A woman sleeps inside a sculpture over twelve meters tall, covered in mirrors and colorful ceramics. It is not a dreamlike scene, but the daily reality that Niki de Saint Phalle lived for years inside the figure of the Empress, one of the twenty-two monumental sculptures that make up the Tarot Garden, in the municipality of Capalbio, in the Tuscan Maremma. The Franco-American artist literally transformed one of her works into a home, living in it during the long years of construction of the park.
The garden originates from an idea that de Saint Phalle nurtured for decades, inspired by the Park Güell by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona and the fantastic gardens of the Palais Idéal by Ferdinand Cheval in France. Work began in 1979 on land donated by the Caracciolo family and continued for over twenty years, with the park officially opening to the public in 1998. Each sculpture represents a major arcana of the tarot, from the Magician to the Tower, from the Sun to the World, forming a symbolic path through the hilly landscape of southern Tuscany.
The sculptures: a bestiary of concrete, steel, and mosaic
Walking among the sculptures of the Tarot Garden means immersing oneself in a visual universe of rare density. The structures are made of reinforced concrete and steel, then entirely covered with mosaics of ceramics, glass, and mirrors that capture the light of the Tuscan sun in ever-changing ways depending on the hour. The color palette is vibrant — cobalt blue, gold yellow, emerald green — and contrasts with the surrounding Mediterranean scrub.
Some sculptures reach extraordinary dimensions: the Popess, for example, is a walkable building whose interior features spaces decorated from floor to ceiling with mosaics inspired by Egyptian art and organic forms. The Strength, depicting a human figure taming a lion, stands about eight meters tall and rises against the open sky. Each work is a self-contained world, with details that are only discovered by getting closer: inscriptions, figures hidden among the tiles, variations in texture that make each visit different from the last.
The artistic project and the legacy of Niki de Saint Phalle
De Saint Phalle partially financed the project by selling her perfume "Niki de Saint Phalle", launched in the 1980s. It was a gesture consistent with her vision: to use popular culture and commerce to fund a total work of art, without relying solely on public institutions. The artist collaborated with engineers, local craftsmen, and other artists, including her husband Jean Tinguely, who contributed kinetic and mechanical elements integrated into some sculptures.
Niki de Saint Phalle died in 2002, four years after the official opening of the park. Today the garden is managed by the Tarot Garden Foundation, which oversees its conservation and ensures public access. The foundation has continued the restoration work on the mosaic surfaces, particularly delicate due to exposure to the typical weather conditions of Maremma — intense sun, humidity, and sea wind.
How to Visit the Tarot Garden
The garden is located in Garavicchio, a few kilometers from Capalbio Scalo, reachable by car from the Via Aurelia. The nearest train station is Capalbio, but the connection to the park is not direct, so the car remains the most convenient means of transport. Parking is available near the entrance.
The entrance ticket costs around 15 euros for adults, with reductions for children and students. The park is open seasonally: generally from April to October, with varying hours. The most useful practical advice is to visit the garden in the early morning hours, preferably between 9 and 11: the slanting light spectacularly enhances the mosaics and the summer heat — in Maremma it can be intense — has not yet reached its peak. Wearing comfortable shoes is essential, as the ground is uneven and some paths within the sculptures have narrow steps. Allow at least two hours for a careful visit, three if you want to photograph every detail at a leisurely pace.
Why the trip is worth it
The Tarot Garden is unlike any other art park in Italy. It is not an open-air museum in the conventional sense of the term: it is rather a total environment, where the sculptures are not objects to be viewed from afar but spaces to be traversed, touched, inhabited with the gaze. The relationship between the figures and the Tuscan landscape — the hills, the olive trees, the clear sky — creates a visual contrast that no photograph can fully capture.
Capalbio and the Maremma also offer a rich travel context: wild beaches, medieval villages, local cuisine featuring wild boar and pecorino cheese. But the garden remains the most unforgettable experience, one that continues to resonate in memory even weeks after the visit, when one suddenly finds the reflection of a blue mirror in a dream.
