The Villa Manin of Passariano, a historical mansion
located near Udine, in the north eastern Italian
region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, used to be both the Doge's
summer residence and, due to its amazing architecture, his
official seat. The villa was commissioned by the Doge
Antonio Manin in the first half of the 16th century,
but was late enlarged after the manner of Palladio
and frescoed by Tiepolo. Here would reside the last
of the Doges, Lodovico Manin, and here would stay Napoleon
Bonaparte for a few days during the talks surrounding
the signing of the Treaty of Campoformido which in
1797 put an end to the Serenissima Repubblica di
Venezia --the Most Serene Venetian Republic - and
assigned all of its territories to the Austrian Empire.
The 18th century architectural structure of Villa Manin
brings us back to those days when our beloved violets
enjoyed great favor amongst ladies who would adorn their
bosoms with a fragrant posy and make ample use of the
sweet violet's scent. Yet, the story of this sweet, humble
flower starts long before, when ancient Greeks and Romans
would wear violet wreaths at banquets to prevent
inebriation. Several potions and remedies would also
employ our flower, whose name probably comes down to us
from the mythological figure of Io, Jupiter's wretched
lover, turned by the king of the gods into a heifer to
escape his wife Juno's rage. The story tells that sweet,
tender violets appeared under the feet of poor Io, roaming
along the Mediterranean coasts. Another legend maintains
that violets would gush from the mythical Orpheus'
lyre. Proof of the legends' soundness is the fact that we
find some 400 species of violets spread all over the
Mediterranean area, the rest of Europe as well as Asia and
North Africa. Actually, violets are also widespread in
Australia and New Zealand...perhaps the result of an
unreported Jupiter's mistress?
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Conte de
Brazza Violets
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The ancients regarded the violet as the symbol of tranquility
and the guardian of sleep. It has always been
connected to feelings of sweetness and
amicability. Peace and wisdom be with those who pick the
newly grown spring violet and keep it between the pages
of a book! Under such auspices, violets, together with
roses and few other flowers, have survived through the
ages, maintaining their original charm and adapting
themselves to the times. During the Middle Ages, a
period imbued with religiousness, the Viola
Tricolor was known as the herb of the Holy
Trinity (herba Sanctae Trinitatis). Our
contemporary Violet Golden Age, however, was no doubt
the 19th century when the words of the poet Andrea
Chenier aptly described it as "a pallid shape
of love." France, however, was to be the country of
adoption from the second part of the 18th century, and
during the heat of the Revolution, when enthusiast
gardeners were busy creating new varieties, and
increasing, step by step, the rounder corollas.
Violets became also the symbol of the Bonapartists.
Father or Corporal Violet was the password used
by Napoleon's supporters during his exile on the Isle of
Elba, and from where he claimed he would return to France
during Spring time, when violets come back. Napoleon's
passion for violets coincided with his ardor for Josephine
Beauharnais, his Empress, who never missed the
opportunity to pin a posy to her dress. So deep was her
devotion to this flower that she had her wedding dress
embroidered with violets and would grow them in the rosary
at the Malmaison.
The new trend of decorating pots, garments and
accessories with violets would last throughout the 19th
century continuing down to the 1920s. In Italy, the Viola
Odorata doppia, i.e. Viola odorata pallida plena
or suavis pallida plena italica reappeared with
the Bourbon dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom
of Naples and the Dukedom of Parma from 1730
to 1860. It is quite possible the Bourbons brought this
violet from the Spanish region of Catalonia and
introduced it in Naples. That might explain either the
term Neapolitan Violet (adopted by the English)
or the term Violetta Portoghese (adopted by the
Neapolitans). Most likely, it was a cross-breeding
between the spontaneous V. odorata and the
Russian V. Suavis or any of its oriental
varieties such as V. Cyanea or V. Pontica. In any
case, violets passed from Naples to Parma where British
Ambassador Hamilton at first and Duchess Marie
Louise later on launched the fashion, and fragrant
violet posies became the favorite ornament for
fashionable ladies' garments and hats. Naturally, the
demand for our humble and delicate flower increased
enormously. During the reign of Napoleon III
(Second Empire 1852-1870), 200 hectares in the outskirts
of Paris were dedicated to the violet crop. The city of Toulouse,
thanks to the spontaneous mutation of the Violetta di
Parma, or perhaps due to different climatic conditions,
became one of the world's largest breeding centers.
Nowadays, not very far from Nice, violets are still
grown with the purpose of making posies and sweets.
However, a new course for the Violet was about to start
thanks to Count Filippo di Brazza Savorgnan, a
gentleman and violet fanciers from Udine. The double
parma violet he brought from Parma and which he
patiently nursed and selected, turned rapidly into a
dense cloud of delicate sapphire petals with a white
eye, vaguely resembling a little rose (the remarkable
feature of such a jewel known as Viola di Udine
in this part of the world) and Blue Neapolitan Comte
de Brazza, abroad.
But Count de Brazza went further. He cross-bred an
spontaneous white violet which he had found in the
Tuscan Maremma, with a Violetta di Parma. The result was
the superb, strongly scented, pure-white Conte di
Brazza. Thus, the first white-flower plants created
by the Count left the family mansion in Soleschiano
(near Udine) for the Swanley nursery, purchased
under exclusive conditions by Mr. Henry Canell
who put the new violet on the English market and later
on, the American market as the 'Swanley White.'
And here comes the confusion! The same violet with two
different names! The Count persevered in his breeding
activities gaining great success. His efforts culminated
in 1883 with an award received from the Royal
Horticultural Society show with another 'Conte di
Brazza.'
After the death of Count Filippo, Cora Slocomb di
Brazza, the American wife of Count Detalmo,
strove to promote violet breeding and commercial
cultivation in the countryside of Udine. Thanks to
Cora's efforts - to whom we owe the park surrounding the
Villa in Moruzzo (near Udine) designed according to
innovative rules in Landscape Gardening - the peasant
women of Friuli began to cultivate double violets along
the rows of vines. The little plants would benefit from
the Bordeaux mixture (copper sulphate) that was
sprayed on the vines as a fungicide. The region's
favorable climatic environment (fresh summers and mild
winters) made the violets flourish. At particularly
harsh winters, the plants were covered with mats or
simply, by egg shells under which the flowers would
swell without losing freshness and fragrance. The small
earnings contributed to the meager income of the working
force which in those days was very poor. As a rule,
marriageable young girls would spend on their bridal
trousseaux the money earned from the violet sales. With
the years, local nurseries started to produce the 'viola
di Udine' and the 'Conte di Brazza' on a large scale.
The Associazione Agraria Friuliana (Friulian Agrarian
Association) arranged for special frames, equipped with
glass covers to favor the violet cultivation destined to
the markets of Istanbul, Alexandria, Russia and the
United States. From November until March one million of
turquoise or white tufty 'Violette Stradoppie'
traveled from Udine for nine days to reach, fresh and
fragrant the markets of St. Petersburg, where
they would last another 10 days in perfect condition.
Of course, everyone tried to imitate such a refined
violet, starting with the Viennese nurseries. The
results, however, were disappointing. It seemed
impossible to repeat the magic of the flower bred in
Udine, therefore, the precious violets continued to be
exported. Gathered in ten-flower posies with the stalks
wrapped in moistened moss, each posy would be placed
over a layer of cotton wool, covered with tissue paper
and packed in special cases.
The Violet Golden Age faded away in the 1920s. Fashions
changed and the Etherodera radicola (a nematode
worm) undermined the plants' health. "It's no
longer possible to obtain 'huge' flowers"
complained the breeder Rizzardi. Finally, the
ever increasing labor costs made this activity no longer
remunerative. In 1943, Rizzardi bred 3,000 plants which
drastically decreased to 1,200 plants after World War
II, won over by those flowers whose cultivation proved
easier.
This "star of flowers," cherished by none
other than the Austrian Empress Elizabeth (Sissi) - who
reportedly had a sweet tooth for candied violet
petals,--would have completely disappeared save for the
efforts of a few amateurs who have been obstinately
searching old gardens as well as local and foreign
nurseries for the Sweet Violet..