Over five centuries have passed since the appearance of The Dream of Poliphilus, an enigmatic novel published in 1499 by Aldo Manuzio, embellished by extraordinary woodcuts that have confirmed it as one of the most beautiful books in the history of printing. The visionary and labyrinthine story follows the dream-like travels of Poliphilo in search of his love, Polia.
His is a journey of initiation of the soul, which achieves wisdom through love, as the protagonist navigates ruins, fantastical architecture and allegorical gardens. Today, that world of dream and symbolism is rekindled in the heart of the Loire region, thanks to Le Jardin des Songes, presented at the 2025 edition of the Chaumont-sur-Loire International Garden Festival.
The brains behind this immersive and poetic project are Italian artist Daniela Capaccioli and French landscape architect and set designer Thierry Huau. Together they have created a narrative garden that interweaves art and nature as if in an allegorical dream.
In the heart of a present-day wood, Le Jardin des Songes unfolds like a coming-of-age story. A journey suspended in time, inhabited by hybrid creatures made of wire mesh that are both mythical and symbolic, in a living, shifting setting where every element is in dialogue with the landscape.
At the garden’s heart is a lake, a metaphor for transition and rebirth. All around, diaphanous figures emerge from the vegetation: winged nymphs, root-insects, epiphyte-birds: dreamlike beings sculpted in transparent mesh, which appear to hover somewhere between reality and invisibility.
The silent star of this installation is Cavatorta wire mesh. Chosen by Capaccioli as her sculptural medium, the mesh becomes a subtle skin, a lightweight yet solid structure that embodies both the fragility and the power of the artist’s vision.
The collaboration between Cavatorta and Daniela Capaccioli is ongoing, and based on a shared quest for beauty, harmony and technical innovation. With Le Jardin des Songes, the partnership is enhanced by the sensibility and scenic creativity of Thierry Huau, further heightening its evocative storytelling potential.
The artists
Thierry Huau is an accredited landscape architect from the École Nationale Supérieure in Versailles, a town planner and an ethnobotanist. He leads international projects that combine preservation of cultural heritage with environmental sustainability and land regeneration. The founder of Atelier Thierry Huau in Giverny, he takes a scenographic approach to landscape, developing installations and cultural projects all over the world. Huau also launched the Berceau des Nymphéas association to promote rural culture through art and sustainable tourism.
Daniela Capaccioli studied scenography at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, and focuses on the use of wire mesh to create sculptures that appear to breathe with the landscape. Her artworks, displayed in prominent green spaces in France and Italy, transform an industrial material into visual poetry, triggering a subtle conversation between art, nature and myth. With her ethereal aesthetic and sophisticated technique, Capaccioli invites the viewer to contemplate the invisible and rediscover the wonder in details of the natural world.
