Tucked away in Bomarzo almost seventy kilometers from Rome, the gardens are located in a section of woodland near to the bottom of the valley in which the Orsini family castle was built. Here, after a career as a mercenary, the latest of the Orsini line settled in to a life of middle-aged Epicureanism. The park is perhaps holds a mirror to his imagination (or even state of mind) after a lifetime of political and social turmoil.
The monsters seem to have no connection with each other in terms of mythology or time frame and there is also no rationality around their positioning. Used as we are to parkland having a more formal layout this only increases the surprise that each one presents when it appears.
While we may not consider some of the sculptures to be monsters, per se, the time of construction must be taken in to account when it comes to the name. Pegasus, Poseidon and Proteus are all present in the garden. A huge elephant crushes a Roman soldier in a re-enactment of Hannibal’s journey over the Alps. Cerberus raises his shaggy head while giants shred their enemies to pieces. Pegasus rises from a fountain and a Triton watches over it all rather wearily.
One can only imagine the suspicion with which this garden may have been viewed in the sixteenth century - and even later.
It is certainly a triumph of individuality over conformity, that is for sure. Unusually for the time there is a distinct lack of Christian allegorical sculpture within the park and that is, scholars suggest, tantamount to a rejection of the religion. Perhaps Vicino's grief for the untimely death of his wife led to this. Authors have speculated on the real reasons for the construction of The Park of the Monsters for hundreds of years.
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