Barbarigo garden see: Lionello Puppi. London 1962, pp. 39-40. vvho discusses also a serie of drawings "Quivi" (see : fÖQtnote 15); Loris Fontana, cit. The last has read by Giandomenico clearly related to garden statuary. in the statuary of ihe garden references lo the Turkish war in 23 The painting. in a private collection of Geneve, was first pub• which Venice was involved al ihe time. as well as ollier allu- lished as a young work. dated about 1724-25. by Morassi. who sions to the fainily affairs in thls war. For example the verses identjfied ihe subject as the Death of Narciso or of Giacinto. "Puote solo Endiniion fennar la luna" would refer. aecording to See: Antonio Morassi. Settecento inedilo, in: Arte Veneta'. XVII. Fontana, to the tuoon of Islam, and not only to Diana. 1963; Aldo Rizzi (editor). Mostra del Tiepolo. Dipinii. exhibition 18 Nicolö Beregan, Dilucidazione del parterre filosofico nella Vil• catalogue, Milano 1971, n. 10, p. 31. la deH'Autore ne' sohborghi di Vicenza detta il Moracchino. in: 24 See: Lionello Puppi. I Tiepolo a Vicenza e le statue dei "nani" a Poesie diverse di Niecola Beregani. Padova 17H6. pp. 87-90: Villa Valmarana a San Basliano, in 'Alti dcll'lstitulo Veneto di Margherita Azzi Visentini. II giardino veneto tra Seite e Ottocen- Scienze Lettere Arti", 1967-68, pp. 243-50: Idem. I "nani" di Villa to e le sue fonti. Milano 1988. pp. 167-170. Valmarana a Vicenza. in: Antichitä Viva', VII. 1968. 2. pp. 34-46. 19 The eighteenth-century iconographic programs open to the 25 Muttoni, in bis exceptional series of drawings for the gardens new philosophical and scientific approach of enliglitennienl. of the Upper Villa, represents statues with great accuraey. On see: Barbara Mazza. II trionfo della scienza owero "La luce the Trissino villas in Trissino see: Margherita Azzi Visentini, dell'intelligenza vince le lenebre dell'ignoranza". in: Studi ve- Francesco Muttoni architetto di giardini: Villa Trissino Marzotto neziani'. n.s., XXIII (1992). pp. 163-181. a Trissino. in: Arte Veneta'. XLIV. 1993. pp. 34-47: C. Crovella. 20 See. on the iconographyc programme of the gardens of Ver• Le ville Trissino-Marzotto a Trissino. docloral thesis. University sailles. Claude Nivelon. Vie de Charles Le Brun, ms., of l 'dine. 1995-96. pp. 79-88. with reproduetion. subject and lo- Bibliothequc Nationale. MS. Fr. 12987; abstracts in Pierre de cation of the eighty statues today in the gardens of the two Tris• Nolhac. La creation de Versailles d'apres les sources inediles. sino villas, mainly the work of Angelo De Putti and Giaconio Etüde sur les origines et les premieres transforniations du Cassetti. of the Marinali school. chSteau et des jardins. Versailles 1901. 26 On the garden of Villa Pisani see Andre Corlx>z, II Parco di Stra 21 On Villa Cordellina see: Kemo Schiavo. Ca Villa Cordellina Lom- (1719): piste per una ricerca. in: II giardino come labirinto del• bardi cli Montecchio Maggiore, Vicenza 1975; Idem. Giovanni la storia. II, papers of the Conference. Palermo 1990. pp. 25-47. Battista Tiepolo alla villa Cordellina di Montecchio Maggiore. Andre Corboz has noted that Giambattista Tiepolo, who Vicenza 1989: Lionello Puppi (editor), La Cordellina: l'Olimpo worked al the main hall of Villa Pisani many years alter the con- in villa. in: I Tiepolo e il Setlecento vicentino cit.. pp. 296-381. siruction of the garden, painted elements of Frigimelica's walls On the statues of Villa Cordellina see: Remo Schiavo. La Villa of the villa many times in Iiis work QOC. cit., pp. 31, 33. fool- Cordellina cit.: Giovanni Mariacher, Le sculture di Villa Cordel• note 33). In the inventory of the Villa Pisani at Stra made by lina I.ombardi. in: Lionello Puppi (editor). La Cordellina cit.. pp. Giannantonio Selva in 1806 are listed the following statues by 321 323. Remo Schiavo has noted affinities on the treatment of Antonio Bonazza. mainly groups. still in place: Apollo and Di• laces in paintings and sculptures. For the involvement of Giam- ana. Nemesis, Hercules and Sole. Venus and Mars. Zephyr and baKiSUI Tiepolo in the gardens of villas where he painted. see: Flora, Neptune and Pomona, Aurora and Triton. Indolence and Margherita Azzi Visentini. I giardini del Tiepolo, in: Lionello Gluttony. Envy and Mida. Daphne and Apollo, Arrogante and I'uppi (editor). Giambatlista Tiepolo .... acts of ihe nieeting Ira. Cfr. R. Gallo. I na famiglia patrizia. I Pisani ed i palazzi di (1996). in prlnt. In 1863 have lieen sold ihe four statues origi- S. Stefano e di Stra. in: 'Archivio veneto', XXXIV-XXXV (1944). nally on the eastern and western small towers of the villa, rep• 67-70, Venezia 1945. pp. 65-228: L. Fontana. Villa Pisani a Stra. resenting Time. Aesculapius. Fortune and Hercules. On the Fiesso d'Artico (Ve). 1983. p. 66. footnote 28. Twelve statues ceiling of the main hall of Villa Cordellina Tiepolo painied the representing the ans (music. geometry. etc.) are at the top of Triumph of Virtue and Nobility in the centre. and around it six the exagonal pavilion of the garden. monochromes with allegorical figures. representing Politics. 27 On the huge "macchina". around eighl meters high, of Villa War. Poetry and l'ainting. Music. Merit and Advice (Consiglio). Conti Lampertico. probably originally coneeived as a founlain. the two last taken from Ripa; in the east and wesl walls of the see: Renato Cevese, Ville della provincia di Vicenza. Milano sanie r 94 28 Camillo Semenzalo. La scultura dt., pp. 98. 103. fig. 72; Piatico Barbieri. Le scene dt, pp. 233-234. 29 The drawing is one of a dossier of 289 given by tfae anisi ai bis native town of Cima, and today in the Archivio Comunale of nearby Pödezza, in northern ltaly (Fondo Muttoni. XV, 135). Natalia Grilli. ün archivio ineclilo dcU'architetto Francesco Mut- toni a Porlezza. Firenze 1991. p. 1%. 30 The gardens of Villa la Pietra. near Florence. were planned in a Renaissance revival style from 1904 under the direclion of their ovvner, Arthur Acton. and of Iiis gardener. Mariano, with a series of three terraces looking down to Fiesole and Florence. A great nnniber of Venetian garden statues. a gianl Hercules and others by Orazio Marinali's Workshop, and others allribut- ed to Francesco Bonazza, were distrihuted in the gardens. Masques of the commedia dell'arte were located in an opcn-air theatre. A recent archival discovery kindly communicated by Fernando Rigon have revealed (hat an entire group of statues of the Marinalis were bouglu by Anhur Acton around 1924 from Villa Santogiocaffi I'edrina of Ponte di Barbarano Vicentino. See: Harold Acton. Ville Toscane. Milano 1973. pp. 145-118; Luigi Zangheri. Ville della provincia di Firenze. Milano 1989. pp. 132-147. On December 1 Ith. 1918. at an an sale at French and Compa• ny in New York, rwenty stone statues, made in the Workshop of Giovanni BonaZza and Iiis sons, were boughl by Henry Ed• wards Huntington, from the estate of Luther Kountze, who had boughl them from a garden near Padua. They represent Mars. SS -7? l-'if>. 10. V.w slatue of Time' in Vtita BatbarigO (tt Valscmzibio. from 1). Kosselli. le fahl triebe .... 1702 Minerva. Perseus. Fire. Light. Music. Dance. Dancing Peasant. Piping N'ymph. Musician, Baccant, Italian Peasant. Vouthful Vi'arrior, Feniale Vi'arrior. Amazon, Peace, Victory. Flora. Hus- bandry and Arboriculture. Huntington, a very successful man of commerce enriched with the railroad husiness. was then living in New York at Iiis residence of 57lh Street and Fifth Avenue, but was in the meantime very busy with the constniction of buildings and gardens in the large California Fstale of San Ma• rino. Pasadena (six hundred acres), ten miles north of Los An• geles, thal he considered. since Iiis firsl visit in 1892. a special- ly-favored land. He acquired the property in 1903. after a long, careful investigation about the best place for Iiis dreamed es• tate, at the death of J. de Barth Shorb, its previous owner. Tlie constniction of the gardens Started in 1904 under the supervi- sion of VCfiliam Henrich, with (he Lily Pond. the Palm Garden and the Desert Garden, followed by the North Vista. the Rose Garden and the Cyclad Collection. The Venetian statues. backed by azaleas and palms. were located in the North Vista, closed at the far end by the San Gabriel Mountains. The gar• dens w ere officially opened on August 30th. 1919. See: James Thorpe, The Crealion of the Gardens, in: The Founding ol the Henry E, Huntington Library and Art Gallen-. San Marino. Ca. 1969, pp. 332-350. 31 Sotheby s sale of October 25th, 1989. offered a group of seven- leen early eighteenth-century stone statues from a Venetian gar• den attributed to Giovanni and Antonio Bonazza. Orazio Mari• nali and Giovanni Marchion. Let's hope thal at least this small group will Staj togelher!