Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, ingresso 02

The ''Tarot Garden'' (Italian: ''Il Giardino dei Tarocchi'', French: ''Le Jardin des Tarots'') is a

sculpture garden A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be private, owned by ...

based on the esoteric

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...

, created by the French-American artist

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French-American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monume ...

(1930–2002) in Pescia Fiorentina,

località A ''località'' is an inhabited place in Italy that is not accorded a more significant distinction in administrative law such as a ''frazione'', ''comune'', ''municipio'', ''circoscrizione'', or ''quartiere''. The word is cognate to English ''loc ...

Garavicchio, in the municipality of Capalbio,

province of Grosseto The province of Grosseto ( it, links=no, provincia di Grosseto) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Grosseto. As of 2013 the province had a total population of 225,098 people. Geography The Province of Gro ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The park was opened to the public in 1998. Niki de Saint Phalle, inspired by Antoni Gaudí´s Parc Güell in Barcelona, and Parco dei Mostri in Bomarzo, as well as Palais Idéal by

Ferdinand Cheval Ferdinand Cheval (19 April 1836 – 19 August 1924), often nicknamed Facteur Cheval ("Mail Carrier Cheval") was a French mail carrier who spent 33 years building Le Palais idéal (the "Ideal Palace") in Hauterives, in southeastern France.

, and

Watts Towers The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the artis ...

Simon Rodia The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the artis ...

, decided to make something similar in design for her monumental sculpture park based on the

Tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...

. In 1979, she acquired some land on top of an

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

in Garavicchio, Tuscany, about north-west of Rome along the coast. There she built the ''Giardino dei Tarocchi'', containing twenty-two monumental figures representing her idea of the greater Mysteries of the Tarot, constructed of reinforced concrete and covered with mirrors and ceramic mosaic.Pozzana, Maria (2001). ''Gardens of Florence and Tuscany: A Complete Guide''. Giunti Editore. p. 146. . Some of the larger sculptural figures can be walked through; the artist herself lived inside the

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

-like ''Empress'' for several years during the construction of the garden.

Selected publications

* Niki de Saint Phalle, Giulio Pietrocharchi: ''The Tarot Garden: The Tarot Garden''. Benteli Zurich 1997, . * Niki de Saint Phalle: ''The Tarot Garden: Giardino Del Tarrochi''. Edizioni Charta, Milano 1997, . * Carla Schulz Hoffman: ''Niki de Saint Phalle. Bilder-Figuren-Phantastische Garten''. Prestel, Bonn 2008, . * Philip Carr-Gomm: ''Sacred Places''. Quercus Publishing, London 2008, . * Jill Johnston, Marella Caracciolo Chia, Giulio Pietromarchi: ''Niki de Saint Phalle and The Tarot Garden''. Benteli, Zurich 2010, .

References

External links

Official website

The Magical world of Niki de Saint-Phalles ''Tarot Garden'' - Blog Post
Tarotology Visionary environments Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in Europe Gardens in Tuscany Arts in Italy {{garden-stub