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BAGNAIA |
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BAGNAIA , about 5km east of Viterbo, isn't much of a town, but like
Caprarola further south it's completely dominated by a sixteenth-century
palace, the Villa Lante , whose small but superb gardens are considered
Vignola's masterpiece and one of the supreme creations of Renaissance
garden art - "the most lovely place of the physical beauty of nature in
all Italy or in all the world", according to Sachaverell Sitwell. The
villa is easily visited from Viterbo, using the hourly bus #6 from
Piazza Martiri dei Ungheria or from the stop at the beginning of Viale
Trento, or the less frequent trains of the Roma-Nord line.
A short walk up the hill from the main square, the villa is actually two
villas, built twenty years apart for different cardinals but
symmetrically aligned as part of the same architectural plan. They are
closed to the public, but there's nothing much to write home about
anyway; in contrast to Caprarola it's the gardens (Tues-Sun 9am-1hr
before sunset; L4000/¬2.07) that take pride of place - some of the best-preserved
from the period and a summing up of Mannerist aspirations. The main
group lie behind the villas, ranged over five gently sloping terraces,
and are only visitable in the company of a guide. An attempt at a
stylized interpretation of the natural world, they were an ambitious
project, even by the standards of the time, depicting the progress of a
river from its source in the hills to its outlet in the sea -
represented here by a large parterre. The route takes in various watery
adventures - waterfalls, lakes and the like - and among numerous
fountains and low hedges there are plenty of humorous (or plain silly)
touches, such as a maiden whose breasts spout water, a cascade designed
as an elongated crayfish, and the so-called "wetting sports" - hidden
sprays of water that drenched unsuspecting onlookers and were a big
favourite of Mannerist funsters. Only the guide gets to play with these.
The adjoining park (Tues-Sun 9am-1hr before sunset; free), through which
you can wander at will, has an even more ambitious narrative, attempting
to describe through horticulture the progress of civilization from
primitive times to the glories of the sixteenth century. In true
Mannerist style almost as much weight is given to allegory as to
architecture, both here and on the villas. The various square motifs
that appear around the buildings, for example, were supposed to
represent the perfection of heaven brought to earth.
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