Scienza, politica e vita sociale: Il ruolo dell’Orto botanico di Padova nell’Ottocento.

The documents concerning the Society for the advancement of gardening in Padua – preserved in the Archive of the Botanical garden of Padua and now entirely accessible online – disclose important inedited and hitherto neglected aspects of local history. In the following, we will present a brief history of the Society and illustrate how it reflects the events of the Vormärz, the post-1848 repression, the Risorgimento, and the initial years of Italian unification. Even more important are the broader yet tacit dimensions of that history. In particular, the Society’s undertakings, especially in the 1840s, unveil the transformation of gardening from being a symbol of aristocratic exclusivity to becoming a mass culture and a florid horticultural industry. Moreover, the policies of the executive board show a clever networking and transgression between members of geographically, politically and socially distant areas and between local, regional and international levels. The role of women deserves a special mention.