The ruling class of the Republic of Genoa - the oligarchy of one of the most important financial centres in Europe between the 16th and the 17th century - gave a special meaning to gardens: the garden, which together with the palace composed the “villa”, was a symbol both of a high quality of life and of an aristocratic condition. This widely shared way of thinking explains why the model elaborated in the mid 16th century inspired the building of so many villas, thus creating a landscape of gardens and suburban villas which became one of the distinctive images of the city, clearly perceived as such by the Genoese and by foreign visitors alike. This image was based on the awareness of the uniqueness of a landscape shaped by the close proximity of sea and mountain, by the amenity of the climate and the facility of botanical generation, but also by the ability of the Genoese to arrange it according to fashion: a skill supported by the huge wealth and by the network of international relations possessed by the ruling class of the Republic, faithful to its financial and commercial vocation. The “city of villas” is an ideal projection of the city proper, the latter enclosed and blocked inside its walls, the former open to the landscape and sharing its Eden-like qualities. In this context, the garden is specifically associated to the concept of pleasure: it is conceived with the aim of giving pleasure and therefore enriched of ludic and fashionable artistic elements, such as artificial grottos. Strictly devoid of any utilitarian purpose, the garden is for this reason detached by the ambiguity of a wealth due to the practice of commercial activities, even if it is that wealth which makes its existence possible. In these neighbourhoods of villas, the single garden enjoys the advantages of the presence of all the surrounding gardens and is inserted in the reassuring dimension of a humanised landscape, where social rites are celebrated in an “ideal” way. Two alternative strategies shape at the same time the image of landscape offered by the Genoese to foreigners: on the one hand, the “sweetness” of the city of gardens surrounding the urban area, on the other hand the “fearfulness” of the new grand circuit of walls built the 1630s from the harbour to the top of the hills around the city. It was probably the former that granted more results. This communication strategy, which coincided with a way of living, had the aim to legitimise the Republican ruling class and the role of the Republic in a European political scene dominated by great national monarchies and feudal dynasties: the modernity of the solutions adopted by the Genoese impressed the likes of Peter Paul Rubens. Contemporary sources help to define the social and political meaning of these interventions on the landscape, as well as the characters of the resulting network of gardens, unique for width and homogeneity. The present critic conditions of the surviving fragments of such a vast design, threatened by urban development, make it necessary to act in order to restore some kind of unity and meaning to this heritage, also in view of the qualification of the post-industrial image of the city.

Genoese Gardens: Between Pleasure and Politics

MAGNANI, LAURO GIOVANNI
2008-01-01

Abstract

The ruling class of the Republic of Genoa - the oligarchy of one of the most important financial centres in Europe between the 16th and the 17th century - gave a special meaning to gardens: the garden, which together with the palace composed the “villa”, was a symbol both of a high quality of life and of an aristocratic condition. This widely shared way of thinking explains why the model elaborated in the mid 16th century inspired the building of so many villas, thus creating a landscape of gardens and suburban villas which became one of the distinctive images of the city, clearly perceived as such by the Genoese and by foreign visitors alike. This image was based on the awareness of the uniqueness of a landscape shaped by the close proximity of sea and mountain, by the amenity of the climate and the facility of botanical generation, but also by the ability of the Genoese to arrange it according to fashion: a skill supported by the huge wealth and by the network of international relations possessed by the ruling class of the Republic, faithful to its financial and commercial vocation. The “city of villas” is an ideal projection of the city proper, the latter enclosed and blocked inside its walls, the former open to the landscape and sharing its Eden-like qualities. In this context, the garden is specifically associated to the concept of pleasure: it is conceived with the aim of giving pleasure and therefore enriched of ludic and fashionable artistic elements, such as artificial grottos. Strictly devoid of any utilitarian purpose, the garden is for this reason detached by the ambiguity of a wealth due to the practice of commercial activities, even if it is that wealth which makes its existence possible. In these neighbourhoods of villas, the single garden enjoys the advantages of the presence of all the surrounding gardens and is inserted in the reassuring dimension of a humanised landscape, where social rites are celebrated in an “ideal” way. Two alternative strategies shape at the same time the image of landscape offered by the Genoese to foreigners: on the one hand, the “sweetness” of the city of gardens surrounding the urban area, on the other hand the “fearfulness” of the new grand circuit of walls built the 1630s from the harbour to the top of the hills around the city. It was probably the former that granted more results. This communication strategy, which coincided with a way of living, had the aim to legitimise the Republican ruling class and the role of the Republic in a European political scene dominated by great national monarchies and feudal dynasties: the modernity of the solutions adopted by the Genoese impressed the likes of Peter Paul Rubens. Contemporary sources help to define the social and political meaning of these interventions on the landscape, as well as the characters of the resulting network of gardens, unique for width and homogeneity. The present critic conditions of the surviving fragments of such a vast design, threatened by urban development, make it necessary to act in order to restore some kind of unity and meaning to this heritage, also in view of the qualification of the post-industrial image of the city.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11567/232732
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