bomarzo 2

A Reproduction of an Etruscan Tomb in the Parco dei Mostri at Bomarzo

John P Oleson

The Art Bulletin Vol 57 No 3 (Sep 1975) pp 410-417

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A Reproduction of an Etruscan Tomb in the Parco dei Mostri at Bomarzo John P

Bomarzo is a small town typical of the tufa region around Viterbo perched on a foothill of the Ciminian Mountains ninety kilometers north of Rome 25 kilometers west of the Tiber Etruscan tombs have been found nearby at Pian- miano Piano della Colonna and Monte Casuli and there was probably an Etruscan then a Roman settlement on the site After apparently continuous occupation in late antiquity and the medieval period a castle was built in the eleventh century The Orsini family has local connections as early as the fourteenth century and Gian Corrado Orsini who came into possession of the town in 1502 immediately began to transform this castle into a Renaissance palace Vicino Orsini who ruled from 1532 to 1585 avidly con- tinued this building activity in the town while simultaneous- ly laying out a large pleasure garden below the west edge of the city plateau1

This Sacro Bosco as Vicino Orsini called it was a remarkable garden planned around twelve huge grotesque sculptures carved in the immense masses of peperino pro-jecting from the hillside The modern name Parco dei Mostri refers to this sculptural decoration One of the numerous metrical epigrams (composed by Vicino himself) scattered around the garden summarizes the subject matter

Voi che pel mondo gite errando vaghi Di veder meraviglie alte e stupende Venite qua dove son faccie horrende Elefanti leoni orsi orchi et draghi2

A tempietto built of tufa blocks occupies the highest part of the hilly site and smaller portable sculptures archi-tectural elements and benches are arranged around the

1 I would like to thank Professor David R Coffin for reading a preliminary version of this paper and making numerous suggestions and Eric Jan Oleson who was of great assistance in obtaining research materials

The primary source for Bomarzo is the fascicolo special dedicata alla villa Orsini di Bomarzo published in Quaderni delllstituto d i Storia dellArchitettura VII-rx 1955 containing five articles 4 Bruschi LAbitato di Bomarzo e la Villa Orsini 3-18 G Zander Gli elementi documentari sul sacro bosco 19-32 F Fasolo Analisi stilistica del sacro bosco 33-60 L Benevolo Saggio dinterpretazione storica del sacro bosco 61-73 P Portoghesi Nota sulla Villa Orsini di Pitigliano 74-76 The historical information contained in this paper is derived mostly from the articles by Bruschi in this fascicle and in a later issue of Quaderni Nuovi dati documentari sulle opere orsiniane di Bomarzo Quaderni LV-LX 1963 I 3-58 The best biographical information on Vicino Orsini can be found in J von Henneberg Bomarzo nuovi dati e un interpretazione Storia dellarte xrrI 1972 43-55 and in J Theurillat Les mystires de Bomarzo et des Jardins symboliques de la Renais- sance Paris 1973 esp 23-59

2 The inscriptions are contained in appendix 111 to the article by Zander Elementi documentari

3 The best description of the different elements of the garden is in Fasolo Analisi stilistica 33f see also Theurillat Mystires 3-14 99-133

4 Zander Elementi documentari I gf Bruschi Nuovi dati 85f

colossi3 The garden occupies an area 250 by 125m but long vistas and the symmetrical design of the usual Renais- sance garden have been studiously avoided instead there are short avenues partial symmetries and a general air of chaos and surprise According to literary and inscriptional evidence at least part of the garden was completed by I 552 but most of the work seems to have been carried out between 1557 and 1563 then around 1580 Vicino Orsini had several pieces of sculpture painted The exact chrono- logy of the whole project however is still uncertain4

There has been a great deal of scholarly discussion concerning the Sacro Bosco since the first extensive publication of the palace and garden in 1955 ~ Numerous attempts have been made to explain the ways in which this garden differs from the norm of the period its asymmetry the prominence given to sculpture the strange subject matter and morphol- ogy and the flaunting of scale and proportion6 Calvesi Battisti and others are undoubtedly correct in asserting that the influence of contemporaryliterary works wasimportant In the Hypnerotomachia poliphili of Francesco Colonna published in Venice in 1499 the hero undergoes various trials and adventures in a magic park peopled by creatures quite similar to those of the Sacro Bosco Similar situations also occur in the long poem I1 Floridante published in 1563-69 by Bernardo Tasso a good friend of Vicino Orsini and father of Torquato Tasso In Torquato Tassos Geru- salemme published in 1572-73 after the garden was at least partially complete the parallels are even closer Thus Vicino Orsini may have wished to reproduce in his garden the magic environment of a popular contemporary literary device Josephine von Henneberg who discovered from

Von Henneberg Bomarzo 43-49 Theurillat Mystires 29-53 The historical data is also summarized by M Calvesi I1 sacro bosco di Bomarzo Scritti d i storia dellarte i n onore d i Lionello Venturi Rome 1956 I 369-402

5 The more important discussions published since 1955 are E Battisti LAntirinascimento Milan 1962 124-133 A Bruschi I1 problema storico di Bomarzo Palladia xIrI 1963 85-1 14 S Settis Contributo a Bomarzo Bollettino darte LI 1966 17-26 J von Henneberg Bomarzo The Extravagant Garden of Vicino Orsini Italian Quarterly xLIr 1967 3-19 E Guldan Das Monster-Portal am Palazzo Zuccari in Rom lteitschriftfur Kunstgeschichte XXXII1969 229-26 I

6 Bruschi LAbitato 14f Problema storico 85-90 I I I Benevolo Saggio passim Calvesi Sacro bosco 369-371 Von Henneberg Bornarzo 5 I

Calvesi Sacro bosco passim he is followed by Bruschi Problema storico 85f by Settis Contributo 17 and by Theurillat Mystires 29-31 For the possible relevance of passages in Ariostos Orlando furioso see note 50 below

8 Von Henneberg Extravagant Garden 10-1 [suggests that Torquato Tasso may have been inspired by a visit to Bomarzo itself but in Bom- arzo 49-5 I she changes her position to emphasize the autobiographical nature of the sculptural program

study of the Orsini family archives that Vicino Orsini spent the years 1553-56 in Flanders as a prisoner of war has recently proposed a number of northern European sources for the strange sculpture She interprets the Bosco as a symbolic itinerary of a biographical character and proposes iconographical precedents in the triumphal proces- sionals and spectacles that were popular in Flanders in the sixteenth century9 In addition the source of the Mouth of Hell motif exemplified at Bomarzo by the famous ogres face has been traced by E Guldan to Flemish manuscript illustrations and paintings although without reference to Licino Orsinis involuntary stay in Flanders10 Jacqueline Theurillat however who also underlines Renaissance delight in symbol and allegory mentions the displays of a festival held in Rome by Paul I11 during 1545as a possible Italian source of inspiration11 A farfetched proposal that the sculpture was executed by Turkish prisoners captured at the Battle of Lepanto is untenable1ince none of these parallels are exact however Fasolo is undoubtedly correct in attributing the deciding influence to the character of Vicino Orsini himself adilettantescholar of wide-ranginginterests13 As we know from his letters he took a direct personal interest in the creation of his garden1

An Etruscan element has often been noted in the general atmosphere of the garden which resembles an Etruscan necropolis with its large masses of worked stone surrounded and animated by uncultivated vegetation15 There are also some more tangible parallels in details of the iconography The volutes forming part of the design in the carved panels on the podium on the tempietto are similar to motifs on some examples of seventh-century Etruscan jewelry The winged and snake-legged female monsters can be compared

Von Henneberg Extravagant Garden and Bomarzo

l o Guldan Monster-Portal

1 Theurillat Mystires 29

12 P Ratazzi Bomarzo Leoni orsi orchi e draghi Sculpture Znter- national 111 1969 12-17 a relbriting of a chapter entitled Turkish Monsters North of Rome from I n Strangest Europe London 1968 He attributes this hypothesis to the peasants of the locality (p 16) Theurillat Mystires 21 43 criticizes this suggestion

13 Fasolo Analisi stilistica 55-60 agreement is expressed by Calvesi Sacro-bosco 367-37 1 See also Bruschi Problema storlco 111 Nuol i dati 13-14 In his introduction to Theurillat Mystires P Grimal writes La villa de Bomarzo apparait comme un rCve dhumaniste archCologue (p xi)

Zander Elementi documentari passzm Bruschi Nuoli dati passim Theur~llat Mwtires 50f Yon Henneberg Extravagant Garden 6f Von Hennebergs conception of the garden as an allegorical autobiography is of course predicated on this idea

15 E Bacino Bomarzo paradiso perduto Giornale d i Sicilia 30 June 1951 Bruschi LAbitato 14 Zander Elementi documentari 26 n 16 cites an unpublished talk on this theme by Luigi Lotti to the Associazione Xrcheologica Romana Fasolo Xnalisi stilistica 44f Battisti LAntirinascimento 126 Bruschi Problema storico 105 Settis Contributo 17 In the light of this Etruscan element it is amusing to note that journalistic publications concerning the bosco like naive publications concerning Etruscan civilization emphasize the mystery of the place eg G Bazin Le mystere du bois sacrC de Bomarzo LOeil XLIII-XLIV1958 54-59 84

16 Specific documentation can be found in Fasolo Analisi stilistica 33f 42 see also Battisti Ldntirinascirnento r26f Settis Contributo r 7f

1 Battisti LAntirinascimento r 29 The evaluation of this piece of sculpture

with representations on Etruscan cinerary urns while the winged and fish-legged demons behind the Amphitrite fountain which torture an -unfortunate male figure with obvious delight also resemble demoniac Etruscan motifs16The famous ogres face which has a mouth stretched open wide enough to provide access to a small table and seats within has been termed a scherzo della tomba etrusca trasformata in sala di banchetto 17 This Etruscan component has been attributed to a number of factors the use of tufa as a medium the influence of Etruscan grave goods found in tombs around Bomarzo and even the local survival of Etruscan patterns of taste and thought in the person of Vicino Orsini and his workmen18 Such references to Etruscan iconographical or spiritual sources have been criticized by recent scholars who seek a unitary explanation of the sculptural programlg but it nevertheless remains impossible to comprehend the garden or its creator fully without reference to them In regard to this dispute Vicino Orsinis interest in antiquities revealed by his letters by the inscriptions he placed in the garden and possibly by his association with the Accademia Vitru- viana - a scholarly group organized by his friend Claudio Tolomei certainly becomes an important factor20 One scholar has suggested that the statue of an elephant killing a soldier in the Bosco derives ultimately from a similar Hellenistic Greek group closely copied at Vicino Orsinis direction from the design on a Roman plate or gem discovered near Bomarzo21 Precise documentation of such a source would provide an excellent example of the nature of his antiquarianism

No one however has yet been able to point out a specific source for any of these Etruscan motifs In consequence the character and extent of Vicino Orsinis knowledge of the

as a scherzo is a further bond uith the atmosphere of the Etruscan rock- cut necropoli Prior to their discovery and scientific publication by the outside world the Etruscan tomb faqades were looked upon by local peasants as scherzi freaks produced either by nature or by the caprice of their ancestors This attitude is documented by George Dennis in a story concerning the discovery of the necropolis of Sovana by S I Xinsley in 1843 (G Dennis Cities andcemeteries o f Etruria 3rd ed London 1883 11 2-3) After being informed by the locals that there were no antiquities in the neighborhood of Sovana Mr Xinsley undertook his own survey and was surprised to find a large necropolis cut in the cliffs around the town

His surprise and delight at this discovery explained to the villagers who accompanied him the nature of the objects he was seeking They were no less astonished to find a stranger display such interest in what to their simple minds was meaningless or a mere scherzo - a freak of Nature imitating Art or a fanciful work carved in an idle or wanton mood by the rude forefathers of the hamlet Scherzi scherzi - is that the roba you want There are plenty of such whims cried they and they led him from one rock hewn monument to another which excited his surprise and admiration by their multitude variety and novel character

1 s See the references in note 16 above along with Zander Elementi documentari Appendix r Bacino Bornarzo emphasizes i modi autoctoni etruschi

19 Von Henneberg Extravagant Garden 6 and Bomarzo 51 Theurillat Mystires 99 seems to be criticizing this theory

20 Battisti LAntirinascimento 125 Bruschi Problema storico 104 Theurillats Mystires is actually in large part an attempt to attribute the Sacro Bosco to the architect Pirro Ligorio a man passionately interested in the archaeological and literary remains of Roman antiquity She constantly utilizes Ligorios antiquarian interests to explain the classical flavor of much of the gardens iconography

Settis Contributo r 7-26 cf Theurillat Mystires 107-109

I Sculptured fa~ade Bomarzo (photo author)

antiquities in which southern Etruria is so rich have re- mained obscure In the light of this difficulty one piece of sculpture in the park which curiously has escaped adequate publication takes on a new importance22 This monument which lies just west of the garden path approximately fifty meters north of the present entrance to the parkF3 is cut in an irregular peperino mass 7om long 240m high and about 3om thick (Fig I) The lower half of the boulder has been trimmed with a punch but left rough and the upper part has been carefully carved to represent the right half of a gabled facade (350m high) with central niche and door Although the block gives the impression of having broken free from a complete monument and tumbled down the slope the left side of the faqade never existed and the

2 Sculptured f a~ade (detail) Bomarzo (photo author)

22 The only mention of the monument in Fasolo Analisi stilistica a is brief and misleading un blocco erratic0 in cui nella faccia lavorata e stata concepita una decorazione (quesi metopa) pertenente ad una aerolitica architettura in crollo In the poor accompanying photograph (fig 40) the block appears to be partly buried in the soil Theurillat Mystires describes the monument twice (pp 12-13 125 no photographs) in superficial passages badly misinterpreting the pedimental sculpture Deux demi-colonnes soutiennent un fronton mutilt reprbsentant une sctne mythologique un guerrier casqut qui porte son Cpte sur ltpaule et souffle dans une conque marineB c6tt dune nymphe pareille B la fausse sirtne Alentour fol5trent trois dauphins (p 12) She feels that the nymph behind the male torso holds a symbolic pome- granate in her hand (p I 25)

23 The original entrance to the Bosco appears to have been located on the hill near the tempietto Fasolo Analisi stilistica 33f

5

worked base cannot have been buried in the earth as a foundation24 The scenic effect and illusion of a ruin are intentional Two Corinthian pilasters (2om high) are carved in low relief to the right of the niche and at the right corner of the facade rising directly from the unworked area at the base to the bottom edge of the pediment The corner pilaster which at present is almost entirely buried in the earth has a low base composed of a single torus above a plinth A horizontal cornice (027rn high) composed of a fascia cavetto and fillet runs between (not above) the two capitals but is replaced by a simple fascia over the niche The capitals themselves (o33m high and wide) have strong corner volutes - reminiscent of Hellenistic Etruscan Aeolic capitals25 - framing the central acanthus motif supported by a thin torus (Fig 3) A faint horizontal ridge perhaps delineating a dado runs between the two pilasters 110m above their bases just below a vertical fishbone or branch motif carved in relief The raking cornice (oqom high) composed of a cavetto and fillet below a larger cavetto and fillet springs from a block-like lateral cornice which extends back along the flank The surface of the sloping roof behind the gable is carved to represent alternate rows of flat pan tiles and curved cover tiles (Fig 2 )

The pediment (Fig 3) which is I 25m high at its present apex contains a group of remarkable figures carved in bas- relief (ca o05m deep) A monstrous figure (a Triton I I gm high) with human head and shoulders medial wings and a scaly fish-tail fills the central part of the field facing left He carries a rudder or oar over his right shoulder and holds a twisted animal or sea-shell horn to his uplifted mouth with his left hand The upper part of a small humanoid figure with scaly skin (or possibly a fur jacket) grows from the center of the tail facing outward and saluting with its right arm which possibly holds a fruit A whiskered serpentine dolphin or eel fills the space above the remaining section of the tail and a ram-headed fish leaps from the right corner above a long scaly snake or eel whose head is now buried in the corner

A low step (025m high) crosses the bottom of the niche (2om high o65m deep) which is partly backed by a broken partition wall The opening was evidently designed to lead by means of two steps to a chamber holding a row of arcuated niches (05om high o3Im wide o32m deep with a cornice o07m wide) round in plan with dished bottoms (Figs 4-5) Three of these remain intact each

24 Pace Theurillat Mystdres I 2- I 3

Note especially the Aeolic capitals of the pilasters around the walls of the Tomba dei Rilievi at Cerveteri A Ciasca I1 capitello detto eolico in Etruria Florence 1962 31-32gt 42-43 pl I 12 321 The figured capitals of the Tomba Pola at Sovana and the Tomba Campana at Vulci also have Aeolic volutes E von Mercklin Antike Figuralkapitelle Berlin 1962 78-79 No 196 79-80 So 198

26 P Giannini Centri etruschi e romani del Viterbese 2nd ed Viterbo 1970 133 notes the general similarities to the Sacro Bosco A fuller publication is contained in E Wetter Ricerche topografiche nei territori circostanti Aqua Rossa Skrifter Utgiona ao Svenska Institutet i Rom xxx 1969 32-34 27 The best general discussions of this tomb are G Rosi Sepulchral Architecture as Illustrated by the Rock-Facades of Central Etruria Journal of Roman Studies xv 1925 33-36 R Bianchi-Bandinelli Sooana Florence 1929 61-70 A Akerstrom Studien uber die etruskischen Graber Lund I g34j885-86g4 I 02-03 I 06

corresponding to a low step or cutting below and a fourth was either left unfinished or has been broken since its execution

This strange monument does not correspond to any speci- fically Renaissance inspiration nor does it have any parallels in the ancient remains surviving in the immediate vicinity of Bomarzo A number of curious altars and tomb monu- ments were carved in large blocks of peperino in the nearby Selva di Malano during the Roman period but none of them resemble the faqade in the Sacro Bosco26 Since Vicino Orsini undoubtedly knew of these Roman rock-carvings they may have stimulated his original desire to create a more elaborate sculpture garden of his own at Bomarzo but the designs he ultimately chose owe nothing to the monu- ments in the Selva di Malano

The sculptured f a ~ a d e in the Bosco has a very different source important for our understanding of educated interest in the Etruscans during the sixteenth century it is a full- sized substantially accurate reproduction of a rock-cut Etruscan aedicula tomb a tomb type that was popular in southern Etruria during the third and second centuries Bc The closest parallels can be drawn with the Tomba della Sirena (Fig 6-7) and the Tomba del Tifone (Fig 8) two tomb faqades of the late third or early second centuries BC at Sovana one of the tufa necropoli richest in sculptural decoration and variety of design28 Other gabled aedicula faqades however occur a t Sovana Norchia and S Giuli- an029 The Tomba della Sirena lacks the pilasters of the Bomarzo design but displays a snake-legged Scylla with oar in the pediment while the Tomba del Tifone had both fluted pilasters and a sculptured gable Since aedicula faqades of this type have no direct connection with their burial chambers the presence of an opening leading to arcuated niches with depressions for ash urns in the Bomarzo faqade is probably a confusion with a type of columbarium common in southern Etruria during the Roman period30 Nevertheless the general effect of the faqade is strikingly accurate Even the picturesque fracture down the center although obviously not part of any original ancient design can be paralleled in the Tomba della Sirena at Sovana (Fig 7) and the Tomba Dorica I at Norchia (Fig 9) The figures in the Bomarzo pediment can be compared only in a general way with the sculpture of these two tombs at Sovana but there are numerous close parallels in the sculptured decoration of late Etruscan cinerary urns (Fig I o)3lFurthermore

8 For the Tomba della Sirena see JC Carter The Tomb of the Siren 4merican Journal of Archaeology I g 74 I 3 1-39 containing some L ~ ~ V I I I

previous bibliography For the Tomba del Tifone see Bianchi-Bandinelli Sovana 66-67 fig 39 pl 28 1reached this conclusion independently of Theurillat who also cites the Tomba della Sirena (Mystdres 125 141)

9 For Sovana Bianchi-Bandinelli Sovana 61-70 for Norchia Rosi Sepulchral Architecture 34 and M Demus-Quatember Die Tom- ben mit Tempelfassade in der Nekropole von Norchia Jahreshefte des Oesterreichischen Archaologischen Instituts XL I 953 I 08-11 7 for S Giuli- ano Rosi Sepulchral Architecture 34-35 and A Gargana La necropoli rupestre di S Giuliano Monumenti antichi xxx111 193 I 361-63 30 Bianchi-Bandinelli Sovana discusses a chamber of this sort listed as No 95 in his catalogue

31 E Brunn and G Korte I rilievi delle urne etrusche Berlin 1916 111 pls x12 xv1111-3 x ~ x xx8 xx1111 xx1x3 xxx11110 The closest parallels can be drawn with xxx111 10an urn from Chiusi (fig I 2)

4 1 4 T H E A R T B U L L E T I N

3 Sculptured fa~ade (detail of pediment turned) Bomarzo (photo author)

4 Sculptured fa~ade (detail of rear) Bomarzo 5 Sculptured facade (detail of (photo author) niches) Bomarzo (photo author)

6 Tomba della Sirena Sovana 7 Tomba della Sirena (detail of pediment) Sovana 8 Tomba del Tifone Sovana (photo author) (photo author) (photo author)

10 Cinerary urn in Chiusi (from Brunn-Korte Zrilievi delle urne ehusche 111 pl xxxrlr 10)

g Tombe Doriche Norchia (photo author)

from a non-architectural source His scholarly eclecticism is justified by the final effect

It is important to attempt to localize the area in which Vicino Orsini would have had the opportunity to examine a rock-cut Etruscan tomb faqade with sculptured pediment There are a number of Etruscan tombs in the vicinity of Bomarzo but none appear to have had elaborate facades34 The type occurs at other sites around Viterbo - such as Bieda and Norchia - both with and without sculpture but the closest parallels are found farther north at the necropolis of Sovana35 I t is certainly not coincidental that another branch of the Orsini family owned a large palace at Piti- gliano36 a cathedral town seven kilometers south of Sovana Vicino Orsini could easily have been received here as an

11 Cube-tomb with tiled porch roof Norchia (photo author)

there are strangely striking similarities between the figures in the pediment and details of frescoes in the fourth-century Tomb of Vel Urinates discovered near Bomarzo in the nine- teenth century32 The size of the monument in the Sacro Bosco however along with the presence of niches and the attempt to imitate a broken faqade show that Vicino Orsini had an architectural model in mind rather than a small urn The same intent is suggested by the tiled roof which seldom appears on Etruscan urns but can be seen on many of the Hellenistic faqade tombs at Norchia (Fig I I ) Castel dAsso and possibly originally at Sovana33 I t is probable that Vicino Orsini drew his inspiration for the architectural form from actual necropolis faqades whereas the design for the pedimental sculpture - although possibly copied directly from a faqade now lost or destroyed - came

32 S Camilli Annali delllstituto di Correspondenza Archeologica IV 1832 284-285 Monumenti inediti pubblicati dalllstituto di Correspondenza Archeo- logica I pl 42 Dennis Cities and Cemeteries I 168-171 This tomb is mentioned by Battisti LAntirinascimento 415 n 66 33 There are a number of unpublished cube-tombs with tiled porch roofs along the east slope of the Fosso Pile at Norchia for Caste1 dAsso see G and E Colonna Castel dAsso Rome 1970 I 163-68 No 75 34 Dennis Cities and Cemeteries I I 64f Giannini Centri etruschi 92-95 35 For Bieda see H Koch et al Bieda Mitteilungen des deutschen arch-

occasional guest Furthermore two colossal statues have been carved in the tufa bedrock in the garden that was constructed by the family on a plateau near the town as well as two curious rock-cut constructions that closely resemble the Etruscan tomb faqades of Sovana (Figs I 2-14) The first faqade (Fig 1 3) a cube ( I 60m wide 22om high) that has a complex projecting crowning molding and a bench with dolphin () armrests is very similar to the tombe a dado or cube-tomb faqades that constitute the most common design in the tufa necropoli of southern Etruria37 The moldings and bench-rests are not accurate but the general effect is unmistakable The second faqade (Fig 14) an undecorated round tower (240m high ca 250m diameter across the top) with a low rock-cut bench (050m high o87m wide) around three-quarters of the base is less obviously Etruscan in inspiration but does resemble the design of the Tomba del Sileno recently

dologischen Institutes Rhische Abteilung xxx 1915 233-2 For Norchia and Sovana see note 29 above 36 The Orsini garden and villa at Pitigliano have been given preliminary publication in Portoghesi Pitigliano 74-76 See also Theurillat Mystires 139-141 where work on the garden is attributed to Latino Orsini 37 Major discussions of the Etruscan cube-tomb are Koch Bieda 242-247 Rosi Sepulchral Architecture 19-20 Bianchi-Bandinelli Sovana 44-56 Akerstrom Studien 73-7478-83 102 104-107

12 Sculptured facades Pitigliano (photo 13 Sculptured faqade Pitigliano (photo 14 Sculptured facade Pitigliano (photo author) author) author)

discovered at Sovana38 Both of these facades were cut in the bedrock at the very edge of a dramatic cliff not only providing an extensive view to anyone seated on their benches but also reproducing the general effect of the regional Etruscan necropoli (Fig 12) Portoghesi who dates the sculpture at Pitigliano to ca 1550 on historical and stylistic grounds has already suggested that the whole sculpture garden may have been inspired by the work at Bomarzo I n addition he mentions the similarities between these two facades and the tombs at Sovana in the light of the tomb reproduction at Bomarzo published above this suggestion now seems likely Vicino Orsini undoubtedly came to Pitigliano himself drawing inspiration from the fascinating tombs at Sovana and urging his relatives to begin their own Sacro Bosco which was however never finished and certainly would never have equalled the creations in the park at Bomarzo One of Vicinos inscriptions boasts justifiably of the unique nature of his project

Cedan et Memphi e ogni altra meraviglia Chebbe g i i il mondo in pregio a1 sacro bosco Che sol se stesso e nullaltro somiglia39 The detail and accuracy of the tomb reproduction puts

the Etruscan component of the Sacro Bosco on a more solid footing than previous evidence revealing an almost scholarly side to Vicino Orsinis interest in regional antiquities He must have visited several Etruscan rock-cut necropoli besides Sovana in order to have formed such an

P E Arias Notizie degliscavi di antichiki 1 97 I 58-84 39 Theurillat Mystdres 49 proposes a new reading of the first line of this inscription Cedano Memphis et ogni altra meraviglia 40 In this regard it is interesting to recall Von Hennebergs interpretation of the garden as a symbolic autobiography see above note 9 4 1 Battisti LAntirinascimento 125 Bruschi Problema storico 104 On Vicino Orsinis circle of friends see Theurillat Mystdres passim and Von Henneberg Extravagant Garden qf 42 T de Marinis Orsini Fulvio in Enciclopedia italiana xxv Rome

accurate impression of the design of a gabled aedicula tomb and details of the sculptured decoration could have been suggested both by the tombs themselves and by frescoes funerary urns or minor objects discovered near Bomarzo or seen by Vicino in private collections40 The sixteenth century was a period of growing interest in the Etruscans and the interchange among interested scholars and artists in Tuscany may have been more extensive than previously realized Vicino Orsini himself can be associated with a number of contemporaries who were at least peripherally concerned with the subject His friend Claudio Tolomei founded the Accademia Vitruviana whose meetings were concerned with antiquarian topics41 and his scholarly relation Fulvio Orsini ( I 529-1 600) served as librarian to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and did the buying for his collection of antiquities42 Bruschi has suggested that Michelangelo whose famous doodle of the head of an Etruscan Hades (dated to 151 7-1534) shows that he must have visited at least one Etruscan tomb chamber may have attended some meetings of Tolomeis Accademia43 The literary forgeries of Annio da Viterbo (1432-1 502) first published in 1498 include a large number of supposedly ancient passages on Etruria and the Etruscans constituting the most remarkable monument of Etruscomania in this period44 Vicino Orsini must have known of this book since it was concerned with the history of Viterbo suited his esoteric tastes and was translated into Italian by his close

1935607-08 Theurillat Mystdres 62-63 43 Bruschi Problema storica 104 For Michelangelos acquaintance with Etruscan tombs see E Panofsky The Mouse That Michelangelo Failed to Carve Essays in Memory of Karl Lehmann New York 1964 242-25 I 44 Fra Giovanni Nanni (Annio da Viterbo) Commentaria supra opera diversorum auctorum de antiquitatibus loqumtium confecta Rome 1498 This remarkable character is discussed in Dennis Cities andcemeteries I 1 50-5 I and J Wellard The Search for the Etruscans London 19732733

friend and family biographer Francesco Sansovin0~5 The Etruscan Tomb in the Bosco is the same type of erudite imitation as Annios forgeries but done without the serious attempt to deceive In addition it should be noted that Benvenuto Cellini who may have repaired the famous Chimaera of Florence soon after its discovery in 155346 was acquainted with the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino Francescos father47 Jacopo in turn was the pupil and adopted son of Andrea Sansovino whose tombs of the Cardinal Sforza and Della Rovere in the Church of S Maria del Popolo in Rome show the marked influence of Etruscan s~u lp ture ~8 Since they can even be closely compared in structure and form with the Tomba della Sirena at Sovana one scholar has recently suggested that Sansovino may actually have seen this tomb49 Certainly many of these connections may only be fortuitous but their very number and complexity emphasize the climate of discovery in which Vicino Orsinis fertile imagination found itself at work50

Florida State University

45 F Sansovino L e antichiti di Beroso Caldeo 1583 Francesco Sansovino also wrote LHistoria d i casa orsini e de gl i huomoni illustri di casa orsini Venice I 565

46 Benvenuto Cellini Autobiography 11 chap LXXXVII L Banti I1 mondo degli etruschi 2nd ed Rome 1969 228 expresses doubt that Cellini actually carried out any work on the Chimaera

4 Cellini Autobiography I chaps LXXVI 11 chap LXIILXXVIII

48 G S Davies Renascence T h e ScuQtured Tombs o f the Fifteenth Ccntury in Rome London 1910 I 76f

49 Carter Tomb of the Siren 138 n 49

50 There is a large but scattered body of work concerning Renaissance knowledge of the Etruscans and their art In addition to the references cited above see M Pallottino Etruscologia 6th ed Milan 1968 2-3 M Pallottino Tarquinia Monumenti antichi xxxvr 1937 ~ g f CC van Essen Elementi etruschi nel rinascimento toscano Studi etruschi XIII

1939 497-99 pls 43-45 F Weege in his interesting but erratic Etruskische Malerei Halle 1921 traces a supposed survival of Etruscan modes of thought and artistic expression in medieval and Renaissance Tuscany as well as listing documentation of Renaissance contact with Etruscan antiquities He proposes at one point (p 72f) that Ariosto is describing Etruscan tombs in several passages of Orlando furioso A Chaste1 has also published on the subject L Etruscan Revival du XVe sikcle Rivue archeologique 1959 165-180 and Le Mus6e etrusque et 1 etruscan revival in Art et humanisme d Florence Paris 1959 63-71 Several more recent articles have discussed the influence of Etruscan works of art on Tuscan artists of the Renaissance J R Spencer Volterra 1466 Art Bulletin XLVIII 1966 95-96 M Trachtenberg An Antique Model for Donatellos Marble David Art Bulletin L 1968 268-69 Sections of R Weiss T h e Renaissance D i s c o ~ e i y o f Classical Antiquity London 1969 are relevant to this topic

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A Reproduction of an Etruscan Tomb in the Parco dei Mostri at BomarzoJohn P OlesonThe Art Bulletin Vol 57 No 3 (Sep 1975) pp 410-417Stable URL


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28 The Tomb of the SirenJoseph Coleman CarterAmerican Journal of Archaeology Vol 78 No 2 (Apr 1974) pp 131-139Stable URL

httplinksjstororgsicisici=0002-91142819740429783A23C1313ATTOTS3E20CO3B2-H

50 Volterra 1466John R SpencerThe Art Bulletin Vol 48 No 1 (Mar 1966) pp 95-96Stable URL

httplinksjstororgsicisici=0004-30792819660329483A13C953AV13E20CO3B2-Z

50 An Antique Model for Donatellos Marble DavidMarvin TrachtenbergThe Art Bulletin Vol 50 No 3 (Sep 1968) pp 268-269Stable URL

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A Reproduction of an Etruscan Tomb in the Parco dei Mostri at Bomarzo John P

Bomarzo is a small town typical of the tufa region around Viterbo perched on a foothill of the Ciminian Mountains ninety kilometers north of Rome 25 kilometers west of the Tiber Etruscan tombs have been found nearby at Pian- miano Piano della Colonna and Monte Casuli and there was probably an Etruscan then a Roman settlement on the site After apparently continuous occupation in late antiquity and the medieval period a castle was built in the eleventh century The Orsini family has local connections as early as the fourteenth century and Gian Corrado Orsini who came into possession of the town in 1502 immediately began to transform this castle into a Renaissance palace Vicino Orsini who ruled from 1532 to 1585 avidly con- tinued this building activity in the town while simultaneous- ly laying out a large pleasure garden below the west edge of the city plateau1

This Sacro Bosco as Vicino Orsini called it was a remarkable garden planned around twelve huge grotesque sculptures carved in the immense masses of peperino pro-jecting from the hillside The modern name Parco dei Mostri refers to this sculptural decoration One of the numerous metrical epigrams (composed by Vicino himself) scattered around the garden summarizes the subject matter

Voi che pel mondo gite errando vaghi Di veder meraviglie alte e stupende Venite qua dove son faccie horrende Elefanti leoni orsi orchi et draghi2

A tempietto built of tufa blocks occupies the highest part of the hilly site and smaller portable sculptures archi-tectural elements and benches are arranged around the

1 I would like to thank Professor David R Coffin for reading a preliminary version of this paper and making numerous suggestions and Eric Jan Oleson who was of great assistance in obtaining research materials

The primary source for Bomarzo is the fascicolo special dedicata alla villa Orsini di Bomarzo published in Quaderni delllstituto d i Storia dellArchitettura VII-rx 1955 containing five articles 4 Bruschi LAbitato di Bomarzo e la Villa Orsini 3-18 G Zander Gli elementi documentari sul sacro bosco 19-32 F Fasolo Analisi stilistica del sacro bosco 33-60 L Benevolo Saggio dinterpretazione storica del sacro bosco 61-73 P Portoghesi Nota sulla Villa Orsini di Pitigliano 74-76 The historical information contained in this paper is derived mostly from the articles by Bruschi in this fascicle and in a later issue of Quaderni Nuovi dati documentari sulle opere orsiniane di Bomarzo Quaderni LV-LX 1963 I 3-58 The best biographical information on Vicino Orsini can be found in J von Henneberg Bomarzo nuovi dati e un interpretazione Storia dellarte xrrI 1972 43-55 and in J Theurillat Les mystires de Bomarzo et des Jardins symboliques de la Renais- sance Paris 1973 esp 23-59

2 The inscriptions are contained in appendix 111 to the article by Zander Elementi documentari

3 The best description of the different elements of the garden is in Fasolo Analisi stilistica 33f see also Theurillat Mystires 3-14 99-133

4 Zander Elementi documentari I gf Bruschi Nuovi dati 85f

colossi3 The garden occupies an area 250 by 125m but long vistas and the symmetrical design of the usual Renais- sance garden have been studiously avoided instead there are short avenues partial symmetries and a general air of chaos and surprise According to literary and inscriptional evidence at least part of the garden was completed by I 552 but most of the work seems to have been carried out between 1557 and 1563 then around 1580 Vicino Orsini had several pieces of sculpture painted The exact chrono- logy of the whole project however is still uncertain4

There has been a great deal of scholarly discussion concerning the Sacro Bosco since the first extensive publication of the palace and garden in 1955 ~ Numerous attempts have been made to explain the ways in which this garden differs from the norm of the period its asymmetry the prominence given to sculpture the strange subject matter and morphol- ogy and the flaunting of scale and proportion6 Calvesi Battisti and others are undoubtedly correct in asserting that the influence of contemporaryliterary works wasimportant In the Hypnerotomachia poliphili of Francesco Colonna published in Venice in 1499 the hero undergoes various trials and adventures in a magic park peopled by creatures quite similar to those of the Sacro Bosco Similar situations also occur in the long poem I1 Floridante published in 1563-69 by Bernardo Tasso a good friend of Vicino Orsini and father of Torquato Tasso In Torquato Tassos Geru- salemme published in 1572-73 after the garden was at least partially complete the parallels are even closer Thus Vicino Orsini may have wished to reproduce in his garden the magic environment of a popular contemporary literary device Josephine von Henneberg who discovered from

Von Henneberg Bomarzo 43-49 Theurillat Mystires 29-53 The historical data is also summarized by M Calvesi I1 sacro bosco di Bomarzo Scritti d i storia dellarte i n onore d i Lionello Venturi Rome 1956 I 369-402

5 The more important discussions published since 1955 are E Battisti LAntirinascimento Milan 1962 124-133 A Bruschi I1 problema storico di Bomarzo Palladia xIrI 1963 85-1 14 S Settis Contributo a Bomarzo Bollettino darte LI 1966 17-26 J von Henneberg Bomarzo The Extravagant Garden of Vicino Orsini Italian Quarterly xLIr 1967 3-19 E Guldan Das Monster-Portal am Palazzo Zuccari in Rom lteitschriftfur Kunstgeschichte XXXII1969 229-26 I

6 Bruschi LAbitato 14f Problema storico 85-90 I I I Benevolo Saggio passim Calvesi Sacro bosco 369-371 Von Henneberg Bornarzo 5 I

Calvesi Sacro bosco passim he is followed by Bruschi Problema storico 85f by Settis Contributo 17 and by Theurillat Mystires 29-31 For the possible relevance of passages in Ariostos Orlando furioso see note 50 below

8 Von Henneberg Extravagant Garden 10-1 [suggests that Torquato Tasso may have been inspired by a visit to Bomarzo itself but in Bom- arzo 49-5 I she changes her position to emphasize the autobiographical nature of the sculptural program

























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