Editing Grotto (section)

== Garden grottoes ==
{{see also|Shell grotto}}
[[File:Villa torrigiani di lucca, scalinata.JPG|thumb|Grotto entrance, [[Villa Torrigiani]]]]

The popularity of artificial grottoes introduced the [[Mannerism|Mannerist style]] to Italian and French gardens of the mid-16th century. Two famous grottoes in the [[Boboli Gardens]] of [[Palazzo Pitti]] were begun by [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]] and completed by [[Bartolomeo Ammanati|Ammanati]] and [[Bernardo Buontalenti|Buontalenti]] between 1583 and 1593. One of these grottoes originally housed the ''Prisoners'' of [[Michelangelo]]. Before the Boboli grotto, a garden was laid out by [[Niccolò Tribolo]] at the Medici [[Villa di Castello|Villa Castello]], near [[Florence]]. At [[Villa di Pratolino|Pratolino]], in spite of the dryness of the site, there was a Grotto of Cupid (surviving), with water tricks for the unsuspecting visitor.<ref>Webster Smith, "Pratolino", ''The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'' '''20'''.4 (December 1961), pp. 155–168</ref> The [[Fonte di Fata Morgana]] ("Fata Morgana's Spring") at Grassina, not far from Florence, is a small garden building, built in 1573–74 as a garden feature in the extensive grounds of the Villa "Riposo" (rest) of Bernardo Vecchietti. It is decorated with sculptures in the [[Giambologna]]n manner.

The outsides of garden grottoes are often designed to look like an enormous rock, a rustic porch, or a rocky overhang. Inside, they are decorated as a temple or with fountains, [[stalactites]], and imitation gems and shells (sometimes made in ceramic); herms and mermaids, mythological subjects suited to the space; and [[naiad]]s, or river gods whose urns spilled water into pools.  Damp grottoes were cool places to retreat from the Italian sun, but they also became fashionable in the cool drizzle of the [[Île-de-France]]. In the [[Kuskovo]] Estate, there is the Grotto Pavilion, built between 1755 and 1761.
[[File:Villa torrigiani di lucca, statua 04.JPG|thumb|upright|Sculpture in a grotto setting, [[Villa Torrigiani]], Lucca]]

Grottoes could also serve as baths; an example of this is at the [[Palazzo del Te]], in the 'Casino della Grotta', where a small suite of intimate rooms is laid out around a grotto and ''loggetta'' (covered balcony). Courtiers once bathed in the small cascade that splashed over the pebbles and shells encrusted in the floor and walls.

Grottoes have also served as [[chapel]]s, or at [[Villa Farnese]] at Caprarola, a little theater designed in the grotto manner. They were often combined with cascading fountains in Renaissance gardens.

The grotto designed by [[Bernard Palissy]] for [[Catherine de' Medici]]'s château in [[Paris, France|Paris]], the [[Tuileries]], was renowned. There are also grottoes in the gardens designed by [[André Le Nôtre]] for [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]]. In England, an early garden grotto was built at [[Wilton House]] in the 1630s, probably by [[Isaac de Caus]].

Grottoes were suitable for less formal gardens too. [[Pope's Grotto]], created by [[Alexander Pope]], is almost all that survives of one of the first [[Landscape architecture|landscape gardens]] in England, at [[Twickenham]].<ref>Frederick Bracher, "Pope's Grotto: The Maze of Fancy Pope's Grotto: The Maze of Fancy", ''The Huntington Library Quarterly'' '''12'''.2 (February 1949), pp. 141–162; Anthony Beckles Willson, "Alexander Pope's Grotto in Twickenham", ''Garden History'' '''26'''.1 (Summer, 1998), pp. 31–59</ref> Pope was inspired after seeing grottoes in Italy during a visit there. Efforts are underway to restore his grotto.<ref>Victoria Lambert [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/museums/11866157/Inside-Alexander-Popes-hidden-grotto.html "Inside Alexander Pope's hidden grotto"] The Telegraph, 15 September 2015</ref> There are grottoes in the landscape gardens of [[Painshill Park]],<ref>Alison Hodges, "Painshill, Cobham, Surrey: The Grotto", ''Garden History'' '''3'''.2 (Spring 1975), pp. 23–28</ref> [[Stowe Landscape Garden|Stowe]], [[Clandon Park]], and [[Stourhead]].<ref>James Turner, "The Structure of Henry Hoare's Stourhead", ''The Art Bulletin'' '''61'''.1 (March 1979), pp. 68–77; Malcolm Kelsall, "The Iconography of Stourhead", ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'' '''46'''(1983), pp. 133–143; Kenneth Woodbridge, "Henry Hoare's Paradise," ''The Art Bulletin'' '''47'''.1 (March 1965), pp. 83–116</ref> [[Scott's Grotto]] is a series of interconnected chambers, extending 67&nbsp;ft (20 metres) into the chalk hillside on the outskirts of [[Ware, Hertfordshire]]. Built during the late 18th century, the chambers and tunnels are lined with shells, flints, and pieces of colored glass.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scotts-grotto.org/CMS/index.php |title=What is Scott's Grotto |access-date=18 October 2005|date=13 May 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050513215354/http://scotts-grotto.org/CMS/index.php |archive-date=13 May 2005}}</ref> The Romantic generation of tourists might not actually visit [[Fingal's Cave]], on the remote isle of [[Staffa]] in the Scottish [[Hebrides]], but they have often heard of it, perhaps through [[Felix Mendelssohn]]'s "[[Hebrides Overture]]", better known as "[[Hebrides Overture|Fingal's Cave]]", which was inspired by his visit. In the 19th century, when miniature [[Matterhorn]]s and rock gardens became fashionable, a grotto was often found, such as at [[Ascott House]]. In Bavaria, [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|Ludwig]]'s [[Linderhof]] contains an abstraction of the grotto under Venusberg, which is figured in [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]''.

Although grottoes have largely fallen from fashion since the British [[Picturesque]] movement, architects and artists occasionally try to redefine the grotto in contemporary design works. Such examples include [[Frederick Kiesler]]'s ''Grotto of Meditation for New Harmony'' (1964),<ref>{{cite news |author=Alderslade, Jessica |date=2014 |title=An Introduction to the Grotto and Its Place within Contemporary Design |work=Reinterpreting the Grotto in Contemporary Design |location=Australia}}</ref> ARM'st post-modern ''Storey Hall'' (1995), Aranda/Lasch's ''Grotto Concept,'' (2005), [[Deborah Saunt David Hills Architects|DSDHA]]'s ''Potters Field Park Pavilions'' (2008)<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 2008 |title=ArtNotes |work=Art Monthly |pages=15}}</ref>'','' Callum Moreton's ''Grotto'' pavilion (2010), and [[Antonino Cardillo]]'s ''Grottoes'' series (2013–2023).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cardillo |first=Antonino |date=October 12, 2023 |title=Grottoes |url=https://www.antoninocardillo.com/en/topics/grottoes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608140041/https://www.antoninocardillo.com/en/works/grottoes/ |archive-date=June 8, 2024 |access-date=June 8, 2024 |website=www.antoninocardillo.com |language=en}}</ref>