DOI Artikel:
Azzi Visentini, Margherita: Around the historiography of Italian gardens: Georgina Masson's contribution; [Rezension]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14576#0040
34 MARGHERITA AZZI VISENTINI
6. Villa Balbianello by the Lake Como
guage without any of the compositional vigour of Florence and Rome", albeit with a few exceptions such as
the Villa Barbarigo a Valsanzibio, they présent a "more prosaic or unsophisticated character"19.
In addition to Giulio Fasolo, who in Le ville del Vicentino (1929) also illustrated statuary and gardens,
Adolfo Callegari and Bruno Brunelli helped people discover the gardens of the Veneto villas - unappreci-
ated by Dami - with their Ville del Brenta e degli Euganei (1931). The book is richly illustrated with pho-
tographs, a few plans and numerous outstanding period views, some of which no longer available. The intro-
duction, discussing various aspects of the Veneto villa and its use, is followed by a detailed examination of
31 villas. Callegari also curated the Veneto section at the séminal "Italian Garden Exhibition" organized at
the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in 1931 and he edited the chapter on it in the catalogue. With nationalistic
pride, the exhibition asserted and confirmed Italy's leadership in the art of gardens, "a leadership in chrono-
logy, number and quality", according to the exhibition curator, Ugo Ojetti, who also illustrated the initiative's
three objectives. First of ail, it strived to "show a vast audience [...] the history - spanning two millennia
- of the Italian garden, i.e. the symmetrical and architectural garden that is always attuned to the architecture
of the villa [...] and repeats its balance, restraint and dignified serenity. Extending far from the façade of the
house, through its avenues and flowerbeds, its trees and shrubs, its terraces and porticoes of masonry or
greenery, and its grottoes, nymphaea and fountains, it maintains man's continuous and orderly and visible
domination of nature". Thus, the goal of the exhibition was to "assert Italy's claim to the origins and most
beautiful examples of this type of garden that, from England to North America and the Riviera, has once
again triumphed over the romantic English garden and the artificial wild park". Lastly, it aimed to inspire
those who created gardens "to find in our past the recommendations and models that must be modernized
with good taste in order to adapt them to new needs"20.
19 L. Dam i, // giardino italiano, Milan 1924, pp. 7, 14, 20, 15, 25, 21 (in order of quotation).
20 See the catalogue titled Mostra del giardino italiano, Florence 1931 ; U. O j e 11 i, La mostra fiorentina del giardino italiano,
"11 giardino fiorito", April 1931, pp. 29-30; V. С azzato, Firenze 1931: la consacrazione del 'primato italiano' dell'arte dei giar-
dini, [in:J A. Tagliolini, M. Venturi Ferriolo (eds.), Giardino: idea, natura, realtà, Milan 1987, pp. 77-108; Azzi
V i s e n t i n i, Storia dei giardini: osservazioni in margine al récente sviluppo di questa disciplina in Italia, [in: ] L. Parachi n i,
CA. P i son i (eds.), Storia e storie di giardini. Fortune e storia del giardino italiano e verbanese nel mondo, Verbania 2003,
pp. 45-86, on pp. 55-56.
6. Villa Balbianello by the Lake Como
guage without any of the compositional vigour of Florence and Rome", albeit with a few exceptions such as
the Villa Barbarigo a Valsanzibio, they présent a "more prosaic or unsophisticated character"19.
In addition to Giulio Fasolo, who in Le ville del Vicentino (1929) also illustrated statuary and gardens,
Adolfo Callegari and Bruno Brunelli helped people discover the gardens of the Veneto villas - unappreci-
ated by Dami - with their Ville del Brenta e degli Euganei (1931). The book is richly illustrated with pho-
tographs, a few plans and numerous outstanding period views, some of which no longer available. The intro-
duction, discussing various aspects of the Veneto villa and its use, is followed by a detailed examination of
31 villas. Callegari also curated the Veneto section at the séminal "Italian Garden Exhibition" organized at
the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in 1931 and he edited the chapter on it in the catalogue. With nationalistic
pride, the exhibition asserted and confirmed Italy's leadership in the art of gardens, "a leadership in chrono-
logy, number and quality", according to the exhibition curator, Ugo Ojetti, who also illustrated the initiative's
three objectives. First of ail, it strived to "show a vast audience [...] the history - spanning two millennia
- of the Italian garden, i.e. the symmetrical and architectural garden that is always attuned to the architecture
of the villa [...] and repeats its balance, restraint and dignified serenity. Extending far from the façade of the
house, through its avenues and flowerbeds, its trees and shrubs, its terraces and porticoes of masonry or
greenery, and its grottoes, nymphaea and fountains, it maintains man's continuous and orderly and visible
domination of nature". Thus, the goal of the exhibition was to "assert Italy's claim to the origins and most
beautiful examples of this type of garden that, from England to North America and the Riviera, has once
again triumphed over the romantic English garden and the artificial wild park". Lastly, it aimed to inspire
those who created gardens "to find in our past the recommendations and models that must be modernized
with good taste in order to adapt them to new needs"20.
19 L. Dam i, // giardino italiano, Milan 1924, pp. 7, 14, 20, 15, 25, 21 (in order of quotation).
20 See the catalogue titled Mostra del giardino italiano, Florence 1931 ; U. O j e 11 i, La mostra fiorentina del giardino italiano,
"11 giardino fiorito", April 1931, pp. 29-30; V. С azzato, Firenze 1931: la consacrazione del 'primato italiano' dell'arte dei giar-
dini, [in:J A. Tagliolini, M. Venturi Ferriolo (eds.), Giardino: idea, natura, realtà, Milan 1987, pp. 77-108; Azzi
V i s e n t i n i, Storia dei giardini: osservazioni in margine al récente sviluppo di questa disciplina in Italia, [in: ] L. Parachi n i,
CA. P i son i (eds.), Storia e storie di giardini. Fortune e storia del giardino italiano e verbanese nel mondo, Verbania 2003,
pp. 45-86, on pp. 55-56.