Hortus Mirabilis: Sensory Garden Opens at Giardino Giusti in Verona

A sensory garden titled Hortus Mirabilis has been installed within the Giardino Giusti in Verona, created by students of the Accademia di Belle Arti in collaboration with guests from social centers including Centro polifunzionale Don Calabria, Cooperativa sociale Cercate di Verona, and Centro psicosociale di Mantova. The exhibition, on view until July 2, features sculptures and installations of rare, almost impossible-to-find plants such as Torticula voracis, known as "dolce letale" for its cake-like shape, which is harmless by day but becomes fluorescent and carnivorous at dusk. Francesco Ronzon, director of the Accademia, stated that the project aims to stimulate imagination and senses, celebrating creativity, inclusion, and love for art and nature. The Giardino Giusti itself has a history dating to the late 1200s when the Giusti family moved from Tuscany to Verona for wool dyeing; in 1406 Provolo Giusti acquired land along the ancient Via Postumia, and in the 16th century the area was transformed into a palace and garden in the style of Sanmicheli, primarily by Agostino Giusti (1548–1615), a cultured man connected to the Medici, Habsburgs, and Venetians.