Botanical Garden of The University of Padua
In 1543, professor at the University of Padua, Francesco Bonafede requested that a garden be built for the study of medicinal plants. By 1545, the Venetian Senate decreed that a suitable plot of land be purchased (Piovan 66). This plot of land known as the Botanical Garden still stands as the oldest university garden still in its original location. By 1997, the UNESCO World Heritage List justified the garden’s listing as: “the Botanical Garden of Padua is the original of all botanical gardens throughout the world, and represents the birth of science, of scientific exchanges, and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture.”(Piovan 67) Today, the garden hold 6,000 species of plants and is a space of learning for students of medicine, ecology, and botany (Piovan 67).
The architectural design of the garden reveals the theoretical and practical motives of the designers. The first thing that captures the viewers’ attention is the geometry of the space. The garden’s architectural design is a square within a circle, intersected perpendicularly by two pathways to form a cross. The formation of this cross by two geometrical shapes alludes to esoteric significance (Piovan 75). The cross separates the garden into fourths which is relevant to the Flat Earth Theory, the dominate belief of the shape of the earth during this era. Taking this theory into consideration, the garden serves as a metaphor of the Earth. The different compartments represent the four corners of Earth. Each corner with a distinct geometrical pattern, which could be understood as a comment on ecological diversity. The architectural design is also practical as the surrounding compartments are used to systemically organize the plants. The circular stone wall that surrounds the garden gives the garden a sense of durability and security. Most likely, it served to protect the valuable plants from thieves. However, it also conveys a message of social prestige; the garden could only be seen by the eyes of a select few.
The creation of establishing a botanical garden was incited by the humanist passion to understand antiquity, to revive the field of botany, and to enjoy it for aesthetic pleasure. In the Middle Ages, botany held a very low position in the hierarchy of knowledge. However, with an increased interest in the readings of ancient philosophers, Renaissance academics realized took a renewed interest in the field of botany. Their main focus was the four major botanical writers of the ancient world: Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny and Galen (Reeds 522). The fascination and admiration of these writers inspired Renaissance educators to replace medieval textbooks with translated version of these ancient writers. As the interest with these works continued, professors deemed field trips necessary to examine plants in their natural setting (Reeds 534). However, it was evident that not all of the descriptions found in texts corresponded with what was actually encountered in nature. Academics found the need to interpret, translate, manipulate the works of ancient botanists and it became increasingly more important to have an accessible place to study the plants directly, examining their life cycle from beginning to end.
Furthermore, the potential use of the botanical garden for aesthetic pleasure and contemplation also buttressed the reemergence of the botanical garden. As Pietro Andrea Mattioli wrote:
The immense spiritual pleasure which results from looking at plants. For every gentle spirit rejoices in Spring or Summer when, for recreation, he goes wandering through meadows and fields, mountains and woods, amongst the verdant herbs and flowers… Words cannot relate the pleasure and delight when a plant, long sought for, is found (Palmer 150). Universities wanted to replicate the experience of pleasure in their own environment. For Renaissance humanists the beauty of botany was just as important as the medicinal advancements it could bring (Reeds 532).
Therefore, the renewed interest with antiquity, a desire to advance the field of botany, and a value for natural beauty, all contributed to the establishment of the first university botanical garden in 1545 in Padua, Italy.
List of Works Cited
Palmer, Richard. "Medical Botany in Northern Italy in the Renaissance." 78 (1985): 149-56. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Reeds, Karen Meier. "Renaissance Humanism and Botany." Renaissance Humanism and Botany (2006): 519-42. Annals of Science. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.
Piovan, Francesco. Palazzo Bo and Its World: Art and Culture at the University of Padova. Servizio Relazioni pubbliche, 2016. Print.
Celtic Tours. Botanical Garden of Padova. March 31st, 2011. Padova. Picture.
Damian. Botanical Garden. Padova. QRZ. Web. 5 May 2016. Pictures.