The Villa d'Este at Tivoli is one of the grandest and best-preserved of the Italian Renaissance gardens. It was created by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara, and Lucrezia Borgia. He was made a Cardinal at the age of twenty-nine and became governor of Tivoli in 1550.
To develop his residence, he took over a former Franciscan convent, and for the garden he bought the adjoining steep hillside and the valley below. His chosen architect was Pirro Ligorio, who had been carrying out excavations for Ippolito at the nearby ruins of the ancient Villa Adriana, or Hadrian’s Villa, the extensive country residence of the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, that had numerous elaborate water features.
From 1550 until his death in 1572, when the villa was nearing completion, Cardinal d'Este created a palatial setting surrounded by a spectacular terraced garden in the late-Renaissance mannerist style, which took advantage of the dramatic slope but required innovations in bringing a sufficient water supply, which was employed in cascades, water tanks, troughs and pools, water jets and fountains.
The Villa has been celebrated in poetry, painting and music. The grounds of the Villa d'Este also house the Museo Didattico del Libro Antico, a teaching museum for the study and conservation of antiquarian books.
Source: Wikipedia
75 Notes/ Hide
- silas216 liked this
- dcsx1 liked this
- cassandra879-blog-blog reblogged this from hominisaevum
- weather-ed reblogged this from soucriants
- solmesarthim reblogged this from hominisaevum
- kingofcatz reblogged this from hominisaevum and added:
(via imgTumble)
- kazetorashi-blog liked this
- ravenous-dawn reblogged this from aisling-r
- aisling-r reblogged this from hominisaevum
- notpostinghereucanunfollow reblogged this from soucriants
- victimsvixensvicodin reblogged this from soucriants
- shewastracingtheyears-blog liked this
- soucriants reblogged this from nobodyshippie
- sixwildswans reblogged this from hominisaevum
- damcyan-moved-blog reblogged this from troiacastle-blog
- 25ftundertheseat reblogged this from troiacastle-blog
- troiacastle-blog reblogged this from hominisaevum
- velvetvox liked this
- imhotepsgf liked this
- nobodyshippie reblogged this from ifveniceissinking-blog
- holasusan reblogged this from ljutakrajiska
- holasusan liked this
- functioning-mad-and-sadly liked this
- eaemilia liked this
- jdr3ad reblogged this from niczka
- mintyfreshs reblogged this from niczka
- yuriirigaray reblogged this from hominisaevum
- yuriirigaray liked this
- eyeheartfilm liked this
- virtu-e-fortuna reblogged this from hominisaevum
- iridania liked this
- likewinethroughwater liked this
- jane--winchester liked this
- jolyfis liked this
- waywardchangeling liked this
- ljutakrajiska reblogged this from nequam0
- hominisaevum posted this
- Show more notes