I just took a lovely Fall afternoon getaway to our Regional Franconia Art Park. It is a huge acreage where whimsical art meets rolling plains of grass. It begs us to either climb onto the large works, or step back and just observe their colors and shapes from afar.
But here is a Garden adorned with sculptures that lean more towards the scary and Gothic. it is called the Bomarzo Park of the Monsters or Sacred Grove in Central Italy. It dates back to the 16th century and the large creatures were actually carved out of the bedrock itself on the site. It was commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini and the majority of the works were chiseled by Simone Moschino. From what little we know of the park, there was no grand scheme or design - they were meant to astonish with their grotesque offerings. An inscription on one works states they were created "to set the heart free." There are thoughts that they could allude to some sort of graphic Romance Novel. Or possibly just to defiantly juxtapose the traditional Christian art coming out of the Rennaissance. Some of the works have an Asian aspect to them while in general they appear as if something out of American Horror Story.
The Gardens have undergone a total restoration in the 1970's after falling into neglect for almost a century. Salvado Dali had made references to the works in the 1950's which prompted further interest and curiosity and that catapulted the renovation. It has inspired an Opera that was deemed sexually offensive in Argentina. It was also an inspiration for the novel a Green and Ancient Light. Settings from the Garden are featured in 1985's Frankenstein, The Bride and 1999's Alice in Wonderland. It is currently a private property and has grown into a popular tourist stop when visiting Central Italy.
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