Posted on 05/17/2016 1:17:25 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The story starts with a young nobleman named Duke Pierfrancesco "Vicino" Orsini. Orsini was born around 1516 and married a noblewoman named Guilia Farnese in 1544. He worked as a military officer and diplomat until 1553 when he was captured in the same battle that killed his best friend. He was held for ransom for three years and then, shortly after his release, his beloved wife died. Depressed, Orsini retreated to his family's holdings near Bomarzo where he began to plan his strange, melancholy garden.
What is known of the garden is mostly just what historians have found by visiting it. Orsini left no records telling what his intentions were in creating the peculiar grove filled with macabre statuary. Fortunately, Orsini placed inscriptions near many of the objects, giving us some clue to what he was thinking. Upon entering what Orsini called his Bosco Sacro ("Sacred Grove") visitors are greeted with the message:
TU CH'ENTRI QUI CON MENTE PARTE A PARTE ET DIMMI POI SE TANTE MARAVIGLIE SIEN FATTE PER INGANNO O PUR PER ARTE.
This challenge to visitors translates as "You who enter this place, observe it piece by piece and tell me afterwards whether so many marvels were created for deception or purely for art."
(Excerpt) Read more at unmuseum.org ...
Look what Michele did to the White House lawn!
No more Easter Egg Rolls for the kiddies.
Dante Alighieri was not gay. He was betrothed early in life by the custom of the time to a girl who when they both matured gave him at least three children.
His true love was a woman named Beatrice, whom he honored by making her his angelic guide through the three kingdoms of the Divine Comedy.
Yeah, but that’s not funny.
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