Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Grotto of Buontalenti in Boboli Gardens






HCL: As we visited the Boboli gardens I was amazed at he scenery within it’s walls. Though it wasn’t the most beautiful thing that we saw in the garden, I was enchanted by the small grotto at the beginning of the gardens. Inside, there is a fountain and a sculpture but what really caught my attention were the walls of the grotto. At first you just notice the people and lambs sculpted on the walls but after a closer look you notice what they are made of. Each design on the wall pops out at you and has been made from real stalagmite, stalactites, shells, and other natural cave items to make it look very real. A tree is used in the grotto wall structure and little shells are used in the tree to depict the fruits of the tree. The artist Bernardo Buontalenti created this grotto for the Medici family garden. It is such a beautiful sight and you can see my roommate marveling at the structures the picture above. You can see the shield of the Medici family on the top of entrance in the first picture above with my 3 friends in it. To use such different kinds of sculptures is something I had never seen before but really enjoyed analyzing. Being an animal science major, I was tickled to see the sheep on the walls and their wool to look so much like original wool using rocks and not something fluffy. This was my favorite section of the garden because of it's originality compared to other structures we have seen so far. 

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