Description
Visitors to the Vatican Galleries, when they turn away from the works of art, may look out of the long windows and catch glimpses of lawns and trees, or intricate parterres with boxwood hedges. or climbing to the dome of St. Peter’s, daunted as they may be by the vertical stairs with walls narrowing as they ascend, they may enjoy marvellous aerial views. And often they wish they could walk in those pleasant paths shadowed by ancient trees.Twenty seven years in the making, The Gardens of the Vatican is a private photographic tour of eight centuries of ‘green thoughts in a green shade.’ The several gardens in the Vatican territory reflect the history of gardens in general. In addition to the Persian influenced quadrant gardens of the Tenton Cemetery and the Secret Garden, adorned with lemon trees in pots, there are gardens in the Italian, French,and English styles.The book is rich in anecdote and detail: Pope John XXIII liked to ramble along the pathways and chat with the gardeners. His predecessor Pius XII wanted solitude, so the gardeners were obliged to hide. There is a fragment of the Berlin Wall, a Chinese pavilion given by the Catholics of that country, and a gnarled old olive tree transplanted from the Gethsemane in the Holy Land.The Gardens of the Vatican offers a fascinating and inspiring glimpse of a bachelor’s refuge, through eight centuries of history.
About the authors
Linda Kooluris Dobbs, a well-known painter in Canada, began her photographic record of The Vatican Gardens in 1981. Her photographs have been published in The National Post and were the subject of a major exhibition in Toronto in 2002. She lives in Toronto with her husband Kildare Dobbs.
Linda Kooluris Dobbs' profile page
Kildare Dobbs is an award-winning writer and poet who has lived the world over. Born in 1923, in India, Dobbs was raised in Ireland, and educated in Dublin, Cambridge and London. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II and in East Africa, Dobbs finally migrated to Canada in 1952 and worked in journalism and publishing. His autobiography, Running to Paradise (1962), won a Governor-General's Award, and since then he has published various collections of short stories, novellas and poetry, including The Great Fur Opera (1970). In 2000, he was invested with the Order of Ontario, and installed as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Toronto in 2002. His memoir, Running The Rapids, was published in 2005. Kildare Dobbs now lives and writes in Toronto.
