Natura naturans, natura naturata. I ninfei settecenteschi nel giardino del Castello Bufalini a San Giustino (PG)

This contribution aims to address the case of the porticoed nymphaeum and the niche nymphaea designed in the early 1700s in the Upper Tiber area in the garden of Castello Bufalini in San Giustino (PG). Currently undergoing restoration and conservation work, it was built in different phases. Between the 16th and early 18th centuries, the transition from a fortified castle to a noble residence took place, with the transformation of the space between the walls into a Renaissance garden. The result is a unique composition of environments, distinct in form and function, cleverly created in the leftover space between the perimeter walls and the castle. The various areas of the garden are also enriched by a system of fountains, ground basins with various and polylobed geometries, aligned with each other and fed by a gravity water system that ran partially underground. Some of these are attached to the perimeter walls and feature exedrae decorated with trichromatic pebble mosaics arranged according to the optical axes defined by the ground fountains. The so-called ‘Secret Garden’ ‒ a Renaissance pre-existence ‒ is embellished with a vaulted nymphaeum, externally covered with tufa and spongy stones, while the interior is characterized by mosaics that echo the motifs of the other fountains. Currently, the erosion of some components, widespread gaps in the decorative apparatus exposing parts of the underlying structure, and the absence of flowing water impose serious reflections on conservation aspects that concern not only formal problems but also spatial and perceptual issues. The nymphaea, like every other component of the garden, should be understood not as an episodic element in itself but as part of a whole designed with aesthetic and phenomenological coherence.