The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este The Renaissance Italy: Villa d’Este

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Villa d’Este, Tivoli Tivoli, one of the chief centers for country life during the Roman Empire, was the retreat of the Emperor Hadrian. In the 16th century, the Renaissance princes and church elite built their own estates on the ruins of the ancients. In 1549, Pirro Liggori, architect and historian, began work on a villa for Cardinal Ippolito d’Este. By diverting part of the River Aniene to the top of the villa and drawing on the gravitational pull of the steep site, an elaborate display of fountains and pools were created as symbolic and aesthetic objects of meaning and function

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Plan of Villa d’Este The plan of the Villa d’Este is a regimented grid laid over a steep terrain on a north-facing slope. The casino is a large structure that boldly fronts the landscape yet is easily lost from view as the garden visitor ambles through the pleasure grounds. The architectonic terraces emanate from the building and rest perpendicular to the main garden axis. The garden is structured around this main axis and several subordinate axes, including the major cross-axis that is characterized by the fish ponds on the broad, flat terrace that terminates at the eastern end with the grand Water Organ EW N

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este 100 Fountains The Terrace of the Hundred Fountains is a wonderful show of engineering accomplishment and sculptural beauty. The repeated use of artful relics, part of Pirro Ligorio’s attempt to incorporate ancient artifacts with the garden design, were plumbed to distribute the water flow evenly throughout the long, rhythmic corridor. The seat- height wall at the base of the fountain invites the visitor to sit at the water’s edge and enjoy the coolness of the spray. The result is a mesmerizing visual, audible, and tangible event in the landscape

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Details of the Hundred Fountains Some of the fountain sculptures are quite playful, lending an air of whimsical humor to what might have become a very serious endeavor. The ship (left, covered in moss) has a spray of water for its sails, looking like a small toy that was left behind by a preoccupied child. The mask on the right is a stone carving from the 2nd century, unearthed in the excavations made on or near the site. The music that is made by the hundred fountains is a dance to an allegro movement

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Fountain of Arethusa At the eastern end of the Terrace of the Hundred Fountains is the Fountain of Arethusa, a symbolic representation of the simple life in the hills that surround Tivoli. The semi-circular enclosure tucks the fountain away in a protected, grotto- like area

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este The Rome Fountain Opposite the “Tivoli” fountain, on the west edge of the site, is the “Rome” fountain, a miniature interpretation of the urban complexity and rich variety of the ancient city, paying homage to its historic value and intellectual superiority while contrasting a more gentile life at the villa

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este The Dragon Fountain The Dragon Fountain, located on the main axis that is perpendicular to the palace, is directly below the Terrace of the Hundred Fountains. The forceful jet from the center of the dragon sculpture interrupts the view over the fountain to the gardens below. 767

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este The Dragon Fountain Stair The descending double stair that flows around the central fountain is punctuated by a series of fountain jets located in the stair balustrade. The spray of each jet meets the other at the same elevation, at a point directly above the dragon sculpture. For a system that uses only the force of gravity and the hydraulic technology of varying pipe sizes, this is an incredible feat of engineering and artistry. 765

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este The Charm of the Dragon Fountain Even without a complete understanding of the complex hydraulic engineering enlisted for the water display, the garden visitor can readily appreciate the beauty of the Dragon Fountain, its graceful form and the atmosphere of serenity that it generates

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Abundance Italy, the abundantly generous provider and nurturing “Mother” is represented in this fountain that playfully expresses the over- flowing fullness of a richly endowed land. The notion of Italy as a country bestowed with great natural wealth is a theme that was common in the Renaissance. Diana, goddess of the hunt, was also a figure that represented fertility and productivity. Her image, just as it had been used in the pagan worship of deities in the first and second centuries, is accepted in this, the garden of the Cardinal d’Este, as a venerable figure. In Granada, Spain, the Moors bent the rules of the Quran to allow images of animals into the garden; here, too, a few rules have been broken for the intellectual benefit of a privileged few. 776

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Grotto Fountain At the western terminus of the cross-axis terrace that is the base of the Dragon Fountain, yet another magnificent and very different fountain captures the visitor’s attention. This Grotto Fountain, adjacent to the Roman miniature fountain, has been styled with mosaic tiles and pebble stones to present a somewhat abstractly rustic image, emulating the natural niche forms and vegetation found in the wilds of the mountain woodlands. Like a small temple along a sacred way, this fountain is a stop on the ritual ambulatory and pilgrimage that makes the garden experience so unique

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este The Water Organ One of the most dynamic fountains of the gardens at the Villa d’Este is the Water Organ. Located near the lowest of the terraces, this fountain is a dramatic display of visual and audible force, a musical and sculptural crescendo in a garden composition that never ceases to surprise and amaze the participant. The fountain is tucked up against the eastern slope, where terraces step above the rushing cascade like a mountain landscape seen from below. 781

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Fish Ponds at the Organ Fountain The three Fish Ponds, placid two-dimension mirrors on the level ground, offer a striking contrasting and passive foreground to the [some might say vulgar] theatrical demonstration of the Water Organ. The Water Organ roars for the observer’s attention in a garden that hardly requires such aggressive behavior to capture the imagination. But like the music that was soon to develop, especially in Italy, dramatic, forceful and abrupt change follows the adagio movements that characterize the spaces between fountains. 782

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este The Plan Drawing by Mark Pappalardi Casino Water Organ Rome fountain Tivoli fountain

The Renaissance in Italy: Villa d’Este Resources Jellicoe, Geoffrey and Susan. The Landscape of Man: Shaping the Environment from Prehistory to the Present Day. The Viking Press: New York, Newton, Norman T. Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape Architecture. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, Moore, Charles W., William J. Mitchell, and William Turnbull, Jr. The Poetics of Gardens. The MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988.