The Tarot Garden | A Soul journey
A park like a dream, colorful, imaginative and surprising. The Giardino dei Tarocchi near Capalbio was designed between 1979 and 1998 by Niki de Saint Phalle and her husband Jean Tinguely.
She was inspired not only by the Parc Güell in Barcelona, but also by works by Friedrich Hundertwasser and the Park of the Monsters by Pirro Ligorio and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, which was created in Bomarzo in the 16th century. This park is considered the oldest sculpture park and resembles a surreal landscape, animated by grotesque sculptures.
Niki de Saint Phalle designed the so-called „Great Arcana“ from the Tarot. These 22 cards are the trumps, beginning with „the fool“ and ending with „the world“, so also the tour in the garden. Tarot was for the artist like an image of life, which she understood as a card game, because everyone is born without knowing the rules and must make the best of his hand of life. Niki de Saint Phalle‘s Arkanas are oversized sculptures, some of which can be walked on inside.
Colorful ceramics, mirror mosaics and glass make the monumental figures unique works of art that combine in the park to create a meditative journey of the soul. Because that‘s exactly how the artist wanted the walk through the park to be understood: As a soul journey to herself.
Her husband Jean Tinguely created four of the arcana, including the „Wheel of Destiny“ and „Death“. Local artists and craftsmen assist the artist couple in the construction of the figures.
Every summer since 1998, visitors can discover the park for themselves and follow their own soul journey. The figures, which attract the gaze almost magically, peek out from between the trees, surprise, sometimes seem frightening and whimsical at the same time.
SIGNATURE by Dianium Residence!
