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BOMARZO HYDROLOGY: PART II
DRAFT
Pipes, valves, sediment, measurement, pressure, flow control and
cost:
At this point the cultivated, garden-informed readers eyes may
glaze over and a will to live
feeling, or lack thereof, may develop. Notwithstanding, the next
section is unavoidable.
Tivoli, Caprarola, Bagnaia - none of these glorious works of
water-animated genius would be
possible without pipes, valves, sediment management, water
volume/ flow control and so on.
Exceptional skills and technology were enhanced and integrated
in a mere century sufficient to
produce technological mastery which, with human creativity, made
possible artistic genius in
water animated gardens. Reminiscent of Islamic and Roman
achievements, humankind has
never again reached such perfection: we will find it hard to
surpass it in the future, however
creative we are and however diverting our technology.
In Roman times the standardisation of pipe-sizes- up to fifteen-
had been described by Sextus
Julius Frontinus in his De Aquis Urbis Romae of 97 CE [55]. With
the recovery of Frontinus'
manuscript from the library at Monte Cassino in 1425, effected
by the tireless humanist Poggio
Bracciolini, details of the construction and maintenance of the
Roman aqueduct system became
available once more, just as Renaissance Rome began to revive
and require a dependable source
of pure water.
By the 1550s this text was widely distributed among professional
engineers who faced identical
problems in restoration, or new work on urban and other
hydrological systems. Frontinus
stressed issues such as correct mapping and planning;
maintenance of pipes with concerns such
as sedimentation, settling tanks, ruptures and tree roots
discussed; different water qualities and
their uses and so on. He did not deal in detail with water
pressure- as far as we know- but
handled this and related issues through pipe constriction.
[56]
As well as this and other historic sources engineers wrote their
own manuscript descriptions of
technology and practice [57]. Many items are shown in the
Florence Museums traveling exhibit
with manuscripts dating from as early as the fourteenth century.
These MSS were copied by
apprentices and assistants and the knowledge and techniques
contained slowly spread among
practitioners. By the late 1560s Parco Demidoff at Pratolino,
the famous Medici garden near
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Florence was underway with its water animated elements appearing
by the late 1570s. It was
part of a wave of similar gardens noted in Part I above, of
which the Sacro Bosco appears to be
in the vanguard by at least eight years.
At Bomarzo, town and Sacro Bosco, the various uses to which
water was put- drinking (public
and private), washing (public and private), bathing (public and
private), sewerage (public and
private), fish ponds, open cisterns for events, the lake,
fountains, automata, jets, and other
maintenance functions- all required different systems, settling
tanks/turbidity reduction, purity,
clarity, pressure and control mechanisms. At present the precise
mechanisms for achieving all
this are open to discussion and more comprehensive site
research.
In terms of pipes Orsinis engineers had four basic choices: elm
for major trunk lines and,
possibly, ceramic; for smaller trunk lines and lesser branches,
usually ceramic; ductile lead for
major and minor, bent or angled lines; local lead quills for
distribution into fountains and
automata; and ductile copper which could be soldered.
Elm tree boring and the machines to do so are illustrated in de
Caus various editions [58] - elm
has the great advantage of not rotting if it sits below ground,
in mud, or in a water-logged
environment. For this reason it was a precious commodity and elm
trees with specific qualities
were propagated, grown and cropped. Large, straight trunks were
especially prized since they
could be cut into significant lengths. The longer the tube or
pipe, the fewer the joints and the
less risk there was of rupture or leakage. Elm pipes were shaped
like modern pencils, without a
graphite insert, designed to fit sharpened end into receiving,
funnel- shaped rear end. Each joint
had to be sealed with specialist glue or mortar. This presented
significant technical challenges. A
ruptured seal could be disastrous.
Occasionally oak was utilised but it does not appear to have
lasted as long before rotting. [59]
Special lead or mortar joint-sleeves/seals were used for high
pressure ceramic lines. [60]
Lead quills- smaller sub-lines- were used to link trunk and
sub-trunk lines with end uses in
automata and other machinery.
A modern version of a traditional terracotta ceramic system was
photographed at the UNESCO
funded museum at Agrigento in Sicily.
The one pictured below is a downpipe from the gutter system, not
designed to take great water
pressure. Its terracotta is relatively weak and would burst
under even moderate loading.
Although fired it is fragile and non-ductile. If used
horizontally, or on a sloping site, these
terracotta pipes must be sealed with mortar or lead.
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(Fig: 24 Agrigento Museum. It is a pipe system which fits end
into end; June, 2014)
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Another type of white ceramic pipe was photographed in Bomarzo
in 2006 in a newly exposed
location downstream from the external dam/bridge point pictured
above. This white ceramic
pipe is similar to the one shown as the input flow pipe at the
larger tank/Naumachia above:
(Fig: 25- white ceramic pipe, near dam, lying in silt; May,
2006)
The location of this pipe suggests that the idea of the dam
supplying the Barcaccia, a fountain or
two, and the Natatio has credibility. The pipe is much stronger
than terracotta examples seen
elsewhere on site and in Agrigento. It is of a white clay base
and fired at a significantly higher
temperature than terracotta. It would have been more expensive,
probably have been made in
longer sections and would require a stronger mortar/glue/lead
jointing material especially if it
had a higher internal pressure. Carrying such heavy, yet brittle
material was difficult: most pipe
of this type was made locally. These pipes are less porous than
terracotta, an added advantage.
A simpler terracotta pipe system was used throughout the Sacro
Bosco where unpressured
drainage was required from behind walls and other structures.
Drainage is important in gardens
with retaining walls since the sub-soil can carry large
quantities of water and unplanned springs
can cause erosion behind the stone facilitating collapse under
conditions of sustained, extreme
rainfall events. This is particularly relevant where heavy
peperino rocks lie on plastic or soft
clay and soil substrate [61]. Two elliptical profile terracotta
lengths are interred one half above
the other providing a channel through which water can
escape:
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(Fig: 26- Terracotta half-piping visible in a wall in the lower
level at Sacro Bosco near to the
Pegasus fountain, June 2014)
Recent archaeological work into a late sixteenth, early
seventeenth century watergarden at
Hanwell Park in Oxfordshire, England, by Stephen Wass
(Teamleader) has required site research
in Italy on comparable gardens. The following pictures are taken
from the work-in-progress
website. [62]
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(Fig: 27: Tuscan terracotta drainpipe- probably mid-to-late
sixteenth, early seventeenth century-
photo taken June, 2014 by Mr Wass team member)
Mr Wass visited sites around Lucca and Florence to investigate
details of Cinquecento and later
animated water gardens, still partially, or wholly extant, for
comparative technical data to help
illuminate the contemporaneously famous water garden of Sir
Anthony Cope, his eponymous
son, and their descendants. The photographic data is supportive
and helpful for this article. All
the photos from villas, excluding those from Bomarzo, are from
Mr Wass 2014 expedition. The
next photographs are of excavated sixteenth century pipes:
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(Fig: 28- Conservation project, Castello, June 2014, Wass)
The trunk lines appear to be ceramic or terracotta; there is a
box junction, with a massive
structure, suggesting these were high pressure; from them come
smaller lines; the whole
infrastructure appears to have been covered with a deep layer of
reinforcing cement or
composite. The pipes and junction box rest on terracotta tiles
which provide a level surface area,
like a building foundation, to reduce subsidence and cracking.
Similar tiles were used as roofing
for control booths at Bomarzo[63]. The joints appear to be every
1.2 metres apart,
approximately, whose tightness was secured by means of a
swelling mortar of sand, silt and
clay. Interposed underneath the external lead collars [64]. All
joints were usually supported on
flat, terracotta or stone plates- previously and at this time.
Broken and leaking joints were the
engineers nightmare- how to find them and fix them quickly
enough?
The next photograph is of the smaller, feeder lines which run in
parallel to numerous outlets
further out from the main trunk line. These probably ran into
lead quills as they approached the
water emitting features; from their appearance, and that of the
holes and gaps, they appear to
be both of lead and ceramic:
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(Fig: 29- Ibid- the holes in pipes shown indicate they may be
made of metal, not ceramic or
terracotta)
The two photographs above were taken at a current conservation
project (2014) at the early
Medicean garden at Castello a few kilometres north-west of the
city centre of Florence.
Developed from 1537 onwards by Cosimo I it may well have been
known by Orsini who had to
travel through or close to Florence when heading north to
Germany, or even to France if he
went by land, especially since he knew the Medici clan. The
developments at Pratolino and
Castello, among others including the Boboli Gardens in Florence,
could well have acted as a
catalyst for him in his different, somewhat idiosyncratic
creation at Bomarzo. Castello designed
by Varchi, Tribolo and then Buontalenti, also had two
rectangular pools at the beginning, and a
famous profusion of fruit trees, and was perhaps by shared by
Vicino on a smaller scale at the
Sacro Bosco.
The following picture is of complex lead quill engineering at
the back and base of a water
animated feature:
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(Fig 30: This arrangement is from Villa Torrigiani di
Camigliano; June, 2014, Wass)
Lead piping was the preferred material for situations where high
water pressure was linked to
angled, curved or bent fitting requirements. Against the tufa or
peperino rock in the Sacro Bosco
lead also has the advantage of being similar in colour. Lead,
however, was expensive and highly
desirable since it could be used for many industrial purposes-
including pewter and bronze
manufacture- might be recycled as pipe and also for military
uses such as bullets, cannon balls
and lead shot. In Bomarzo there are many examples of grooves or
rock chasings where it is
almost certain lead was used for surface-visible piping:
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(Fig 31: Major grooves cut into rock above water control booths
1, Plan 1, adjacent to caverns
housing automata, next to main road into site, below main
cistern, Sacro Bosco, May 2006).
Of lead, a recent book on Englands seventeenth century exports
and trade reports:
Apart from its military uses, lead was also required in the
production of pewter and in building
workThe quantities of lead needed to make tiles or water-pipes
was disproportionately large: more
than 50 kilograms of refined lead were needed for 1.5 metres of
piping; a ton of lead covered less than 6
square metres of roof.
Much lead was exported from England to Italy. [65]
Lead piping also had an advantage in that it could be of a very
heavy thickness and could be given a
thread on which nuts that joined two pipes, or a bronze control
valve, might be screwed.
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(Fig 32: Lead pipe with thread, Parc Demidoff at Pratolino; June
2014, Wass.)
Apart from ceramic piping no remnants of other pipes made from
lead, copper or wood are visible at
Bomarzo. Given the massive Cinquecento expansion of public water
systems recyclable piping was a
valuable commodity wherever it was easily accessed. What could
not be retrieved without undue effort,
after the Sacro Boscos proud owner died, probably still remains
underground.
Controlling water pressure and flow are critical to gravity
powered, water animated gardens. Too much
pressure and joints rupture, wasting water, causing erosion and
damaging infrastructure. Insufficient
pressure and features do not function. As the itinerant host and
guests passed by and through various
parts and features of the Sacro Bosco the water branches and
automata had to be turned on, and off. If
the patron lingered somewhere, water-flow in other parts would
generally have been stopped and, if
possible, extra water supply would have been diverted to that
zone. Regular flowing features like the
dam sluices, stream and some basic fountains would have
continued unless the whole system, or major
parts of it, needed recharging or there were adequate back up
tanks which could be called on to
recharge the front line cisterns and then be slowly recharged
themselves over a matter of days.
Valves were key to the whole operation. No valves from the
period have been located through research
as yet, but those from Roman times are readily available for
study. The range of Roman valves is
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remarkable and modern valves strongly resemble them. It is
likely that the Cinquecento saw the use of
many devices to control water flow and pressure similar to the
following:
(Fig 33: These are all Roman valves in the Collection of the
National Archaeological Museum,
Naples; referenced [66)
Based on metallurgical studies, the materials used for the
casting of Roman bronze valves were:
73% Copper; 19% Lead; 8% Tin. Cinquecento valves were probably
made from similar metal
ratios.
The Roman water valve design fitted well with the water pressure
design of their lead piping.
The normal lead piping was designed for low water pressure
applications (with a few rare
exceptions where lead piping was used as an inverted siphon). As
an example, an American
expert has studied the water distribution system in Pompeii.
There, water was delivered
through a system of water towers that maintained water pressures
at approximately 8-9 psi (18-
20 feet). Although this water pressure is much less than modern
urban design parameters, it
was sufficient for water distribution in Roman cities and towns
to public fountains, water stands
and for other regular uses. The water flow in the distribution
system was controlled by
constricting the pipe (with a calix) or by valves. These were
key to the conservation and proper
use of the supply.
At Bomarzo there were similar needs but also high pressure
parameters for the Meta Sudans
and the mechanical automata which almost certainly required a
significantly higher pressure.
Exactly which type of piping- lead and/or copper and/or ceramic-
was used for these high
pressure purposes is not known. Nor which solders, mortar mixes
and glues to guarantee
connections. However there can be no doubt those challenges had
been met in fourteenth
century Hesdin and there is no reason to doubt they were not
overcome by Orsinis experienced
engineers. If, however, these automata existed, and there is
significant evidence adduced later
to that effect then, in its unique characteristics, the
hydrological complexity and design
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parameters at the Sacro Bosco far outdistanced those at Lante
and Caprarola and, in a different
way with different parameters, came close to those at
Tivoli.
The common tap was also an essential piece of kit. At Pratolino,
recent conservation work on
the Giant of the Apennines has revealed one such Cinquecento
bronze tap- remarkably similar
to those used in Roman times and today:
(Fig: 34- Park Demidoff, below statue of Giant of Apennines;
June, 2014, Wass)
Sedimentation was another key issue: all water has a degree of
turbidity at times. How did the
sixteenth century fontinieri and hydrologists solve this
problem? Fountains and automata easily
clog up, and silt and sand are the enemy of gravity-fed fountain
systems. Even the cleanest
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water over time leaves calcific and silt-based deposits. To
minimise maintenance the cleanest,
non-mineralogically affected water must be employed. In this
regard settlement and
sedimentation tanks are essential and near-point-of-use sediment
settling techniques also
unavoidable. Francesco di Giorgios manuscripts show several such
mechanisms. As we shall see
spaces next to caverns at the Sacro Bosco, which contained
automata, may have housed
sedimentation units, whether these or other mechanisms; the high
pressure for automata
demanded earlier, in-line sediment removal and probably sealed
units, also, to maintain
pressure:
(Fig: 35- FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO - Triple-compartment
water-purification filter for a fountain)
Florence Exhibition website
(Fig: 36- FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO - Gravel and sand filters to be
placed near a fountain)
Florence exhibition website
Once again, Pratolino has a fine example of unpressurised,
vertical sediment traps below the
Giant of the Apennines statue:
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(Fig: 37- Parc Demidoff, below sculpture of Apennines; June
2014, Wass)
The best way to minimise turbidity and fine silt settlement is
to remove as much as possible as
early as possible in the transmission process. This is why it
appears from the Google satellite
images that Orsinis system in the south-south east quadrant may
be much more extensive than
visible road-adjacent data reveals, see Plan 1, possible water
tanks 6, 7 and 8.
Another aspect of hydrology on a large scale is the need for
subterranean tunnels and culverts.
There is no evidence, as yet, that these existed in the Sacro
Bosco except one unexplored tunnel
noted by Darnall [67] near the Pegasus fountain. The sediment
trap space above shows an
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example of one subterranean space at Pratolino. Another can be
seen in the next photo from
Pratolino:
(Fig: 38- Park Demidoff, Pratolino, entrance to subterranean
water supply cavern and tunnels;
June 2014, Wass)
If this is accurate and the remnant system reveals Orsinis full
infrastructure, design quality and
investment thereby, it may also reveal that the Sacro Boscos
hydrological system could have
been a world leader at the time. Keeping in mind the loss of
Roman knowledge in the field, with
its enormous practical mastery evaporated, it may well be that,
in Europe, Bomarzos
infrastructure was a peak-quality achievement then and for
centuries later. Or not. Only
immediate preservation, conservation, research and publication
of results will ascertain if Vicino
is a technical, as well as cultural hero of Italys Cinquecento.
Unless something is done to
establish the facts of the historical case Italy may lose a gem
of world historical importance as
this system is degraded by unaware municipal development and
general, often private,
misunderstanding and underestimation.
Finally, for this tedious, technical, empiric stage, we come to
cost. Not simply that there needs
to be a detailed, factual and site-focused research programme to
validate the ideas expressed in
this article, or improve on them and countervail them. Which
will have a cost in stages.
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Rather- how much did this all cost him and how could Orsini
afford it? One of the issues is that
currency and value statements from different countries and
within countries are notoriously
fugitive. Any attempt to compare costs across borders is almost
impossible since coinage used
was so variable and subject to debasement. The same is partly
true for different regions inside a
single country. Equally, inflation in parts of Europe was
significant, but unequal. What seems
expensive in Lazio may not be so in Lisbon or London, or
vice-versa.
Facts relating to these basic questions of cost are not easily
established. Unlike a few of the
projects undertaken by Salomon de Caus fifty years later, for
which we have some manuscript
accounts information [68], there is apparently no precise data
available or known about the
Sacro Boscos expenses, either capital or operational. Lantes
hydrological system was reputed
to have cost 75,000 livres, or more, while the enormous cost of
Tivolis massive hydrological
system could well have been at least three or four times
greater. Only dEstes remarkable
wealth permitted him to create on such a scale. The relative
value of a livre is hard to
determine. The issue of cost was in Orsinis mind at all stages
of the development but he
thought it worthwhile. If only an estate account book could be
located or further references in
as yet undiscovered letters.
At the end of the Renaissance the Italian Papal States were
undergoing a slow, relatively gentle
economic decline which favoured landowners more generally over
labourers. In this context
Vicino was presumably fairly well placed, although specialised
mechanics, fontinieri and
hydrological engineers were in demand and would probably have
commanded respectable fees.
The less skilled labourers would have swapped into garden or
park maintenance from other
agrarian functions, while sculptors of any notable quality
mainly completing whole statues or
finishing faces, hands and other detailed limb elements such as
mermaids tails- were also
appropriately remunerated. Basic stoneworkers for cisterns,
walls and working structures were
almost certainly local trades people from Bomarzo and the
Viterbo region and may have been
required by Orsini to contribute time in lieu of land rental
payments. Some of them may have
roughed out the basic forms, required for sculptures, to be
finished later by more skilled
practitioners.
Whatever the mode or extent of payment, a large system with
hundreds of metres of intricate
piping, valves, control buildings, at least five or six main
cisterns, and other infrastructure inside
the Sacro Bosco spread throughout an area in excess of 3.5
hectares supplied by trunk lines
exceeding several kilometres, would have been very expensive in
investment and maintenance
terms, over three and a half decades. Peak expenditures occurred
in four or five phases
between 1547 and the late 1570s, while his ransom after Hesdin
would have added to the
familys financial burden in 1555. He was also upgrading the
family Palazzo in Bomarzo town
throughout this period. Inheriting from his brother in the early
1570s helped- it was then he
probably began to develop the recently uncovered zones to the
south and west of the rear
wall, since he appears to have filled the rest of the Park up by
this stage [69]. The fact that he
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both wanted to expand the Parks footprint then, and could afford
to do so, is interesting, as is
the lower quality of sculpting and the fact the items were
obviously water animated:
(Fig 39: Probably later works, outside Formal Park wall to the
south of the main road in; large,
roughly sculpted, turtle shaped peperino rock, with carved
elements. Water cistern below,
part of sculpture, photographed on private property; Plan 1,
possible automaton 4; June,
2014)
The lower quality of sculpting implies that, toward the end of
his life, Vicino lacked easy
access to expert sculptors who provided the finishing touches to
many of the earlier works,
including faces, heads, mermaids tails, hands, feet and some
entire sculptures. The presence
of grooves, cisterns, slots and holes in the twenty or so
sculpted boulders here indicates he
was capable of having automata devised, installed and
maintained, so there had to be a
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dedicated team of engineers and tradesmen still employed on a
regular basis. His passion to
create, operate and interpret was still there.
(Fig 40: large sculpted bowl, possibly sediment trap as at
Pratolino, outside Bosco wall; June,
2014)
The issue of financial resourcing and cost to Vicino over forty
years needs much better sources
and data than appear to be available at present. Hopefully,
researchers will locate more data in
the manuscript sources in Naples, Viterbo, Rome, Florence and
Los Angeles and provide more
information which may illuminate this core question.
Method, means and opportunity: Orsini had to be comparatively
wealthy to sustain such a
large creative project over so many years. In this regard he was
outshone by dEste, Gambara
and Farnese but his investment was less in ordered architecture
and more in experiential
effects. We will now look at the implications of such a large
hydrological infrastructure and then
at those possible effects and how they were achieved.
Does a hydrological system matter?
What are the implications?
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If Orsini operated the Sacro Bosco along lines so far suggested
the facility, towards the end of
his life, would have been sophisticated and complex on both a
cultural and a technological level.
To make it work like a well-oiled theatrical presentation
required meticulous operational
planning and maintenance. As impresario and lead player Vicino
needed a host of supporting,
but unseen cast members- his engineers and groundsmen. The
guests, whether in groups or
singly were to be amazed [70], delighted, informed and engaged
rather as if watching an early
opera while moving around the set. At some point they, too,
might become participants and
players. At the very least they would have been an active
audience whose responses and body
language would guide the walking player. This activity is
somewhat reminiscent of visitors to
Hesdins Gallery of Earthly Delights.
Required practical elements for Sacro Bosco as an animated
garden would include:
Outstanding surveying and engineering
A substantial hydrological infrastructure, technical skills and
investment on a grand scale.
Access to key raw materials
Multiple copies of plans; and machinery and plant
descriptions.
A dedicated, skilled, local workforce.
A dedicated, skilled, wealthy and creative patron.
Available expert consultants and trades people.
Available skilled sculptors and artists
A massive hydrological reserve for recharging in times of
elongated visits and low rainfall.
A complex, sophisticated and technically competent control
system.
Ways of reducing stagnant and mosquito infected water.
A sophisticated system of signalling, command and control.
A network of control structures to house valves and manage
pipes, above and below ground.
Sundry maintenance and operational engineers, in hidden but
communicable locations.
Grounds staff for cleaning, tidying, and grounds
maintenance.
Emergency planning and training for ruptures, leaks, break-downs
and extreme weather events.
Emergency materials and parts close-by for rapid repair and
amelioration.
Painstaking maintenance programs in winter and summer.
Readily available supplies of spare parts for piping, valves and
machinery as they wear out.
Available places for food preparation, chilling and heating.
Toilets for guests and staff.
Changing areas and dry clothing stores close to bathing
areas.
Structures to shield horses and carriages in the summer
heat.
Buildings for parts storage, maintenance and workshops.
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In line with the most likely types of groups and guests, Vicino
would potentially have favoured
six different pathways and types of experience- or possibly
more- depending on who was visiting
and under what circumstances:
The respectable: pageant and public celebration of wit, comfort,
wealth and culture:
impressing the cognoscenti and neighbours like Gambara and
Madruzzo.
The virtuous progression (via the back gate to the Temple
dedicated to Julia); and
historical/Etruscan elements including the Mask of Madness
walkway.
The family outing with partners, children and family friends-
light, fun with a gregarious pater
familias.
The philosophical and cultural: Vicino as intellectual and
family historian/thinker.
The sensuous and profane group revels: private group dynamics
and bathing.
The intensely private and personal- singular dining, imbibing,
poetry, romance and sex.
It is possible that a tour and presentation may occasionally
have evolved from one type into
another. It is also likely that during some tours the lower
levels were closed off to more
restrained or innocent visitors, especially the Nymphaeum,
Barcaccia, Love Theatre, Lascivious
sculpture and Natatio area.
No wonder his inheritors lacked his passion for the Sacro Bosco
when fully developed. It was a
complicated set of systems which were literally fitted to his
character, knowledge, physical traits
and preferences. His engineers were personally chosen and they
trained and worked with
Vicino. His esoteric cultural knowledge would have been of an
earlier, more liberal period.
Mannerism was waning as religious mores strengthened and taste
evolved- all of which would
have been daunting to his family. The cost of maintenance and
operation was high. After his
death, cash became increasingly short and the old protectors-
Cardinals mainly- of this
somewhat louche facility died. The Sacro Boscos reputation may
well have threatened the
family as the Churchs grip tightened. The materials which kept
it going and the emplaced
infrastructure were financially valuable. They would have been
stripped out first. The family sold
the place by 1645 and only one element- a stone seat- was added
after Orsinis death.
Automata: Hesdin and Europe:
Hesdin Castle was one of the favoured locations beloved of the
Burgundian leaders from the
thirteenth century onwards. In 1299 by the time of Mahaut,
Countess of Artois, these engiens
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desbattement were clearly extant in her account books. She
probably inherited them from her
father, Count Robert of Artois.
In various entries between 1299 and 1344, significant payments
were recorded for a number of
repairs and enhancements of mechanical monkeys, soldering on
engiens de Pavillion out in the
Park, repairs to machines ejecting water, which had broken or
been damaged in a rebellion, and
a new engien which was placed in the Gloriette: a tree covered
with leaves among which
carved and painted birds were perched. Lead pipes carried water
to the birds, which spouted
like fountains. In 1477 Hesdins remarkable qualities were noted
by Caxton in: History of Jason
[71].
A long description was produced in 1432 providing details of
these marvels and their
maintenance. By then the engiens had existed for about sixty
years and required constant
repairs by a specialist family of tradesmen originally from
Boulogne- father to son. This detailed
account was translated from the French by Mirriam Sherman
(published in 1947), and later
summarised by Jesse Hurlbut in 1992:
A second product of Burgundian culture worth investigation in a
study of PLAY was the ducal palace at Hesdin. We know
little about this castle, built in a small town between Arras
and Boulogne-sur-Mer, yet, which was one of the most popular
residences of Duke Philip and his family. It was demolished in
the 16th century at the order of Charles Quint. The best
description of the castle is in an accounting record of payment
made to one Colard le Voleur for certain enhancements to some
already existing fixtures in the interior of the castle.
From this document, we learn that there was a large gallery
painted with the arms and mottoes of the duke. An impressive
fountain that could be switched on and off was, at first
glimpse, the main attraction. At the entrance to the gallery,
however,
there were paintings of three people which squirted water to
anyone passing by. The account reveals, in addition, a
distorted
mirror, and a machine that would slap the visitor in the face
and dump soot or flour on them. Another machine splashed water
"pour
mouiller les dames par dessoubz." On the way out of the gallery,
one received several blows to the head and shoulders.
The next room could produce rain, thunder and snow. A hermit,
made of wood, conversed with visitors. A false floor was
put in so that anyone trying to get out of the rain would fall
through into a sack of feathers. Elsewhere, another trap door
was installed, this time on a bridge over water. In many other
places, water was dumped, splashed or squirted at the touch of
special buttons devised for that purpose. Anyone trying to open
a particular window was hosed down by an automaton who closed
the
window after them. A book of ballads on a lectern may have
looked inviting, but touching it caused one to be covered in
soot
and then sprayed with water. Flour was dumped on anyone trying
to see themselves in a mirror.
Another automaton was programed to enter the room and order
everyone out by the command of the Duke himself. That meant
running the gauntlet past gigantic statues of fools ("sots et
sottes"). Anyone resisting would get completely drenched. An
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23
owl, perched on a window responded to the questions of
visitors.
Additional references make it clear that these were luxurious
chambers with ceilings painted in azure with golden
stars. The walls were covered with elaborate historiated murals
and faux-tapestries. Understandably, an oil-based paint was
used
throughout. [72]
So, among the many materials used in repair, construction and
operation are listed: oil paints,
lumber, mirrors, lead, carpenters and masons supplies, soot,
water, gold, nails, glass, horns,
feathers, quick-silver, furs and skins, sacking, metals and, by
implication, wrought iron, cogs,
weights, springs and other machinery. A listing of sundry
technical tradesmen with a variety of
skills is mentioned also.
The engiens in this list include:
Various machines and methods of squirting water at, on, under,
up and on top of guests from
paintings, android figures, birds, a window with an android
figure operating the drenching and
closing the window
A talking and walking android representing the Duke
Giant figures of fools
A distorting mirror, in which the full text notes: one sees many
deceptions
An engien which strikes visitors in the face - full text- when
its knobs are touched covering
them in black and white
A fountain full text- in which water will flow at will and
always return whence it came
A machine which cuffs visitors on their heads and shoulders
A room which makes rain, thunder, snow and full text- makes [it]
lighten...as if one were
looking at the sky
A wooden hermit figure that speaks to people as they come into
the room
A bridge which-full text- at will one makes those who walk on it
fall in the water
A lectern with a book of ballads- visitors who opened it were
drenched- and another where they
were besmirched with black- probably soot
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24
A person made of wood that appears above a bench in the middle
of a gallery and fools visitors
and full text- speaking by a trick, cries out on behalf of the
[host] that all of them should leave
the gallery
Android figures with rods who force visitors to fall in the
water
An owl, contained in a box, suspended in air inside a window,
capable of making faces, which
answers all questions from visitors
Some of these features resonate with some of the known, extant
sculptural and structural items
at the Sacro Bosco.
It appears from the account book entry which has been quoted,
with its bureaucratic
enumeration of costed work done by various master tradesmen,
that by the mid fourteenth
century Hesdin had a wide range of active machinery powered by
water and internal enginery,
operated by hidden facilitators or interacting with the visitors
themselves as they moved
through the various chambers and touched or opened things. These
engiens were often
connected by lead pipes carrying water under pressure from
cisterns or other machinery. They
could also be animated by spring powered or weight powered
machinery and aided by sound,
words and, if this is what tricks meant, by hidden humans who
spoke through pipes in response
to questions.
Whatever the Dukes motivation, he went to a great deal of
trouble and expense to have these
automata created and maintained and it appears that this
tradition continued on into the late
fifteenth century and beyond. It was this facility and its
tradition of automata, famous
throughout Europe among the aristocracy, which Vicino must have
experienced before, during
or after the siege of Hesdin. [73] As another authority on
automata stated:
At the close of the thirteenth century a particularly famous set
of such watery toy s was built for [the] Count of Artois
[Including]
quite a large number of animated apes covered with real hair and
sufficiently complicated to need frequent repair. This pleasure
garden in all its extravagant bad taste, became the talk of the
civilised world and was probably the ancestor of those famous
and
somewhat more decorous French and English fountains and
waterworks of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
For Orsini, Hesdin was not the only potential source of
information about technologies which
might animate androids, musical tableaux, water organs and other
automata. Merriam
Sherwood states that Heros works were known in Europe as early
as the mid-thirteenth century
along with European works by authors from Germany, and
elsewhere, such as Jordanus on
staticks and mechanics. This reinforces earlier commentary and
is generally supported with
various details in later authorities. The advantage at Hesdin,
however, was that here Vicino
could see the effects and the enginery which caused them. He
could absorb the technical
intricacies and understand their causation and effect, plus get
an idea of complexity,
maintenance and cost. Even if waiting to be besieged, or after
surrender, the hands-on and
eyes-on experience would be invaluable. It would also stimulate
his imagination, especially
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25
since by 1553 to 1555 he was already six years into development
of his park. Added to which
was the fact that he did not have much to do as a parolee of
aristocratic origin. Finally there may
well have been printed and manuscript materials available for
him to study in the libraries at the
castle and in Namur, even works by Hero and others.
There were also other types of material available to make
figurative sculptures apart from
stone, wood and painted textiles such as canvas. Stephen Wass
has identified several with his
team at Pratolino and elsewhere. For example there was the
modelled material which
constituted the Giant of the Apennines- a skeletal armature,
covered with bronze mesh and
then covered with a matrix of a composite of ground stone and
especially hard mortar. A broken
piece of a similar type was photographed at Villa Torrigiani di
Camigliano:
(Fig: 41- Villa Torrigiani, entry to the Nymphaeum of the winds
looking south with a close up of
the pipework and bronze wire mesh inside the decaying head of a
hydra; June 2014, Wass)
Altogether, Vicino had a wide range of literature, models,
comparators, prompts, skills and
materials from which to draw inspiration and practical examples
in addition to the
multitudinous cultural and literary references which have been
explored so fulsomely over the
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26
past sixty years by the Bomarzo academic industry.
Bomarzo, water features and automata:
There is so much evidence of absence in Bomarzo at present that
it is not practicable to
analyse all the photographs and likely points of installation in
this article. Some additional,
unexplored photographs which appear to support this thesis will
be included as an appendix
however. It is also the case that more data needs to be
collected, and more detailed
measurements to be taken, along with the necessary surveying and
mapping of the hydrological
systems. The following is therefore a survey of the more salient
and obvious locations and
physical elements where Orsinis engineers and tradesmen created
settings, with some initial
suggestions as to what cultural content these installations may
have contained.
The first major installation we have already glimpsed in the
illustration of pipe grooves cut in the
rock. Re-examined and rephotographed six years later in 2014,
this installation appears to have
required two tile-roofed control stations/booths, and a cave,
which fed three automata,
requiring a massive inward bound lead pipe feeding a multitude
of quills into the settling
tanks/filters and thence the automata. See Plan 1, automata
numbers 1, 2 ,3 and water control
booths number 1.
The following photographs show these installations
progressively. They are set back in an angled
line starting about twelve metres to the east of the main
entrance road converging, at the
second element, by the side of the road itself. This was the
initial part of an
Arrival/decompression/reception progression created to flag up
first impression messages to
visitors.
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27
(Fig: 42- Road entrance to Sacro Bosco; June, 2014)
This is the current gateway entrance into the open approach
areas of the Park. Almost certainly
it closely recreates what Orsini laid down as he developed the
site. To the right, towering over
the scene is Bomarzo Town and the northern facade of Orsinis
Palazzo. A large peperino rock
can be viewed further down the modern road- it is the second
installation groups base rock. To
the right of the second tree can just be glimpsed a grey rock
set back approximately twelve to
fifteen metres from the road. This is the edge of the facility
shown in the next picture:
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28
(Fig: 43- Photographed outside Sacro Bosco, June, 2014; Plan 1,
water control booths, 1)
This classic water control facility has escaped all comment by
scholars describing the Parks
elements, yet it is obvious to any visitor today. Although it
may have been hidden by bushes or
small fruit trees in Vicinos time, the next photograph shows the
installation whose automata
were fed by this combination of control booth and massive
inbound pipeline. This feature plus
the horizontal shelf above, which permitted a pipe junction (one
lying flat and passing to the
left/north and the other going vertically down the groove into
the control station), illustrates a
sophisticated, high pressure system utilising lead pipes for
large sub-trunk line. Another cavern,
large enough to accommodate pipe-work, valves and an operator,
has been cut into the rock by
the side of the booth. Note the other smaller grooves coming
down the face of the upper rock.
The purpose of these is unknown. To the north and west of this
installation, a separate peperino
boulder closer to the road has been massively carved and gouged,
creating two substantial
caverns. Note the wall constructed to the right/east of the
boulders face and that the fascia
itself is flat with numerous smaller holes and scars which are
not natural.
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29
(Fig: 44-Sacro Bosco, east side of entrance road; June,
2014)
To the left/west of the flat fascia a large, squared off face
has been cut, probably to permit a
major element to rest against it. The rectangular cave to the
left with pipe hole beneath was a
pressure sedimentation unit/space. The right cavern held
enginery. A cross-shaped scar above
was an anchor point for an iron element which held an automaton
facade to the rock. Lead
pipes came over the top of this massive peperino boulder. The
semi-circular cavern to the right
has two smaller caverns cut below which suggest they housed
stone or metal feet to rest the
facade upon. To the right can just be made out a lower wall,
above which is the set-back wall of
the third water control station. The whole facility is in direct
line-of-sight to the largest cistern
(Plan 1, Main Tank, number 1) in the east south east quadrant
described above. It can also be
seen from Orsinis Palazzo. This was a huge installation at the
beginning of the Bosco
experience, requiring complex hydrological design and execution.
It was expensive to create and
operate and it provided a spectacular first message. The next
picture, with holes for fittings
perhaps seven metres above the lower caverns, suggests the
automaton could have been
enormous and in several parts. Grooves indicate a number of
pipes for high pressure water
sources. Some lead appears still to adhere to flat surfaces:
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30
(Fig: 45- June 2014, carved/engineered peperino boulder at start
of the Bosco experience)
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31
What could the messaging have been? Any notion at this stage
needs to be generic.
As suggested it is placed outside the walled Park itself, and it
was therefore unlikely to have
been risky in religious or social terms. Orsini may have used
the installation to impress visitors
with the cultural creativity of the park, and with his social
status, suggesting deep historic roots
going back to ancient times and a standing now of superiority
and excellence. Perhaps family
insignia- elements waving or moving- and an historic face
moving/speaking above? The next
installation is by the side of the road:
(Fig: 46-Sacro Bosco ADROIT experience; June 2014; Plan 1,
possible automaton 2)
The placement of the huge stone elements are as Orsini found
them. They are too big to move
and their relative location was helpful in terms of cultural
message and technical requirements.
This second installation has a large cavern with, at the front,
a squared top and right edge
carved out of the rock. There are man-made holes on the right
(western) side of the boulder and
the lower lip has been smoothed, possibly to accommodate a large
pipe and fittings, to the
lower right. To the left is a concealment wall. Connection to
the main system would have been
in below-ground ceramic pipes. It seems as if subsidiary lead
quills came over the top, following
grooves, and down into the cavern. Intriguingly, there is a
substantial pool of water lying at the
base of the cavern. Could some marginally active pipes be
attached? Again, there is no question
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32
that this intervention could be natural, yet no other author
except one has commented on it.
This aspect is puzzling. Why have these major elements attracted
almost zero comment? The
last major element, another altered boulder, is thirty metres
further along the road:
(Fig: 47- June, 2014; Plan 1, possible automaton number 3,
entrance road)
Looking back the previous installation (2) can be seen, as can
Orsinis Palazzo, again in direct line
of sight. On-site and later photographic analysis shows that a
wide, curving shelf has been
carved into this boulder stretching from the deep left (south
west) side, around the front of the
peperino rock, then back to the south and east. Numerous small
round holes have been cut into
the surrounding rock faces. There is a significant, yet smaller
cavern cut into the rock
somewhere near the middle of the front part of the shelf. There
appear to be a number of
grooves which could have supported small lead quills. Perhaps a
large five to six metres long-
reclining figure (or figures)was placed on this uneven shelf
which would lend itself to such a
form, leaning with its head on one elbow; or perhaps a sea
serpent? Perhaps both? It may have
had less moving armature or features since the supply pipes and
machinery cavern are
comparatively minimal. Perhaps only water gushed out of an
aperture.
What cultural messaging can be suggested for this pair of
features? If Installation 1 flagged up
family history and status, perhaps Installation 2 acted as a
welcome to sundry visitors? If so,
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33
what could that have been? Orsini was fond of inscriptions- all
of the installations may have had
some kind of written message, in Italian or Latin- yet perhaps
this element may have had an
alternating message allied to a major figure opening its arms in
welcome, or waving a welcome?
The machinery cavern is a large cubic volume, down low at the
base of the rock. Large enough
to have a sealed sedimentation tank with enginery on top, which
might animate a herm,
somewhat like those found now repaired and located below the
Leaning House in the Sacro
Bosco and in the exquisite upper garden at Caprarola. This could
have been an evolution of the
wooden hermit figure from Hesdin mentioned previously. Or it
could have been a figure like a
bear such as the sculpture from the Sacro Bosco below:
(Fig: 48- June, 2014- an ursino- little bear- with decorative
arms and emblem of the Orsini)
The closest form to fit this situation is illustrated in Heros
forty ninth example:
49. A Trumpet, in the hands of an Automaton, sounded by
compressed Air
Here, a vertical figure holds a trumpet whose note is created by
a person blowing air into a tube
which, with an ingenious two-way valve, causes the water to
create a trumpet blast. Such a
figure would signal arrival. Orsini or his engineers would have
known this automaton. [74] The
second form on automaton 3 was possibly a reclining figure, not
unlike the figure of
Lasciviousness down near the lower area of Nymphaeum and
Barcaccia, but less languorous and
suggestive. De Caus shows a reclining rustic figure [75] with a
large flow of water from a jar on
which his left arm rests. His right arm could be made to move.
Or possibly a culturally renowned
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34
figure such as Diana, or an Etruscan style, single tailed
Mermaid, a sea serpent or a tomb figure
or figures could have been selected.
(Fig: 49- source: https: www.museumsinflorence.com1000 632Search
by image:
Etruscan polychrome sarcophagus of Letitia Saeianti. Found in
Chiusi, from 3rd century BC) [76]
(Fig: 50- Etruscan statuette -VIIth century B.C.E? - From the
necropolis of Strozzacapponi- Antiquarium of Corciano, Perugia,
Italy)]
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35
(Source:https://www.google.com/search?q=Etruscan+mermaid&client=gmail&rls=aso&tbm=isc
h&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Zf0oVJDYJs)
The shelf is large enough for a grouping of figures or a lengthy
mermaid or serpent, in which the
mermaid tail moved, or the serpents head was capable of
moving.
(Fig: 51-U of Penn Museum image: Source: Sarcophagus Object
Number: MS3488A/ Etruscan
/Italy Gallery Italy/Civita Musarna/ Locus: near Viterbo/ Date
Made: 299-200 bce/Materials:
Tufa/ Technique: Carved, Painted/Iconography: Sea Serpent, Man,
Mirror?)
We do not know precisely what was exhibited but the caverns,
grooves and rock shapes at least
permit a reasonable supposition to be made at this exploratory
stage. We also know that this
was part of the general introduction to the Sacro Bosco and
would have met the values of visit
type 1, mentioned previously: The respectable: pageant and
public celebration of wit, comfort,
wealth and culture: impressing the cognoscenti and neighbours
like Gambara and Madruzzo. In
concluding this section it might be worth suggesting that
perhaps the first installation (Plan 1,
automaton 1) was simply an enormous family crest focused on
Vicinos name, such as that seen
on the wall above the front gate to Bomarzo Town, with some kind
of animated element- to a
height of seven metres or so:
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36
(Fig: 52- Heraldic crest over entrance gate into Bomarzo town;
June, 2014)
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37
One thing is clear: the first two caverns of automaton I are not
untouched Etruscan burial places
as suggested by Coty.
If that was their origin it is certain they were
re-engineered.
After the guests on horseback, carriage or litter were deposited
at the entrance set-down they
walked towards and down the shallow staircase between the fish
pond- to the left (south) and
Naumachia (right/north) discussed above. Fish ponds were almost
always part of the topos of
gardens in the Cinquecento and, combined with a Naumachia, a
most respectable introduction
to Orsinis park.
The photograph of the fish-pond shown above illustrates a
classic version of a rectangular
servatorium, or holding pond; the free-form lake would have
served as a vivarium, or breeding
pond. The construction of both this pond and the Naumachia would
have been similar.
On some days there may have been sufficient here for guests to
enjoy a special Naumachia
presentation and a fine, alfresco meal under awnings on boats or
on the shore with no call to
proceed into the Sacro Bosco itself. The steps down into the
Naumachia indicate guests
sometimes went into barges or boats to become part of the
spectacle, eat while boating on the
water or just to enjoy being afloat:
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38
(Fig: 53- Steps down to Naumachia, Sacro Bosco; June, 2014)
For location of Fish Pond and Naumachia see Plan 1, water bodies
4 and 5.
At that time Naumachia were popular among the aristocracy and
the cognoscenti. The most famous
later example was the flooding of the Pitti Palace in 1589 which
marked the apogee of such lavish
displays. [77]
This followed a growing trend of which the Naumachia at the
Boboli Gardens in Florence, in 1550, was a
prominent example. Orsini would definitely have known about this
through word of mouth and
epistolary friends and, on a smaller scale but still at great
expense and technical effort, he created a
venue for such performances:
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39
(Fig: 54-North and east end of Naumachia; Sacro Bosco, June,
2014)
Naumachia, essentially a derivative from Roman extravaganzas,
featured mock battles and famous naval
and mythological events from history. They became the vogue
among wealthy and demonstrative
Cinquecento patrons who wished to entertain other members of
their class- the great and the good. A
suite of storylines personalised to suit the occasion would have
intrigued Orsini as a master story-teller
until, perhaps, his son died at the Battle of Lepanto in
1571.
The later, famous event inside the Pitti Palace celebrating the
marriage of Grand Duke Ferdinand I of
Tuscany in 1589, while much larger and grander than anything
Vicino could achieve, gives at least some
notion of the range of possibilities:
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40
(Fig : 55- Source: Orazio Scarabelli | : Naumachia in the
Courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti | Collection | The National
Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, collection.nmwa.go.jp )
Apparently this moving tableau showed eighteen galleys storming
a Turkish fortress. [78].
Vicino was unlikely to choose many martial scenes- he had a
strong distaste for war after his military
career- so he may well have gone for themes similar to the
following:
Bayonne magnificence, 1565: Catherine de Medicis Festival. The
drawing illustrates its main
component points: an attack on a whaleNeptune on a chariotsix
tritons on the back of a marine
tortoiseArion on a dolphinand three sirenson the island
shepherds and shepherdesses dance and,
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41
in the middle distance stands a banqueting hall. [79]
(Fig; 56)
[Source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Antoine_Caron,_Water_Festival_at_Ba
yonne,_drawing.jpg]
If, after this exegesis, it is suggested that Orsinis two
rectangular enclosures were not for water
containment and aquatic enjoyment the following picture, where
leaves frame a large inward water
pipe, suggests such criticism may be misplaced:
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42
(Fig: 57- Water pipe into Naumachia, Sacro Bosco; June,
2014)This pipe probably emanated from the
pipe leading from water tank 3 and adjacent tank, Plan 1, noted
above and the water would have been
reticulated onwards to the main trunk line intersection and
junction box mentioned above- see Plan 1,
dotted lines. Construction of both the Naumachia and the fish
pond would have required identical
structural technologies and materials. Generally, mediaeval
aquaculture utilised similar procedures and
structures- often incorporated into the properties of religious
orders throughout Europe: fish spawned
and grew in the vivarium, a large damned feature with extensive
underwater natural feeding available;
and then there was the servatorium, or holding pond, where they
were fed for as long as it took for
them to proceed to the kitchen. The vivarium was regularly
drained so that fish could be sorted into
those which were ready for eating and those which were returned
to the lake for further growing and
breeding, although nets were also used in a halfway drained
situation. Most mediaeval practice followed
Roman design and operational precepts, which had traditionally
passed on from generation to
generation in secular communities, while religious orders
adopted these and helped maintain practice
and knowledge. [80]
In the Sacro Boscos case Orsinis decorative lake had at least
two utilitarian purposes- water supply and
fish rearing. It was this, as well as the need to be able to
drain it and clear out weed, snagging branches
and useful sediment (for gardening) which made sluice design so
critical, along with the minimisation of
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43
stagnancy, with its attendant mosquito risks. It is important to
remember, for example, that Ninfa, the
mediaeval town which was deserted and became a modern garden,
along with various Lazio lakes, were
notorious for the hordes of voracious and highly infectious
mosquitos, plus there was the Cinquecento
fear of miasmatic infection by plague. As always, fish stocks
ate the mosquito larvae and helped reduce
infestation while fattening up- a double benefit.
All this required a mastery of lake and servatorium design and
construction.
It also required major work and expenditure- in the instance of
Orsinis Bosco he had to have a dam
constructed, pipes laid, side walls of stone built to retain the
high water, clay floor and special sealant
put in, and sluices constructed and emplaced; for the
servatorium and Naumachia two substantial pits
had to be dug, pipes laid in and out, special clay floor and
sealant laid down, side walls with clay and
sealant built and, most probably, a settlement tank which could
be cleaned out easily located close by.
Fish excreta, flowing into fountain or bath, did not bode well
for each with its specific purpose. This
structure, a settlement tank, would have to be between the two
rectangular tanks and their next stage
of water use and requires detailed site investigation and
analysis.
Servatoria were usually rectangular or square in shape and
approximately no more than 1.75 metres
deep. Ideal size for a servatorium was approximately 10 metres
by 15 metres- that at Vicinos entrance
area is larger, but not by so much. Both vivaria and servatoria
needed the water bodies floor and sides
to be water tight using at least 35 cm of clay, mixed sometimes
with crushed chalk, on the bottom,
pounded tightly, with an appropriate mixture of clay in layers
of 15-20 cm a time, behind the stone walls
or turf, which came down into the water. Hundreds of tons of
clay were needed for his lake and two
rectangular ponds. Sometimes slaked lime was spread over the
surfaces between layers to stop worms
burrowing through and breaching the lining. Trees were not
recommended nearby as their roots could
be extremely damaging. Sediment was a major curse if the water
supply was from a normal creek or
river and not a spring through pipes.
Inspecting Orsinis remaining facilities and remnant dam and lake
walls outside the Park one is struck by
the scale of works and the maintenance required to make it all
function effectively.
It was a massive infrastructure.
Once again the puzzle remains as to why so much has been written
about the sculptures inside, yet so
little has been written about this infrastructure and its
remnants outside. Buildings for water control,
walls, gateways, settlement tanks, rock caverns, grooves, and
massive cisterns have all escaped
attention even though they are littered over surrounding
areas.
Italian expertise in garden conservation, archaeological
exploration and appropriate restoration is world
class so, hopefully, the Sacro Bosco will soon receive serious
consideration from these experts.
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44
(Fig: 58-Remnant walls on western side of lake area now dry;
June, 2014)
On days when Orsini decided not to have an event on the water,
or to include that with a visit to the
more respectable parts of his garden- say to the Mask of
Madness, followed by a visit to the faux
Etruscan tomb, the Hippodrome and the Temple- he would lead his
guests over to what is now the main
entrance to the Sacro Bosco. Much debate has occurred about
whether this was used as an entrance,
but common sense tells us the existing gateway with Cinquecento
water control structure behind the
gate, and other elements on the way to this bridge [81], confirm
it was used in this way during the
gardens heyday. Else why would Orsini go to the length of
constructing the gateway at quite significant
expense? Even if there was no bridge there necessarily had to be
an elegant way to reach this entrance
by the side of the lake. Brederkamp shows a decorative element
in the middle of the lake which lies
between the Naumachia and the gateway, the Temple-Grab. He does
not show a wooden bridge. He
also does not show the gateway and control structure. As the
photograph demonstrates these are
Cinquecento in design and construction, just as the back gateway
(in the western wall) is also. These
entrances are definitely not from the mid-twentieth century.
Only archaeological investigation can
demonstrate this proposals accuracy; if Orsini had created
liminal experiences, including a cultural
element, using a wooden bridge as the link with a feature half
way would have made design sense. See
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45
Plan 1, Lake.
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46
(Fig: 59-Boulders on the way to the lake site- trench cut in
middle, ledges to left; June, 2014).Elements
suggest that installations on the way to the bridge, while now
remnant, definitely existed and are
perhaps more significant if seen as orientational signage and
experiential automata. As the visitor walks
along the path up towards the earlier lakes east shore large
peperino rocks lie to the left on the gentle
rise. For these three automata sites external to the Bosco
walled area see Plan 2, Automata 1, 2 and
3.The first rock, now under tree canopy, has a significant cut
or gap between the two parts and several
grooves on its surface which are human made, not natural. Later
on there are more weathered grooves:
(Fig: 60-Grooves for pipework cut in peperino boulder on left of
path to lake and gateway; June, 2014)
These are almost certainly weathered channels cut to carry lead
quills to automata and water features
by the left side of the path, located on the boulders and
originally in the open, leading towards the
gateway into the Sacro Bosco. In addition there are cut,
weathered ledges on a peperino boulder before
the lake edge was reached:
-
47
-
48
(Fig: 61- Weather-worn peperino cut ledges, on boulder prior to
lake edge; June, 2014)
Before investigating the gateway and control booth behind it is
worth looking at more remnants which
are on the way to the dam wall. As Vicino led his more intimate
guest(s) towards the lower area, down
stairs, past the Struggling Giants and Pegasus sculptures
followed by the Nymphaeum and so on, on a
Type V or Type VI visit, he had them pass the pictured major
carved boulder, which has a cut culvert
emerging between parts of the boulder from its back to the north
west, a quill gouged line coming in
over its top and another exit line coming from its right- east-
side also out backwards towards the lower,
northern area. A human-carved post hole, or foundation point, is
close to the quill line:
(Fig: 62- Carved boulder, flat floor, quill line and post
hole/foundation point; May 2006)
There can be no doubt this was a significant messaging point
with major enginery. Much
physical work has gone into creating a solid receptacle for a
large automaton, with no effort
expended to sculpt the base rock into anything but a utilitarian
form whose function is clear.
The automaton would therefore have completely covered the front
of the boulder to appear as
if freestanding. Orsini would not have paid for this demanding
work without a solid reason-
almost certainly part of the story-telling. The shape of the
receptacle carved in the stone
suggests it harboured a lead tank, possibly sealed.
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49
In a generic sense, what may these two different automata
locations have flagged up to visitors?
If the first, to the left of the path towards the bridge and
gateway, was for Type I tours, it was
almost certainly virtuous and innocuous. It would probably have
suggested ideas as part of the
orientation segment of ADROIT- preparing guests once again for
the Orsini family story, the
Etruscan heritage of the site and the change from an external
world of reality to one where
reality was redefined: strange, complex, unique. Its format may
well have been another serpent
figure, given the nature of the rock form; a standing figure;
and, perhaps, a seated figure.
(Fig: 63- Biscione - Italian Cinquecento serpent symbolism,
www.redicecreations.com)
After them came the Temple-Grab and then guests arrived at the
gateway, a liminal point.
There are several possible models for what these figures may
have been in Hero and De Caus.
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50
For example in the English, 1659 edition of de Caus, printed by
Moxon in London, Problem XXIII
has a version of this illustration:
(Fig: 64- Plate XXIII- standing figure, sun-animated sound
pipes, printed Moxon, London, 1659)
The description is [82]:
The Explanation of Plate XXIII. To make an admirable Engin, the
which being placed at the front
of a Statue, shall send forth a Sound when the Sun shineth upon
it, so as it shall seem that the
statue makes the said sound.
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51
Of course we have no idea what figure may have been represented,
but it would probably have held
specific meaning and made reference to Orsinis message within
the context of the Park. It would
appear that the glass cistern can be placed in front, by the
side or behind the figure to suit
circumstances including the best position to garner the suns
rays- it is shown in different editions in
different positions.
The major unit on the way to the Lower Level experiences would
necessarily either have had to be non-
alarming and innocuous since the site is visible from the main
path, or to have been able to be hidden
from view until required. Heros seventeenth example would have
perfectly dealt with this situation:
(Fig: 65)
The sound of a trumpet may be produced on the
opening of the doors of a temple...
[83]
Hero gives a complete description of how this automaton
may be animated through a relatively simple water-
powered mechanism. The picture within at Bomarzo may
have depicted some mildly amorous, unthreatening
tableau, such as maidens bathing or satyrs and nymphs
around a dulcet, tranquil pool. Mechanically animated
pictures were available in this period [84]
So along with the trumpet sound a moving tableau was
possible.
It could well have had another picture on the doors or have
displayed a
written message, or both.
The Virtuous Pathways:
If Orsini and his guests followed the main, virtuous pathway
along a bridge, they then passed
the Temple-Grab/Tomb and arrived at the gateway. This is a
moderately severe and sedate
castellated structure, with simple heraldic rose devices in each
upper quarter, reminding visitors
of the Orsini familys claim to aristocratic and ancient lineage.
The added archway insert at the
top of the gateway opening appears to be a different coat of
arms- although it is much
weathered and hard to decipher. The stone castellations above
the gateway seem the reverse of
the original shape of a bi-furcated door with a semi-Gothic
upper part. If that is the case, and if
the insert is centuries old, then it may have been of the
Farnese purchasers of the Park in the
seventeenth century. Only careful paint analysis will determine
what is correct. With the Orsini
crest it is reported: as in the case of the arms of the ORSINI
family in Rome, who bore: Bendy of six argent and gules, on a chief
of the first supported by a divise or, a rose of the second
(Banded' argent et de gueules, de six pieces, au chef d' argent
charge
d'ujie rose de gueules et soutenu d'une divise d'or) [85]
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52
(Fig: 66-Gateway, Cinquecento, restored c.1960s by Bettinis,
note drainage pipe in wall behind; June, 2014)
-
53
From the other side there are two lookout slits in the wall:
-
54
(Fig: 67-Rear of entrance gateway, east side of Park, left slit
views north to path to lower level;
June, 2014)
The right slit looks out to the main path, the left towards the
lower level messaging automaton.
(Fig: 68-Water control building, now for electrical
distribution, inner right of gateway; June
2014)
The main control of water flow and pressure to the outside
automata and water features would
probably have originated from the initial control buildings by
the side of the road in. With a
raised vantage point and possibly only smaller fruit trees as a
screen from the road the
operatives could sweep the terrain covering the Naumachia, fish
pond, introductory automata
and free-form lake, another sound reason not to have large trees
growing in these areas. Once
inside the wall and Sacro Bosco itself, however, they could not
ascertain the maestros progress
from one point alone. The entrance gateway could possibly even
see the main Cistern and the
Palazzo in a direct line each- if the external tree cover was
minimal.
Logically, then, there had to be a control structure just inside
the gateway. It is indeed there, on
the left as you walk in, with a narrow slit to catch visitors
movement as they entered. At that
moment the engineer would most probably have turned the entire
north-east quadrant water
supply on, having primed the systems, tested them and cleaned or
repaired malfunctioning
-
55
units. This is the sixth such structure, including one cavern,
in the Parks environs. The only one
not shown or discussed in this article is the one, heavily
reconstructed, behind the huge turtle
shape outside the western wall which Vicino developed later in
life.
When this entrance gate facility was activated most others would
be turned off to minimise
water usage and conserve resources. The left gateway slit would
have allowed the operator to
view the automaton on the way to the Lower Level- possibly too
far to be seen clearly from the
control point over two hundred metres away by the road- and to
turn that on and off. The slit on
the right of the gateway gave them direct, visual, line-of-site
to guests on the bridge or
causeway. The layout, explained thus, is logical and entirely
functional permitting seamless
operation by Vicinos unseen engineers from yet another fixed
point.
When inside the gate Orsini could turn left (south), right
(north), or right and then head west in
the direction of the Temple via the faux Etruscan tomb remnant.
In any of these directions the
party could avoid any unseemly or unduly indecorous sculptures
and messages. As they walked
it is clear that Orsini had provided the option for harmonious
water-powered organ sounds to
accompany them. We will come to the source of that synesthetic
sound later on.
Taking the left hand path leads to the famous Mask of Madness
along a level, gravelled track
approximately one hundred and twenty metres in distance. During
the June, 2014 visit a
massive summer storm caused many milimetres of torrential rain
to fall and in so doing,
revealed that the Mask may well have been fitted with quills to
facilitate tears to fall from the
side of each eye. A possible source of this water appears to
have come along a quill line cut into
the rock leading from the waterfall towards the Mask. If this
was not the source, it is still the
case that this quill lines chased course exists. Once again,
Orsini would not have paid for non-
functional stoneworking. The quill obviously supplied some water
animated element.
Careful re-checking of the western stone abutment behind the
tracks wall revealed another
possible quill line and there are vestigial remnants in softer
rock which possibly suggest that
another water animated element was also placed to the west of
the track.
It is likely that most of the distributive pipe work in this
part of the park was comprised of lead
pipes or quills- the distances were substantial and the
pressures high, while their location and
the limited number of water features militated against a major
ceramic trunk line because of
cost and a lesser need for large water volume.
-
56
(Fig: 69-Quill line chased into stone leading from the waterfall
towards the Mask of Madness;
June 2014)
If Orsini animated the Mask it is possible other major
sculptures were animated as well, even
though they do not fit the regular description of fountains or
automata.
Magnification of the following photograph to + 175% shows a
chased quill line, or lines, clearly
descending from above the right (from viewers position) eye and
coming down to the side of
the nose-bridge, and right side of the eye, at what would be the
tear duct. A single quill would
have been split to provide water to the left eye. Or there may
have been two quills. Closer
inspection is required.
-
57
-
58
(Fig: 70- Mask of Madness, water tracks down creases left and
right, the former clearest; June 2014)
The rain track from that left eye can be seen more clearly as a
dark line following a channel or crease in the face, showing this
crease
may well have had that purpose.
At the base of the sculpture, in what would be the mouth, at the
back of the cavern are unexplained stone block inserts.
These may have simply been repairs, or reinforcings, but they
also require closer analysis. At the foot of the sculpture, in
front of the
cavern, there appears to be a shallow pool- shown more clearly
in Sheelers illustration [].
-
59
-
60
(Fig: 71- Faux Etruscan Tomb, south face, sea serpents,
dolphins, merman, narwhal tusk; June
2014)
Back at the Gateway Orsini would lead his group towards the faux
Etruscan Tomb which has
most of its southern natural face cut flat, with fragmentary
decorative figures sculpted into the
rock and what might be a pipe line (shown more clearly in
Sheelers photograph [87]). It also has
a mass of strange, untomb-like square cut holes on the north
face.
(Fig: 72- North face of Etruscan Tomb rock, with about 15 cut
holes and tank space; June 2014)
From the angle of these holes they appear to be facing out and
up as if they were anchor points
for rectangular profiled timbers, holding up a facade or flat
installation. Interestingly, the closest
four holes have curved lower surfaces, as if round lead
pipes/pressure units sat there. Scrapes
and spectrographic/chemical tests may prove this correct. The
lower right curve of the rock has
been carved in an arc; a square cut hole at its right end. Above
that arc another has been
carved. No quill chasings would have been required if this
facade hid beams and pipes, covering
the enginery and support structure. More investigation is
required. A square depression has
been carved further along the rock perhaps for a lead cistern.
It is no imaginative leap to suggest
the messaging may have shown Orsinis belief he was descended
from Etruscan ancestors and his
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61
Bosco was a site, surrounded by other sites, of Etruscan
tombs.[88]. Following the path north Orsini would have arrived at
the stairs
down to the Lower Level:
-
62
(Fig: 72- Stairs down to Bosco Lower Level, walkway above has
views of Pegasus, and Fame on
Tortoise sculpture; June 2014)
What is significant about a staircase? Simply that it is not
wide and would be easily gated to
prevent unauthorised access. Certain gaps in the stone of the
side walls suggest this may have
been the case: holes to take bolts holding a frame and door with
which to seal off entry. Further
investigation is required. More gates may have existed towards
the northern end of the Lower
Level.
As Orsini progressed with his visitors along the upper walkway a
wonderful view to the east
revealed the two major sculptures- Pegasus and Fame- which were
also highlighted by water, as
we shall see. He could weave their myths into his customised
storytelling. Next on his itinerary
north were the Winged Harpy, Lions and Fish-tailed Harpy
sculptures in a group, then west
to the Hippodrome, the back of Hell Mouth, another Harpy,
Cerberus and stairs up to the
Meta Sudans and the Temple. This would have completed one
version of the virtuous itinerary.
The only questionable sculptures in terms of delicacy and
decorum were, possibly, the Winged
Harpy group. We will return to this grouping later.
Commentators to date have generally suggested that approximately
eight of the sculptures
were animated by water flowing, to various degrees: [89]:
Pegasus and Muses
Barcaccia/Boat Fountain/Bath
Grotto of Venus/Isis/ with fountain heads of Jupiter Ammon on
each side
Exedra (directly below Plateau of Vases)/Theatre
Proteus/God of the Underworld (Pluto/Hades)/ Aiata (Etruscan,
with Cerberus)
Unnamed (To the south and east of Proteus) - a wall face/bust
spouting water into a small pool
Lasciviousness/Demeter
Meta Sudans
They certainly were plumbed for water supply and drainage. Even
these eight water outlets
required a sophisticated supply and control structure since they
are distributed widely across
the Park. Other elements such as the Mask of Madness, Fame and
the Harpy Group, may have
had water flows. In addition to those there were others which
may have had subtle water flows
such as Angelica, the deeply sensual sculpture round the corner
from the Nymphaeum:
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63
(Fig: 73- Rear view of Angelica; June, 2014)
This, at first sight, shows no sign of a water supply system,
except perhaps the small cut ledge
on the back right support by the tree trunk. However, close by
the sculpture, is a chased rock
feature which cannot be natural. It has a rectangular profile
and sits behind the sculpture in a
way which clearly is not accidental, although exactly what it
channelled is not known. If it carried
a water pipe- the most likely option- that water possibly flowed
quietly down the folds of
Angelicas body and gown. Vicino believed in the mythical power
of water and repeatedly
honoured its cultural significance. Gently flowing water could
be seen as a deepening cultural
reference on a sculpture which was intentionally suggestive.
-
64
-
65
(Fig: 74-Carved channel to the rear of Angelica; June- 2014)
[END Part II 14,736 words including notes. Fifty Illustrations,
Figures 24-74]
Acknowledgements:
The Milken Foundation, and Michael Milken of Santa Monica,
California, encouraged the author to
research Italian gardens of the Renaissance in 1995-1996, as a
background to developing plans for a
proposed Gardens of the Mind, part of the Museum of Creativity
project. From the first visit to
Bomarzo in 1995 my passion grew for this over-written, but
strangely under-researched site. Professor
Jay Rounds, team leader of the project, also encouraged this
research as did the professional gardening
experts from Campbell and Campbell, a specialist team based in
Santa Barbara, California. After a more
extended visit in May, 2006 and a brief visit in 2007 with Jess
Taylor to analyse certain details, further
site research and extensive photography took place in June,
2014. Thereafter, contact was made with
Stephen Wass- and continued with Michael Abbott- whose joint
assistance with reference materials,
planning, communication and research leading to a planned site
investigation in September, 2015, is
much appreciated. Dr Nicolas and Mrs Joanna Barker were
exceptionally helpful in 2006 both in assisting
with reference material, sharing their knowledge about Italian
gardens and Italy, and in their gracious
hospitality. I would also like to thank Professor Emeritus Chris
MacLeod for her help. Dr James
Bradburne has provided references and significant material
assistance to the article and the project
planned for September, 2015. Dr Luke Morgan has also generously
provided published and manuscript
references in recent times. Naturally, all omissions,
inaccuracies and failings are my own. Part III will
follow soon.
Notes to Part II:
55) This text available, translated into English, at
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Frontinus/De_Aquis/text*.html
The best shorter
treatment of Cinquecento town water supplies, especially Naples
and Florence, based mainly on
excellent manuscript sources is: Ed. M G . Lee, K I. Helphand,
Technology and the Garden; A Tchikine,
Lanima del giardino Water, Gardens, and Hydraulics in
Sixteenth-Century Florence and Naples,
Dunbarton Oaks, Harvard (2014), pp 129-154, Chapter 7. Available
at:
https://www.academia.edu/7043079/_Lanima_del_giardino_water_gardens_and_hydraulics_in_sixteen
th-century_Florence_and_Naples
56) Ibid, Frontinus/De_Aquis/text see headings, Book I, 24-36
for pipe sizes and calculations; and
38-63
-
66
57) Throughout the exhibition quoted above are references and
illustrations of manuscript
information known to, and circulated among, contemporary
Cinquecento engineers in Italy; available at:
Museum of the History of Science:
http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/genindice.asp?appl=LIR&indice=63&xsl=listagenerale&lingua=ENG&chiave=
100554
58) De Caus, Problem XIX, op cit, p.70, (Paris Edition,
1623)
59) See also:
http://www.sewerhistory.org/grfx/components/pipe-wood1.htm:
Bored elm pipes Abbey Mills Pumping Station, England. The use of
bored elm pipes underground with
quills of lead running off into the houses of the well-to-do
seems to have begun in London as early as
the 13th century. All the old London water companies that
appeared between the 16th and 18th
century used bored elm pipes for distributing water. Text from
information display at the pumping
station. Source: Roger C. Cracknell, Bibby Transmissions, UK;
with permission from Matthew Wood,
Wastewater Archivist, Thames Water, Reading, BerkshireDifferent
timber species have different
degrees of natural durability and resistance to insect and
fungal decay. Elm: durable in anaerobic
situations i.e. when totally submerged or buried beneath the
topsoil. Oak: the British Standards
recognise the natural durability of some timbers and state that
provided all the sapwood is removed,
the heartwood of naturally robust timbers such as oa