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Pomona - Charleston Gardens.

Pomona statue, constructed from concrete by Quentin Bell in 1954, stands at the end of orchard path at Charleston, the garden created by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant in Sussex, England. The apples in the basket on her head are made from glazed terracotta. 

Quentin Bell, Vanessa's son and sculptor, recalls the orchard when he was a young boy:

"In the orchard all attempts to maintain respectability had been abandoned; nettles and rank grass grew high around the fruit trees. One of these grew the most delicious little round pears; from another we used to pick lovely little red apples called quarantines. But it was nearly a wilderness."(p.126)

  

Photos:
Charleston Gardens, TravelinaGarden, August 2016


Further reading:
Charleston a Bloomsbury house & garden,
Quentin Bell & Virginia Nicholson
London, Frances Lincoln Limited Publishers, 1997

Still life with apples in a bowl, Vanessa Bell, ca 1919

Lessons in the Orchard, Duncan Grant, 1917

Words in pictures: Primavera

Primavera, Gherardi Cristofano called Doceno (1508/ 1556)
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
Ceiling painting

The Small Winter Garden in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.

Watercolours by Konstantin Ukhtomsky (1818-1881), reveal the luxuriant greenery of the Small Winter Garden of Empress Aleksandra Fëdorovna (1872-1918) in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, around the 1860s.

In the 19th century, winter gardens were a fashionable addition to wealthy houses in St. Petersburg. Rare plants, perfumed flowers, coloured parrots, goldfish, fountains, secret corners and a pleasant warmth helped to forget the harsh Russian winter that raged outside.

To create the perfect environment for plants and prevent problems caused by excessive humidity and water leaks, water tanks and a boiler were placed under the marble staircase of the Small Winter Garden, and hot water circulated through pipes. Ample windows and glazed doors   increased lighting and created the illusion of a larger space as the arched openings that connected the enfilade of rooms and mirrors. Trellis embroidered by ivy and climbing plants created living green walls completed by delicate stucco garlands of flowers on the ceiling and paintings.
A small marble fountain was surrounded by flowers and plants, birds sang and fluttered freely.

The atmosphere was unique. Plants in pots, such as palms, bananas, camellias and orchids, become indoor decorative elements combined with fabric, such as the silk and satin that draped the grotto in front of the fountain, carpets, statues, and a fireplace.

Paintings:
Konstantin Andreyevich Ukhtomsky
Interiors of the Winter Palace. The Small Winter Garden in the Apartments of Alexandra Fyodorovna
https://www.arthermitage.org/Ukhtomsky-Konstantin-Andreyevich/index.start24.show48.html

Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano e Como, 1818

Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano, e Como  (Pictorial and Historical Journey to Three Lakes Maggiore, Lugano, and Como) was printed and published in Milan in 1818. 

The book includes fifty-six hand-coloured aquatint plates of famous attractions and places around the lakes, each accompanied by a short description. In the early nineteenth century, these kind of publications helped to promote the beauty of Milan and its region and were increasingly popular among refined and educated travellers.

Twenty-six of the fifty-six views are the work of Federico and Carolina Lose, painter and engraver, husband and wife. Born in Dresden, Germany, as Heinrich Lohse (1776-1833) and Karoline von Schlieben (1784-1837), they had arrived in Milan from Paris in 1805, following the new Viceroy of Italy, and Napoleon's step-son, Eugene de Beauharnais. They decided to settle in the Italian town, Italianized their names, and grew here their five children. By 1815, they collaborated with different publishers: Federico drew views of Milan and its surroundings and Carolina engraved them. Natural sceneries, rather than architectures, better expressed their artistic talents.

Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano, e Como is a slow, romantic journey along the green banks and across the great lakes embraced by the Alps.

View of Stresa and Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore

View of the Villa called la Torre near Intra on Lake Maggiore

View of the castles of Canero on Lake Maggiore

View of Balbiano with villa Sepolina on Lake Como

View of Villa Tanzi near Torno on Lake Como 

Further reading:
Friedrich e Carolina Lose, Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano e Como. Milano 1818, Milano, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense.

Nel segno di Kleist. I coniugi Lose e il paesaggio romantico lombardo. Franco Monteforte. “Notiziario della Banca Popolare di Sondrio”, n. 124, 2012.

Before the garden: the Taj Mahal from the river.

The imposing red sandstone terrace, called kursi, or throne, supporting a smaller marble terrace and the Taj Mahal upon it, is best seen from the Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden on the opposite bank of the Yamuna river. 

The riverfront terrace is 8.7 m high and 300 m long, and is framed by two octagonal towers. Two doors at each end of the terrace, beyond the towers, gave access to the Taj Mahal from the river.
Elaborate decorations in relief of vases of flowers and plants, with white marble inlaid, decorate the sequence of arches towards the river.
From the arches, once open, light and fresh air reached the inner rooms arranged in a line and connected by passages and a narrow corridor.

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Agra, August 2010

Unknown artist, The Taj Mahal from the River, 1818
Watercolor, pen and black and grey ink, and gouache over graphite on paper
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Q: What did they cultivate around the Palladian villas when Andrea Palladio built them?

A: Towards the middle of the sixteen century, when the architect Andrea Palladio (1505-1580) designed his first villas, Venice had already consolidated its expansion onto terraferma, the hinterland, not only for defensive but also for economic and commercial purposes.
For Venetian nobles agriculture was now a profitable alternative to maritime traffics, weakened by the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the development of new shipping routes after the discovery of America.
Nobles turned their country houses, places of leisure, study and rest, into efficient and productive farms. Palladio was the skilled interpreter of their needs. By combining the owner's house with the outbuildings, he created a unique and harmonious whole, taking into consideration the relationship between villa and the surrounding landscape, functionality and aesthetics, mathematical rigor, local agricultural tradition and ancient architecture.

Wheat was the most important cultivation, but there were minor cereals, such as rye, sorghum and millet, legumes and vegetables. Spanish ships brought potatoes and maize from America. The latter was called granturco, the word turco, meaning Turk, was used to indicate a foreigner, and became a staple food crop for the poorer farmers.
Rice was profitable but its cultivation was not encouraged in this period because it required large expanses of land, a lot of manpower and flooded fields favoured mosquitoes.
Mulberries were cultivated for silkworm and hemp for the production of textiles.
Olive groves extended from Asolo to the Lake of Garda, but oil was exported, while local people used animal fat in cooking. Fruit trees, such as apples, figs and cherry trees, were cultivated in the brolo,  the orchard, which was a productive and ornamental space.
The best wine was exported; white vines generally came from the hills while red wines from the plain. One of the traditional methods of cultivation was the alberata, when vine was 'married' to other trees, such as maples, elms, ash and mulberry tree. From one to three plants of vine were planted around a tree and grew freely for the first years, than they were pruned keeping just two or three shoots that were festooned with those of other vines. Roses planted at the head of the rows of vines helped to detect disease, as roses got ill before the vines.

Photos:
Villa Barbaro, Maser, TravelinaGarden, June 2019

Rose and vines, Venissa Wine Resort, Island of Mazzorbo, Venice, TravelinaGarden, September
2019

Further reading:
Gianni Moriani, Palladio architetto della villa fattoria, Verona, Cierre edizioni, 2008

View of Villa Barbaro, Maser: central block flanked by two symmetrical barchesse,  agricultural outbuildings, and colombare, dovecots

Detail from the Nympheum, Villa Barbaro, Maser

Vines and roses, Venissa Wine Resort, Island of Mazzorbo, Venice 

View of the countryside, Villa Barbaro, Maser