I learned about the existence of this wonderful garden during my vacation in Tuscany, by reading a brochure about the wonderful and enchanting garden. At the sight of the first images it reminded me a lot of some colorful and strange geometric shapes by Picasso, but live it was evident that I was in a bit of a magical garden.
The garden brings together installations and works that have tarot figures as their subject, revisited in a style that is very reminiscent of Antoni Gaudí's Parque Guell in Barcelona. In fact, the author and creator of the garden Niki de Saint Phalle, after visiting the Spanish city, dedicated herself to the construction of the twenty-two imposing figures in steel and concrete covered with glass, mirrors and colored ceramics, which has now become a symbol of the territory .
Walking in the garden is quite strange, the sensation of seeing these colored giants is certainly wonderful but the subjects are inspired by the major arcana of the Tarot, therefore full of symbolic and esoteric meanings, and almost seem to convey this sensation of mysticism to visitors. In fact, some consider it as a great work of art, capable of reawakening our nightmares a little.
Before the adventure in the park, I was not used to tarot cards. I had seen some like the hanged man, the pope and a few other figures. But the courts themselves are represented a little differently than depicted on the cards, and are sometimes not easily recognizable.
The effect of the colors reflecting the daylight is really wonderful, but at night I think the effect is very gloomy, a bit horror.
According to Niki de Saint Phalle, art must leave the viewer free to read in the works what is closest to his point of view and his cultural background. For this reason, in the Tarot park, you will only find cryptic and sometimes misleading sentences.
The Wizard and the popess
The first sculpture encountered in the Tarot garden is the Magician. Also called Magician or Alchemist, it is the first card of the major arcana. It is easy to identify because it is superimposed on that of the Popess and is represented as a face, a sort of mask, with a raised hand, entirely covered in mirrors and represents the union of the divine with the earth but also creativity.
The Popess, on the other hand, card number 2, is represented with her mouth wide open, from which the water that feeds the fountain comes out, and her hair is in disarray. Inside the mouth of this sculpture is the true popess. As previously mentioned, the sculptures were created according to the artist's creativity and do not reflect a mere reproduction of the cards.
The empress
Another example is the empress, the largest sculpture in the garden and was also the artist's home during the construction of the park. Indeed, the Empress of the Tarot Garden represents motherhood, fertility and femininity.
All the other sculptures are extravagant, just like the ones described so far and probably not easily recognizable even to connoisseurs of cards. Walking among the installations is truly fascinating and curious and it is certainly a surreal exhibition to be admired for its colors and its history.
