Gardens of the Late Renaissance
In 1549, Tribolo was commissioned to design the Boboli Gardens, behind Florence's Pitti Palace. He did not live to see his design completed, but according to Vasari, Tribolo's design dictated the basic plan and planting of the garden. The land behind the Pitti Palace was in the shape of an amphitheater. Tribolo's plan was for an U shaped lawn with an enormous fountain at its center. The sloping ground was divided up by a formal system of paths and planted with fir, holm oak, cypress, and laurel trees. This sort of ornamental woodland (or bosco) was to become a typical feature of Late Renaissance gardens in Italy.
The Sacro Bosco at Bomarzo is the only garden that I would really call Mannerist. This garden, which was created for Pier Francesco Orsini between 1552 and 1555 is one of the strangest gardens ever created in Europe, featuring gigantic sculptures carved out of living rock. The garden is loaded with antiquarian and literary references which are now obscure, but which would have been clearly understood by Orsini and his circle of friends.
The Villa Giulia was the most important garden to be created in the area of Rome since 1527; it was begun in 1551 for Pope Julius III (1551-55) by Giocomo Vignola, Bartolomeo Ammanti, and Giorgio Vasari. This villa was strongly influenced by the Villa Madama's interpenetration of indoor and outdoor spaces. The gardens no longer exist, but the inner courtyards could be called the most important in courtyard spaces since Donato Bramante began the Cortile del Belvedere in 1505. Vignola also designed the Villa Farnese at Caparola and probably designed the Villa Lante at Bagnaia.
While Pirro Ligorio has never been regarded as Vignola's equal as an architect, the casino that he built in the Vatican Gardens for Pius IV (1559-65) is one of the most original and delightful of the giardini segreti (secret gardens) which were features in most large Renaissance gardens. The garden which he created at Tivoli for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este has always rivaled the Villa Lante, it has always been regarded as one of the greatest Renaissance gardens. The Villa Lante is the ultimate expression of humanist ideas about garden design, but no garden has ever surpassed the Villa d'Este's display of fountains.
The garden of the Villa Medici at Pratolino, which was begun about 1569 for Francesco de Medici, probably by Bernado Buonotalenti, was famous for its giochi d'aqua,
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