Garden Design as an Artistic Form of Organized Knowledge: The Villa d’Este in Tivoli and its Dragons of 1572

The Villa d’Este in Tivoli is a prime example of the role of erudition in garden art and architecture. The villa is considered here as an artistic counterpart to Pirro Ligorio’s encyclopaedic writings that still offer much untreated material for historians of art and science. This article explores how the garden was discussed by contemporary humanists, referring to the real site and to the ideal setting of the garden as it was published in a corresponding engraving. Focussing on the centre of the garden’s composition, known as the Fountain of the Dragon(s), the argument demonstrates the flexibility of the art of the garden, which responded to political developments and discoveries in natural history.