Online Itineraries of Three Renaissance Gardens

Itineraries of three of the most important Mannerist gardens of the Italian Renaissance are a fascinating feature of the Berger Foundation website.  At the bottom of each page you can click on a Renaissance lady’s hands to go forward or backward, or in some instances, the last few words of the page which are magenta in color.  Interspersed in the pages are words in color.  Click on these to get more information on the background of the art and culture of the times.

I think you will enjoy these allegorical tours.  An educated person of the Renaissance would not have needed a tour guide to these gardens.  All the statues and their placement in the scheme would have meaning from first sight.  But we, who are not grounded in the myths, mostly from Ovid’s Metamorphosis, need a guide to decode the rich meaning of these allegorical references.  Remember also, that there was a double meaning.  Almost invariably the allegories were extended to reflect the greatness of the owner of the gardens.

So have a look at one or all, and see what you think:

http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/Jardin/index_english.html

Fountains at Villa d’Este in Tivoli, Italy