See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/271995122

The Villa Lante at Bagnaia: An Allegory of Art and Nature

Article  in  The Art Bulletin · August 2014

DOI: 10.1080/00043079.1977.10787480

CITATIONS READS

4 1,261

1 author:

Claudia Lazzaro
Cornell University
17 PUBLICATIONS   47 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Claudia Lazzaro on 19 June 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

The Villa Lante at Bagnaia: An Allegory of Art and Nature
Author(s): Claudia Lazzaro-Bruno
Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Dec., 1977), pp. 553-560
Published by: College Art Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049709 .
Accessed: 06/08/2011 20:23

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

College Art Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Art
Bulletin.

http://www.jstor.org
The VillaLanteat Bagnaia:An Allegoryof Art andNature*
Claudia
Lazzaro-Bruno
Recently,scholarshavebegunto applythe sameart-historical
methodologyto Renaissancegardensthat has long been
associatedwith painting, sculpture,and architecture.One
misconception,equatingthe Renaissance gardenwith a purely
formalgarden,has been corrected.1Sixteenth-century Italian
gardenscontaina numberof areasplanteddifferently,among
whichis a formalgarden,butalsoinvariablya separatesection
devoted to a planted woods, or bosco. One may cite, for
example,the VillaMediciat Castello,whoseoriginalplanting
is knownfromthe Utens lunette of 1599 (Fig. 1) and from
Vasari'saccount.2The frescoshowsthe formalgardenlaidout
alonga centralverticalaxis;on eitherside, separatedfromit
by walls, aresquarebedsoriginallyplantedwith orangeand
citrustreesandbeyondthemrowsof firtrees.3Abovearealso
grovesof trees.4The Villad'Esteat Tivoli,whoseoriginalplan
is recordedin the engravingof 1573by EtienneDup&rac (Fig.
2), is composedof a singleenclosedarea,but it, too, includes
both a formallyplantedsectionwith compartments intersec-
ted by paths on the lowestlevel, and thick plantingat the
extremesidesandon the highestterraceof the hill.s Within
the Renaissance gardenitselfthe formalis juxtaposedwiththe
natural.This basiccontrastbetweenformaland natural,art
andnature,providesthe keyto its meaning.
Toward the endof the sixteenthcenturythe character of the
bosco,the plantedwoods,beganto change.Wefindnot just
rowsof firtrees, but also isolatedfountainsand statues.The
woodstookon the characterof a park.Witnessto this arethe
southgardenat Pratolino,now almostcompletelydestroyed,
and the enigmaticSacroBoscoat Bomarzo,each of which
becomesless of an anomalywhen seen in the contextof the
changingcharacterof the bosco.6
* This article is based on
part of my doctoral dissertation, "The Villa Lante
at Bagnaia," submitted to Princeton University in November 1974. A
shorter version of this study was read at the Society of Architectural
Historians meeting in 1975 at a session chaired by Elizabeth MacDougall.
Special thanks are owed to David Coffin who has been an unending source
of assistance and to Kurt Forster for reading the manuscript. I wish to
acknowledge also the aid of Angelo Cantoni in giving me access to the villa.
' See especially E. MacDougall, "Ars Hortulorum: Sixteenth Century
Garden Iconography and Literary Theory in Italy," in The Italian Garden,
ed. D. R. Coffin, Washington, 1972, 41-46.
2 One of a series of fourteen lunettes by Giusto Utens of all the Medici
villas, done for the salone of Artimino and now at the Museo Topograficoin
Florence. Vasarigives a description of Castello in his life of Tribolo, Le Vite,
ed. Milanesi, Florence, 1906, vI, 72-85.
3 Vasari, 73, adds that the garden terminates in "un salvatico d'abeti."
4 Ibid, 76. The center, uppermost area is described as "un salvatico di
cipressi, abeti, lecci, ed allori ed altre verzure perpetue con bell'ordine
compartite."
s D. R. Coffin, The Villad'Esteat Tivoli, Princeton, 1960, 15, n.3, and 143.
The contemporarydescription of the garden terms the thickly planted areas
boschi.
The VillaLanteat Bagnaiastandsat the beginningof this
shiftfromboscoto park.As the earliestengravedplanof 1596
indicates(Fig.3), it waslaidouton a hill anddividedinto two
distinct areas. One was terraced, formallyplanted, and
symmetricallyarrangedalong a central verticalaxis along
whichlayall the fountains.The other,the boscoor park,had
an unalteredterrain,non-axialpaths,andfountainsandother
gardenelements scatteredthroughout,unrelatedto each
other. It wasplantedwith variousdifferentfruittrees,groves
of oak and beech, firand chestnuttrees, and cypresses.vWe
mustsee the Villa Lantein the contextof the Renaissance
garden,composedof both formaland naturalparts,a garden
anda park.Wemustalsosee in it the oppositionbetweenart,
a loadedtermfor the sixteenthcentury,implyingcivilization
andthe handof man,andnature,suggesting a stateuntouched
by civilization.If we look at Bagnaiafromthis pointof view,
we will find in both the layout and the content of the
fountainsandstatuesan iconographic program that allegorizes
these basiccontrasts.
The VillaLante(whosenamederivesfromthe Lante-della
Roverefamily, which owned it from 1656 until 1953) was
amongthe mostfamousof severalnewandlavishvillasin the
sixteenthcentury.8Locatedaboutfiftymilesnorth of Rome
and three miles from Viterbo, the villa was designed by
Vignolaand begunaround1568for CardinalGianfrancesco
Gambara,Bishopof Viterbo,on the site of a huntingpark,or
barco,belongingto the bishopric.9It is uniquein havingtwo
smallcasinoslocatedwithin the formalgardenratherthan a
singledominatingpalace.By1578the firstof thesecasinoswas
built and the formalgardenwas complete.10 The second
casino,the exacttwinof the firstandpartof the originalplan,
6 For Pratolino see: D.
Heikamp, "Les Merveilles de Pratolino," L'Oeil,
CLXXI, 1969, 16f;idem, "Pratolino nei suoi giorni splendidi," Antichitea
viva,
vIII, 1969, 14-34; and W. Smith, "Pratolino," Journal of the Society of
ArchitecturalHistorians, xx, 1961, 155-168. The literature on Bomarzo is
vast, but the primary source is the entire issue devoted to it of Quarderni
dell'Istitutodi Storiadell' Architettura,viI-Ix, 1955, 3-76.
7 The vegetation of the park is described in detail in the inventory of the
villa taken in 1588. Rome, Archivio di Stato, ArchivioNotarile, Atti del
notaio Tydeode Marchis,Vol. 1088, 29 March 1588, 195-214, "Inventarium
bonorum Palatii Bagnaia et illius barchi."
s A. Cantoni, et al., La Villa Lantedi Bagnaia, Milan, 1961.
9 For the date and attribution see D. R. Coffin, "Some Aspects of the Villa
Lante at Bagnaia," in Arte in Europa: Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di
EdoardoArslan, Milan, 1966, 569f, and C. LazzaroBruno, "The Villa Lante
at Bagnaia," Ph.D. diss., Princeton, 1974, 112f.
10 The date 1578 is carved into the frieze of the palace. In the same year
Pope Gregory XIII visited the villa and in the chronicle of his stay the
formal garden is described as complete. J. A. F. Orbaan, "Viaggio di
Gregorio XIII alla Madonna della Quercia," Documentisul baroccoin Roma,
Rome, 1920, 389f.
554 THE ART BULLETIN

1. GiustoUtens,Castello.Florence,MuseoTopografico
(photo: 2. Etienne Duperac,The Villad'Esteat Tivoli. New York,
alleGallerie)
Soprintendenza Museum(photo:Museum)
Metropolitan

:
4 a?izo 4wk
:W:

X; 007 4A.!
Wk's
of
gotl:
is:

-oP

in

;J . 4 ; i:o
:~::q ??
46.
~-~le
gl Lo".

3. Tarquinio
Ligustri,TheVillaLante.Paris,Bibliotheque
Nationale,CabinetdesEstampes(photo:Bibliotheque)

waserectedby CarloMadernosometwentyyearslater." The
villa is in excellentconditionand the formalgardenremains
veryclose to its originalform,thoughalterationsand losses
have been sufferedby the park, beginningas early as the
seventeenthcentury.Wehaveconsiderable information about
the original state of the garden from a contemporary
inventory,descriptions,plans,anddrawings. 12 Fromthesewe
can alsoreconstructthe originalprogram of the villa.
To discoverthe programit is necessaryto followa general
itinerarythat beginsat the side entranceto the park,passes
throughit to the top of the hill, and then descendsthrough
the formal garden. Though this order seems unusual,
confirmationfor its validity exists in the fact that the
chronicleof PopeGregoryXIII'svisit in 1578beginsat the top
of the formalgarden.'3 Ourownvisit to the villa will use the
Ligustriplanandthe inventoryof 1588as mapandguidebook.
The park today seems no more than the children's
playground forwhichit is used.Manyof the fountainsarelost
or changed,the pathsareovergrown, and probablythe whole
is muchmore"natural" than it wasin the sixteenthcentury.
The fountains,as seen on the plan, arescatteredthroughout,
connected by paths but not in any strict sequentialorder.
Theircontent,too, is relatedthematicallybutnot in narrative
sequence.The first,justbeyondthe entrance,is the Fountain
of Parnassus (Fig.3, therenumbered 26, andFig.4). Parnassus
is the homeof the Musesandon the semicircular backwallof
the fountainarebustsof the nine women.In the centerstands
the wingedhorsePegasuswith a jet of watershootingup from
the moundbeneathhim, whichrepresents the inspiringspring
Hippocrene that he created on Mount Parnassus bykickinghis
hoof into the earth.
A fountainof Parnassusor Pegasusis a commonfeatureof
gardens,for example,at Tivoli, Bomarzo,Pratolino,and the
VillaMediciin Rome.In both sixteenth-century andancient
literature, villasare referredto as a Parnassus.14 Plinyspeaksof
Laurentumas his museon,his home of the Muses.15 From
Roman times the villa was understood as the place of
intellectualactivity, of contemplation,poetry,and literary
pursuits,becausenatureinspiresthese activities.16 Likewise,
MountParnassus is a naturalsettingwherethe inspirationof
the Musesfosterssimilaroccupations.So the villawasequated
" H. Hibbard, Carlo Maderno and Roman Architecture, 1580-1630,
University Park, Pa., 1971, 203f. The second casino dates between 1596,
the date of the earliest engraving of the villa by TarquinioLigustri, which
indicates only one casino as built, and 1612, when the decoration of the
second was under way. It was most likely begun shortly after 1596, since
Maderno was sent to Bagnaia in that year on papal business. Though only
one casino is mentioned in the chronicle of Pope Clement VIII's visit in
1598 (Orbaan, "Viaggio di Clemente VIII nel Viterbese," Documenti, 474),
the second may have been under construction since the report discusses
only the housing available for lodging the papal entourage.
12 See note 7 for the
inventory, taken at the death of Cardinal Gambara.
The descriptions are those in the chronicles of the visits of Pope Gregory
XIII in 1578 and Pope Clement VIII in 1598, both in Orbaan, Documenti.
There is a fresco of the villa, very similar to the engraved plan, which
probably dates between 1574 and 1578. It must be based on the original
architect'sdrawingsince it was painted before the gardenwas completed and
represents the whole project as it was eventually carried out, with minor
deviations from the plan. A number of engravedplans exist, all very similar
to each other and to the frescoed view, with the major exception of the
fountain in the parterre. The drawingsare published in J. Hess, "Entwiirfe
THE VILLA LANTE 555
with the homeof the Musesor MountParnassus forbothwere
homesin natureandboth inspiredthe intellect.The Fountain
of Parnassus at the entranceto the parkidentifiesthe whole
villa as a place of contemplationunder the inspirationof
nature,andalsoas the idealrealm,the earthlyparadisewhich
Parnassusis as well. Its placement in the park further
underlinesthe fact that it is naturethat inspiresthe arts.
The next fountainon the rubricsof the plan (Fig. 3, No.
25), in reverseordersince theybeginin the formalgarden,is
called the Fountainof the Acorns. Alreadyalteredin the
seventeenthcentury,it appearedoriginallyas a low circular
basinwith nine acornsspurtingwateraroundthe rim. This
fountainspecifiesthe natureof the earthlyparadise,forin the
Renaissanceacornshad an immediateassociationwith the
GoldenAge, the time whenmen ate only acornsand honey,
meaningwhatevernatureproducedfreely.The GoldenAge
tookplaceunderthe ruleof Saturnandsupposedly in Latium,
the regionin which the villa is located. Its most significant
feature is that it occurred before the development of
civilizationwhen men lived in a freeand naturalstate. They
did not alterthe stateof nature:theydid not cut trees,mine
the earth, plow the land, or slaughteranimals.They lived
withoutcities, laws,wars,or any of the otherinstitutionsof
civilization.The acorns,then, indicatethatthe park,with its
free vegetationand unalteredterrain,representsthe Golden
Age, whennaturewasstill untouchedby man.
The otherfountainsin the park,includinga menagerieof
unicornsanddragons,ducksanda beaver,suggest,in a general
way, additionalaspectsof this naturalstate. Forexample,the
Fountainof the Unicorn,gonewithouta tracetoday,refersto
the purityof the water.It wasbelievedthat unicornscould
purifywaterof poisonwith theirhorns.17 Literary descriptions
of the GoldenAge, like Lorenzode' Medici's,usethe imageof
the unicornwith its horndippedin waterto indicatethat the
water then was completelypure-and by analogythat all
naturewas untaintedby anything harmfulor evil."8 The
Fountainof the Ducks, now missingthe eight ducks that
formerlysat aroundthe rim as the Fountainof the Acorns
missesits attributes,infersnot the purebut the naturalin the
GoldenAge. Ducksin pondsoften appearin depictionsof a
rustic woodland realm; the original centerpiece of the
von Giovanni Guerrafir Villa Lante in Bagnaia (1590)," Rbmisches Jahrbuch
fiir Kunstgeschichte,xII, 1969, 195-202. One of the drawings included by
Hess, 198, fig. 3c, represents the water chain at Caprarola, not that at
Bagnaia.
13 Orbaan, Documenti, 389f.
14 See, for example, B.
Taegio, La villa: un dialogo,Milan, 1559.
's The Lettersof the YoungerPliny, trans. Betty Radice, Baltimore, 1963, I.
ix. 43.
16 For the attitude toward nature of Roman authors see P. Grimal, Les
Jardinsromains, Paris, 1969, 357-422, and for the villa in the Renaissance,
see Rupprecht, "Villa. Zur Geschichte eines Ideals," Probleme der
Kunstwissenschaft,II, 1966, 210-250.
17 A
16th-century confirmation of this meaning can be found in Pirro
Ligorio'sNobilitaldelle arti, quoted in Scritti d'arte del Cinquecento, ed. P.
Barocchi, Milan and Naples, 1971, II, 1457.
18
"Selva d'Amore II," Opere, Bari, 1913, 275. The unicorn is discussed and
this verse is quoted in L Chatelet-Lange, "The Grotto of the Unicorn and
the Garden of the Villa di Castello," Art Bulletin, L, 1968, 52-56.
556 THE ART BULLETIN

fountain,the fourgrotesque,animal-likeheadsnowin another

fountain(Fig. 5), wouldindicatethe wild and untamedin
nature.Alongwith thesefountains'associations of purityand
wildness,the Fountainof Bacchusimpliesthe abundanceof
nature(Fig. 3, No. 21). The drawingby GiovanniGuerraof
the destroyedfountain(Fig. 6) showsthe god of wine seated
upon an enormousbushelof grapeswhile his companions
straddlewine barrels.Though wine is cultivatedand so,
didnot existin the GoldenAge, Virgildescribes
theoretically,
riversthereflowingwith wine.19His metaphorhad the same
meaning:the fruitsof naturewereabundant.
The dragons,now gone along with their trellisedniches
(Fig. 3, No. 20), once guardedthis earthlyparadisejust as
they did the goldenapplesin the Gardenof the Hesperides,
the GoldenFleece, and the springat Thebes.The ancients
foundthem suitablefor guardingtemplesand oraclessince
4. Fountainof Parnassus.
Bagnaia,VillaLante(photo:GFN)
they areeternallysleepless.20In the Renaissance,too, their
vigilance was noted and Alciati entrustedthem with the
protectionof sacredwoodsandtemples.21 At Bagnaiadragons
watchoverthe park,keepingthe woodspureandunharmed.
Lifein the GoldenAge waspure,natural,andfree;it wasa
time when men lived togetherin peace, beforecivilization
broughtwar. The uppermostfountain in the Villa Lante
garden, called on the plan simply the Fountain of the
Reservoir(Fig.3, No. 19), alludesto thisaspectof the Golden
Age. In the centerof the fountainstandsa beaver.Amongthe
attributesof peace listed by Ripa is a beaverbiting off its
genitals.22According to popularbelief,beaverswerehuntedfor
theirtesticles,whichwereusedin a medicine,butthe beaver,
in orderto avoidbeingkilled,wouldinsteadbite themoff and
throwthemat the hunter,sincehe desiredpeaceaboveall.23
Thisstatuestill exists,butis not describedby the inventoryor
mentionedon the plan. Althoughthe workdoesfit themati-
callyinto the program,it maybe a lateraddition.
At the top of the parkthereis a largerectangular pool, the
5. Fourgrotesque
headsoftheFountain
oftheDucks.Bagnaia,
Villa reservoirfor all the fountainsin the villa (Fig. 3, No. 18).
Lante(photo:author)
Behind it stands a wall surmountedby two large volutes
bracketinga bustof the type of the god Jupiter.Again the
inventory is silent about where, if at all, this bust was
originallylocated. The god does, however,like the beaver,
furtherillustratea themealreadycontainedin the program. In
the Classicalaccountthe Golden Age endedwith Jupiter's
overthrow of Saturn,andthis defeatmarkedthe beginningof
the reignof Jupiter.The GoldenAge was followedby three
successive ages, the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, during
which man became increasingly evil until finally Jupiter
decided to destroyhim completely by means of a flood.
The new era that commences with the flood takes place in
the formalgarden, initiated by the Grotto of the Flood at the
summit (Fig. 3, No. 16, and Fig. 7). The grotto, which is

I. 132.
19 Virgil,Georgics
20 Saturnales
Macrobius, I. xx. Ovid,Metamorphoses viI. 149-152.
21 U. Aldrovandi,Serpentum et DraconumHistoriae(LiberII), Bologna,
1640,320-341. Alciati,Emblematum Libellos,Paris,1535,46.
22 C.
1603,facs.ed., HildesheimandNewYork,1970,376.
Ripa,Iconologia,
6. GiovanniGuerra,Fountainof Bacchus. 23TheBookof Beasts:Beinga Translation a Latin
from Bestiaryof theTwelfth
Vienna,Albertina
(photo:Albertina) Century,ed. T. H. White, London,1956,28f.

VillaLante(photo:author)
7. Grottoof theFlood.Bagnaia,
artificialthoughit appearsto be a naturalmountainspring,is
flankedby two smallbuildingswith waterjets alongthe side
cornices.Thesecan be turnedon to spraya finemistoverthe
squareareain frontof the grotto,simulatingthe naturalaction
of rainfallingfromthe sky,justas the grottosimulatesthe flow
of waterfromthe land. The two identicalopenpavilionson
eitherside of the grottoarecalledthe Roomsof the Muses,
whoweredepictedon the wallsinside(Fig.8). Theyrepresent
the twin peaksof MountParnassus,the homeof the Muses,
wherethe only survivorsof the flood,Deucalionand Pyhrra,
landed.24
Essentialto the themeof the GoldenAge is a contrastwith
laterages,andparticularly with the Age of Jupiter,whichwas
consideredto be synonymous with the presentage. Lifeunder
the reignof Jupiterchangeddrastically. Forthe firsttime man
hadto workforhis survivalandso he learnedto till the soil, to
hunt, and to build.25Duringthis processhe had to give up
muchof the freedomof hisprimitivecondition,butin turnhe
26 In the traditional
learnedthe artsof civilization. contrastof
the two ages, the art and civilizationof the Age of Jupiteris
juxtaposedwith natureand the naturalstate of man in the
Golden Age. At the villa the same juxtapositionis made
between the park, representingthe Golden Age, and the
terracedand symmetricalgarden,representingthe Age of
Jupiter.
In the formalgardenwe can followthe gradualacquisition
of the arts of civilization, or, in horticulturalterms, the
processof naturebecomingincreasingly moldedby civilization
into art. The plantingdecreasesin naturalness and thickness
down the slope, beginningwith the "natural"state of the
grotto.Nearthe top therearegrovesof firtrees,whereasthe
24Ovid,Metamorphoses I. 314-347.
25 Virgil,
Georgics
I. 121-146.
26 A. O. andRelatedIdeasin Antiquity,
Lovejoyand G. Boas,Primitivism
NewYork,1965,192.
270rbaan,Documenti, 389. Rome,Archiviodi Stato, 211r.
THE VILLA LANTE 557
VillaLante(photo:author)
8. Roomof theMuses.Bagniaia,
lowestlevel, as at the Villad'Este,is the mostmanicuredand
geometricwith its small squarebeds. The watervelocity,
though never very great today, diminishes in force and
correspondingly in soundfromthe splashof the grottoat the
top to the still pools at the bottom. The fountainsof the
formalgarden,likethoseof the park,do not followa narrative
sequence,butratherin a generalwaydevelopthe themeof the
progression fromnatureinto art.
Progressingdownthe formalgarden,wefindthe Fountainof
the Dolphins, an octagonally shaped, tiered fountain
ornamented withpairsof dolphins(Fig.3, No. 13,andFig.9).
This fountain was originally housed within a wooden,
temple-likeconstructionmadeto look like coral.27 It was
probablymeantto depictNeptune'sunderwater palacesince
the sea is the habitatof dolphins,membersof the sea-god's
entourage.The choice of coral is significant.At Pratolino
there was a fountain of coral,28 and in the Studiolo of
FrancescoI the paintingPerseusandAndromeda by Vasari
illustratesthe episodein whichseaweedturnsto coralat the
touch of Medusa's head.29 The appealof coralwas that it is
bothnaturalandhard,so that it can be carvedandmadeinto
art. The theme of the Studiolo, what art makes of the
elementsof nature,parallelsthat of the formalgarden,and
both arewitnessto one of the majorartisticconcernsof the
sixteenthcentury.
On the slopinggroundof the next terracelies the water
chain (Fig. 10), a long channel with a steppedbed and a
borderof linkedvolutes,whichgivesformto the elementof
waterjust as the precedingstructuredid to coral.The water
chaincanalsobe interpreted asan elongatedcrayfishwith the
headandclaws the top (Fig.11), a pairof giantlegs at the
at
" Locatedinsidethe bodyof GiovanniBologna'sstatueof the Appenino.
Heikamp,"Merveilles de Pratolino,"23.
29 K. Frey,Der literarischeNachlassGiorgioVasaris,Munich, 1930, II,
887-891.
558 THEARTBULLETIN

bottom,extendingoverthe balustradeto the next fountain

(Fig. 12), and the segments of the spine formed by the
scallopededges.30 The Italianwordforcrayfishisgambero,
and
the creator of the villa was Cardinal Gambara, whose
coat-of-armsbearsa crayfish.Therefore,just as the water
travels through the crayfishto the next level, so nature
becomesart throughthe Cardinal-he is the agencyfor the
transformationof natureinto art.
The legsat the footof the waterchainareall thatremainof
a giant crayfish straddled by a siren, a reminder that the
garden,like the sirenArmida'senchantedgardenin Tasso's
JerusalemDelivered,can be a false paradise,an artificial
facsimile of the Golden Age.31 The sensual satisfaction
promisedby the sirenand the falseparadisearedeadlyto the
intellectandto the Christiansoul.32This is not the Golden
Age;it is the reignofJupiter,andso the pleasures
of the garden
mustnot becomean end in themselves. 9. Fountainof the Dolphins.Bagnaia,VillaLante(photo:E Bruno)
The downward passageof the waterin the gardenparallels
increasinglycultivatedvegetation.Originatingin the flood,
the waterpassesfirstinto the sea, represented
by the Fountain
of the Dolphinsandthe waterchainin the formof a crayfish,
andthen it flowsinto the riverswith the Fountainof the River
Godsat the baseof the waterchain (Fig. 12). The two River
Gods reclining in the large semicircularbasin hold cor-
nucopias,symbolsof abundance,andin nicheson eitherside
of the fountainstandstatuesof FloraandPomona,goddesses of
flowersandfruit.The waterfromthe rivers,identifiedas the
Tiberandthe Arno,33makesthe landsof TuscanyandLatium
fertile,as the cornucopiasandthe goddessesattest.
One of the traditionaloccupationsof life at the villa was
diningoutdoors:thereis a provisionfor this too in the long
stonetablein frontof the RiverGods(Fig.13). The troughin
the centerof the table couldbe filledwith waterand plates
couldbe floatedalongit, just as Plinyusedhis own outdoor
dining-tableat Tusci.34The civilizeddiningat this table,with
preparedfood procuredfromcultivatingthe fertileland and
fishingin the plentifulwaters,is in extremecontrastto the
diet of acornsin the GoldenAge. 10. WaterChain. Bagnaia,Villa Lante
Theatricalproductionswereanotherfavoritepastimeand (photo:F. Bruno)

30 Both the chronicleof 1578of GregoryXIII'svisit andthe inventoryof

1588describeit as havinga crayfishat the top andanotherat the bottom.
Orbaan,Documenti, 389;Rome,Archiviodi Stato,211r.The interpretation
of the wholechainas a singleelongatedcrayfishis a long traditionwhose
sourceis unknown.
31 Fora discussion of the enchantedgardenof Armidasee
of the significance
A. B. Giammatti,TheEarthlyParadise andtheRenaissanceEpic,Princeton,
1969,183-210.
32 Accordingto Cartari,sirensrepresent"la bellezza,la lascivia, e
gli
allettamentidellemeretrici."Theyputsailorsto sleep,taketheirshipsand
then kill them, because, won over by the pleasuresof these women,
"chiudonogli occhi dell'intelletto."Le Imaginicon la spositionede i deide
gli antichi,Venice,1556,47. Fora Christianinterpretation see Giammatti,
Paradise,183-210.
33Rome,Archiviodi Stato, 211v(see note 7). 11. Headof the WaterChain. Bagnaia,Villa Lante(photo:E
34 TheLetters of Pliny,v. vi. 143. Bruno)
 THE VILLA LANTE 559

a placefor themwaspartof the designof manygardens.3s At

the VillaLantethereis no openareaforperformances asat the
BelvedereCourtand the Villa Giulia, but thereis insteada
referenceto the theaterin the fountainon the next terrace
(Fig. 14). It is composedof risingtiersof semicircular steps,
threeconcave,then threeconvex,so thatthe wholeresembles
a cavea, the ancient theaterstructure.Althoughthe Latin
provedtoo difficult(the fountainis calledCaviaein the Latin
rubrics,a corruptionof caveae36)the designspeaksfor itself.
In the sixteenth century the semicircularcaveaform was
termeda "teatro,"evenif it wasnot usedas such.37Weknow,
too, that theatricalspectacleswereheld at the Villa Lante
fromthe accountof PopeClementVIII'svisit in 1598,which
describesthe din of masques(maschi)and firearms,and the
sightof animalsshootingfireandthe towersandprospectsall
12. Fountain
of the RiverGods.Bagnaia,
VillaLante(photo: lit up.38The fountainrefersto a traditionalvillaactivityand
author) amplifiesthe themeof the formalgarden,since the theateris
an art that is a productof civilization.It is also an art that
imitatesnature,likethe artificialgrottoabove,andso againit
contrastswith the truenatureof the GoldenAge in the park.
In the lowest level of the garden (Fig. 15) nature is
completelysubordinated to art. Twelvesmallcompartments,
originally fenced in and intersectedwith paths, surrounda
largesquarepool divided into four sections by balustraded
walkways with an elaborate fountainin the center.Justas
naturehasbeenmostcontrolled,so the waterhascometo rest
in the fishpondsafterflowingfromthe rivers,the seas, and
ultimatelythe flood.The artof the formalgardenis herethe
completeoppositeof the "natural" stateof the park.
Another of the garden elements common in the
Renaissancewas a referenceto the hippodromeof ancient
villas. The Belvedere Court was the prototype for the
Renaissance, butnumerous otherexamplesin variousdifferent
formscan be found,forexamplein the amphitheater shapeof
the BoboliGardens,in the transverse poolsof the Villad'Este
at Tivoli, with one semicircular end and the metesudantiin
the center(Fig.2), andin the similarshapeat the VillaMattei
13. Fountainof the Table.Bagnaia,VillaLante(photo:author) in Romewith the spire(guglia)in the center.39At the Villa
Lante,too, thereis a referenceto the hippodrome andto the
ancient Roman spectacle that took place there, the

35The BelvedereCourt,the VillaMadama,andthe VillaGiuliaarejusta

14. Fountainof the Cavea.Bagnaia,VillaLante(photo:E Bruno)
fewof the morefamousexamples.J. S. Ackerman,TheCortiledelBelvedere,
VaticanCity, 1954;P. Foster,"Raphaelon the VillaMadama: the Textof a
LostLetter,"Ramisches Jahrbuch fiirKunstgeschichte,
II,1967-68,308-312;J.
Coolidge,"TheVillaGiulia:A Studyof CentralItalianArchitecture in the
Mid-SixteenthCentury,"ArtBulletin,xxv, 1943,177-225.
36The Latinrubricsoccuron the planbyGiacomoLauroof 1612,published
in AntiquaeUrbisSplendor.On the Ligustriengravingof 1596, wherethe
rubricsare in Italian, it is called the FontedellaCaccia(Fountainof the
Hunt), whichmustbe a misreading of the misspelledLatin.This is one of a
numberof reasonsforbelievingthat the originalset of rubricswasin Latin.
37 K. Schwager,"KardinalPietro AldobrandinisVilla di Belvederein
Frascati,"Rbmisches Jahrbuch fiirKunstgeschichte,Ix-x, 1961-62,"Exkursus
II:Bewerkungen zu BegriftundFormdes'teatro,'" 380f andpassim.
38Orbaan,Documenti, 475.
39 Ackerman,Belvedere,125-138. F Guerrieriand J. Chatfield,Boboli
Gardens,Florence,1972,passim.The metesudantiat the Villad'Esteareso
labeledon the engravingandlistedin the description.Coffin,Tivoli,145.
The planof the VillaMatteiis publishedin Lauro's AntiquaeUrbisSplendor,
or see MacDougall,"ArsHortulorum, " 43 andfig. 5.
560 THE ART BULLETIN
15. Parterre. VillaLante(photo:E Bruno)
Bagnaia,
naumachia. The fountainin the centerof the pool is a later
alteration;the originalis describedin the inventoryas a guglia
sudante,40a sweatingspire,the appropriate monumentforthe
centerof a hippodrome,as at Tivoliandthe VillaMattei.In
each of the fourpondsthere is a smallboat with a standing
figure(Fig. 16). In the sixteenth centurythere werethree
figuresin each boat, a trumpeterand two arquebusiers who
shot water.The boatmenarepoisedfor the naumachia,the
navalbattle, which musthave been the entertainmentthat
PopeClementsawin 1598.The naumachia is theater,andso
anotherexampleof art conterfeitingnature;but it is also a
battle,a mockwar,whichis an institutionof civilization,and
in this, too, it contraststo the peace that reignedin the
GoldenAge.
The theme of the GoldenAge juxtaposedto the Age of
Jupiteris an allegoryof the realcontentof the villa, the play
betweenart andnature.It wasunderstoodin these termsby
contemporaries,who describedthe whole as "parterus-
ticamenteproduttidallanaturaet partepiantaticon industria
et arte.'"41As we sawearlier,this is at the heartof the esthetic
of the Renaissance garden.It wasseen as a productof artand
natureworkingtogether,or, even moreoften, of the two in
competition.Gualterotti's poemof 1579ascribesthe amenities
40
Rome,Archiviodi Stato, 197r(see note 7).
41Orbaan,Documenti,389.
42 Quotedin W. Smith, "Studieson Buontalenti'sVillas,"Ph.D. diss.,
NewYorkUniversity,1959,63.
View publication stats
16. Boatin poolof parterre. VillaLante(photo:E Bruno)
Bagnaia,
of the gardenat Pratolinoto sucha contest:"Quil'Arte,e la
Natura/Insiemea garaogni sua gratiaporge."42 The pro-
tagonistswereartandnature,but the naturewasnot entirely
"natural"; it, too, wasa productof art, since eventhe woods
wereplantedandthe grottoesartificial.The prizewentto the
most successfulimitation of natureby art. Therefore,at
Bagnaia,once the basicoppositionbetweenart and nature,
formalgardenandpark,Age of Jupiterand GoldenAge has
beenunderstood, the orderof progressioncanbe reversed:
from
parkto garden,natureis transformed into art;fromgardento
park, art with greatersubtletycounterfeitsher competitor,
nature.
Bagnaiais distinguishedfromother gardenssince art and
natureare in equilibrium,neitheroutweighsthe other.It is
uniquein this perfectbalance,andonly thereis the meaning
of gardens-an interactionof art and nature-allegorizedin
the iconographicprogram.This themeof the relationshipof
art and natureat Bagnaiaand in Renaissancegardensin
generalis not confinedto gardens;it is butone exampleof the
predominantsixteenth-centurywayof viewingthe worldin
art, literature,andphilosophy.43
StanfordUniversity
43 Foronly one amongmyriadsources,both primaryand secondary,see a
discussionof natureversusartin H. Hayden,TheCounter-Renaissance,
New
York,1950,468f.