Hackert's Landscapes
In the heart of the Landscape Park around the Castle, there is an English garden that embodies the ideal of harmony between nature and art. This space, once the countryside of the summer villa of the Latin poet Horace, was celebrated by the German painter Jacob Phillip Hackert in the 18th century. Hackert transformed the landscapes of this land into an "ideal view", a perfect representation of rural beauty, without the need to modify the territory with artificial interventions.
The Romantic Gardens and the Bonaparte Vision
In the 19th century, the Marquis Alessandro del Gallo and Julie Bonaparte, Napoleon's niece, enriched the Landscape Park with a romantic garden. Following the English style, they planted oaks, elms, cypresses and horse chestnuts in a natural way, integrating historical elements into the landscape such as the remains of a Roman aqueduct and a medieval tower, used at the time as a dovecote.
This vision respected the original conformation of the land, in contrast to the highly artificial gardens of the 18th century, often associated with the projects of Capability Brown. The intention was to enhance the spontaneous beauty of the place, transforming the park into an example of an "ideal" landscape, inspired by the gentle slopes of the Roman Campagna.
A European Movement and the American Connection
The Romantic landscape movement, influenced by the painters Lorrain and Poussin, found in Mandela's lands a perfect example of natural beauty. Hackert, with his conception of the ideal landscape, brought attention to the countryside around Horace's villa, leaving the land practically intact, as it was already imbued with a suggestive authenticity.
The Bonapartes' influence extended overseas. Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, created one of the finest landscape gardens of the era in the United States, at Point Breeze near Philadelphia. This property, famous for its picturesque landscape and extensive art collection, was a cultural link between Europe and America.
Sustainability and tradition
An extraordinary aspect of the Mandela Landscape Park is the lack of irrigation. Situated on a hill overlooking the Aniene Valley, the park did not benefit from the waters of the river, which still feed the famous fountains of Villa d'Este and the waterfalls of Tivoli. The fields and pastures were deliberately left in their natural state, a choice that guaranteed the survival of the landscape without the use of water resources. This sustainable approach, rare for the time, has preserved the authenticity and beauty of a territory that continues to enchant those who visit it.
The Landscape Park is much more than a simple garden: it is a bridge between past and present, where nature mixes with art and history. Walking among its oaks and historical remains, you can feel the same harmony that inspired Hackert and fascinated Julie Bonaparte. An invitation to discover a timeless place, where the landscape becomes poetry and the past continues to live in the present.
