Silent Theatre

In many historical eras gardens have been created to convey ideas more than just an intention to give pleasure. Almost, all great civilizations have produced designs for gardens, pools and fountains that have gone beyond the practical needs and aesthetically pleasing sights and sounds and features that made the conditions for an enjoyable living.This book studies the symbolism used in most gardens of the 16th century, inspired by the book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili by Francesco Colonna, 1499. The title of the Hypnerotomachya Poliphili is compounded of three Greek words, Hypnos (sleep), Eros (love), and Mache (strife). The sleep of Poliphilo, the narrator and protagonist, is the occasion for the erotic dream comprising the novel. In the process of finding his lover, he explains how he adores architecture and gardens.This book narrates the novel, Hypnerotomachya Poliphili, through photographs of Italian gardens designed as stages on which the story of Poliphilo takes place.One walksaround the gardens of the renaissance and sees the episodes of the story quietly performed through the fountains, sculptures and even the design and the layout of the gardens.