Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

This is a post about a legacy of surrealistic and evocative art that originated from a very old book and a nearly-as-old garden, which influenced a philosopher who lived hundreds of years later and an artist living even later still. Might I present to you, dear readers, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili?

The famous printer Aldus Manutius published the Hypnerotomachia in 1499. In these early days of the printing press, books were fashioned with artistry in mind, and Manutius did not disappoint. 172 woodcuts by unknown (but speculated to have been by famous) artists adorn the text, whose font called “Bembo” inspired later styles used today.

The woodcuts illustrate the bizzare and surrealist plot (the title comes from Ancient Greek and means “strife of love in a dream”). They showcase outdoor spaces imagined through a Classical interpretation (see second image) and likely provided inspiration for the “Parco dei Mostri di Bomarzo” or “Park of the Monsters” featured in the first slide.

These gardens date from the 1500s, and they were built by the wealthy condottiero Pier Francesco Orsini after his wife died, as a way to manage his grief over her death. Filled with grotesque and marvelous statues that interweave with the foliage, they moved 20th-c artist Salvadore Dali so much that they inspired his 1946 painting _The Temptation of St Anthony_ (third slide). The Orcus mouth features here has an Italian inscription “OGNI PENSIERO VOLA”/ “all thoughts fly”, and the acoustics of the mouth enable whispers inside it to be heard at the base of the statue.

Carl Jung admired the evocative dream imagery of the Hypnerotomachia, which reminded him of his own theories of archetypes. The story’s intended meanings are uncertain, perhaps being allegorical truths behind the tale of the main character Poliphilo, who has a dream about searching for love, and in it he gains and loses his beloved several times before he wakes up.

The identity of the author is even mysterious, perhaps being alluded to in an acrostic riddle made out of the first letter of each chapter (Francesco Colonna).