Monster Park or Sacred Wood, by Pirro Ligorio, 1552 - 1585, 16th Century, peperino

Detail. Attributed to Simone Moschino, Turtle and the woman standing and the While, 16th Century. This is the first large group of sculptures at the enter of the park: there is a turtle on the right and a while on the left, hidden by the foliage. The sculpture evokes the famous episode of the arrival of Ruggero at the palace of Alcina as narrated in the Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. Otherwise viewed as a recall to Orpheus and his journey in the afterlife, the first Lyra was in fact built with the shell of a turtle. CREATOR: Ligorio Pirro, Simone Moschino LOCATION: Bomarzo, Latium, Italy