The garden is an emblematic example of hortus conclusus, a medieval enclosed garden, in this case surrounded by high walls, typical of monasteries and convents.
The garden, with a geometric design, combined aesthetic-contemplative purposes with practical and productive needs: it is a historic garden created for the use and consumption of the friars of the ancient monastery, who essentially grew plants and trees there for food and medicinal uses.
The flat configuration, the presence of an abundant supply of irrigation water over the entire surface and the fertility of the soil provide an optimal environment for this park, which is a treasure trove of Mediterranean biodiversity and still retains traces of its ancient function as a hortus conclusus with the garden of simples, used for the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic herbs, used by the monastery's apothecaries, and fruit trees mainly citrus for the purpose of both food and to create a contemplative environment.
Offsite - the Artwork.
The Herbalist by Ximena Garrido-Lecca
The work the Herbalist stems from an artist residency in Naples by Peruvian artist Ximena Garrido-Lecca and was created in collaboration with the old Fonderia Di Giacomo, a historic foundry located in the Sanità neighborhood, and Gisela Capitain Gallery.
For her sculptural intervention at Re Ladislao's Park, Ximena Garrido-Lecca delved into the history of the garden by exploring its original use for the cultivation of herbs and medicinal plants. Starting by researching the herbs that were cultivated there, she selected some of them to produce a bronze and brass sculpture using the lost-wax casting method that simulates a structure for drying herbs.
The project re-examines herbalism, its practice in monasteries during the Middle Ages by monks, the gradual exclusion of women from this activity and their persecution by the Church, stigmatizing their knowledge, which can be interpreted as a way of monopolizing such knowledge. By uncovering the power structures and patriarchal bias of knowledge, the work is a tribute to these women.
Offsite - the Artist.
Ximena Garrido - Lecca
in collaboration with Galerie Gisela Capitain
Ximena Garrido-Lecca lives and works between Lima and Mexico City.
The artist approaches her works by examining urban, rural and vernacular architecture, focusing on spaces in which a mediating materiality between the specific and the universal is visible. Equally important is the memory of traditional craftsmanship and the abandonment of rural spaces as an effect of modernization processes.
Her work insinuates a permanent tension between the legacy of vernacular culture and the new demands of industrialization, signaling the violence contained in an accelerated transnational economic model in increasingly open confrontation with environmental protection, sovereignty and respect for the diverse lifestyles of communities.
Offsite: the Craftsman
Antica Fonderia di Giacomo
For more than a century, the Giuseppe Di Giacomo Artistic Foundry has represented an authoritative voice of a universal message to transmit the values of ancient art to modern generations.
The deep cultural roots behind each and every product and full respect for ancient methods of workmanship unequivocally sign the excellence of a school that has been able to preserve over time the ancient knowledge of the fathers and masters of art.
The relentless pursuit of beauty, the quality of raw materials, the passion and complete dedication of the owners and master craftsmen Giuseppe and Marcello Di Giacomo, fully express the spirit and ancient vigor of a company that continues to aim for the growth and perfection of its works.
“Gathering the emotions of an artist is our main commitment, speaking his language and interpreting his intimate need for artistic expression is our strength.”