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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #53495 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53495)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, Italian Villas and Their Gardens, by Edith
-Wharton, Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions 
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at 
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-
-Title: Italian Villas and Their Gardens
-
-
-Author: Edith Wharton
-
-
-
-Release Date: November 10, 2016  [eBook #53495]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS***
-
-
-E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading
-Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by
-Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
-      file which includes the original illustrations,
-      many of which are in color.
-      See 53495-h.htm or 53495-h.zip:
-      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53495/53495-h/53495-h.htm)
-      or
-      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53495/53495-h.zip)
-
-
-      Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive. See
-      https://archive.org/details/italianvillasthe00whar
-
-
-Transcriber’s note:
-
-      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
-
-
-
-
-
-ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS
-
-
-[Illustration: VILLA CAMPI, NEAR FLORENCE]
-
-
-ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS
-
-by
-
-EDITH WHARTON
-
-Illustrated with Pictures by Maxfield Parrish
-and by Photographs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-New York
-The Century Co.
-1905
-
-Copyright, 1903, 1904, by
-THE CENTURY CO.
-
-Published November, 1904
-
-The De Vinne Press
-
-
-
-
-
-                                   TO
-
-                               VERNON LEE
-
-   WHO, BETTER THAN ANY ONE ELSE, HAS UNDERSTOOD AND INTERPRETED THE
-                         GARDEN-MAGIC OF ITALY
-
-
-
-
-                                CONTENTS
-
-
-                                                     PAGE
-               INTRODUCTION                             5
-
-
-                                   I
-
-               FLORENTINE VILLAS                       19
-
-
-                                   II
-
-               SIENESE VILLAS                          63
-
-
-                                  III
-
-               ROMAN VILLAS                            81
-
-
-                                   IV
-
-               VILLAS NEAR ROME
-
-                               I CAPRAROLA AND LANTE  127
-                              II VILLA D’ESTE         139
-                             III FRASCATI             148
-
-
-                                   V
-
-               GENOESE VILLAS                         173
-
-
-                                   VI
-
-               LOMBARD VILLAS                         197
-
-
-                                  VII
-
-               VILLAS OF VENETIA                      231
-
-
-
-
-                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-
-                                                                    PAGE
-
- Villa Campi, near Florence                               _Frontispiece_
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- The Reservoir, Villa Falconieri, Frascati                             4
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- The Cascade, Villa Torlonia, Frascati                                 9
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Fountain of Venus, Villa Petraja, Florence                           18
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Gamberaia at Settignano, near Florence                         20
-
- Drawn by C. A. Vanderhoof, from a Photograph.
-
- Boboli Garden, Florence                                              24
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Entrance to Upper Garden, Boboli Garden, Florence                    27
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Cypress Alley, Boboli Garden, Florence                               31
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Ilex-walk, Boboli Garden, Florence                                   36
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Gamberaia, near Florence                                       39
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- View of Amphitheatre, Boboli Garden, Florence                        44
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Corsini, Florence                                              49
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Vicobello, Siena                                                     62
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- La Palazzina (Villa Gori), Siena                                     67
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- The Theatre at La Palazzina, Siena                                   73
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- The Dome of St. Peter’s, from the Vatican Gardens                    80
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Entrance to Forecourt, Villa Borghese, Rome                          87
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Grotto, Villa di Papa Giulio, Rome                                   91
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Temple of Æsculapius, Villa Borghese, Rome                           96
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Medici, Rome                                                  100
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Courtyard Gate of the Villa Pia, Vatican Gardens                    102
-
- Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.
-
- Villa Pia—In the Gardens of the Vatican                             105
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Gateway of the Villa Borghese                                       108
-
- Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.
-
- Villa Chigi, Rome                                                   111
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Parterres on Terrace, Villa Belrespiro (Pamphily-Doria),            116
-   Rome
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- View from Lower Garden, Villa Belrespiro                            121
-   (Pamphily-Doria), Rome
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa d’Este, Tivoli                                                126
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Villa Caprarola                                                     129
-
- From a retouched Photograph.
-
- The Casino, Villa Farnese, Caprarola                                133
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Lante, Bagnaia                                                138
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- The Pool, Villa d’Este, Tivoli                                      141
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Villa Lante, Bagnaia                                                146
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Cascade and Rotunda, Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati                   149
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Garden of Villa Lancellotti, Frascati                               153
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Casino, Villa Falconieri, Frascati                                  157
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- The Entrance, Villa Falconieri, Frascati                            161
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Lancellotti, Frascati                                         165
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Scassi, Genoa                                                 172
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- A Garden-niche, Villa Scassi, Genoa                                 181
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Villa Cicogna, Bisuschio                                            196
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Villa Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore                                    203
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- In the Gardens of Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore                        210
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Villa Cicogna, from the Terrace above the House                     216
-
- From a Photograph.
-
- Villa Pliniana, Lake Como                                           221
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Iron Gates of the Villa Alario (now Visconti di                     224
-   Saliceto)
-
- Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.
-
- Railing of the Villa Alario                                         225
-
- Drawn by Malcolm Fraser, from a Photograph.
-
- Gateway of the Botanic Garden, Padua                                230
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- View at Val San Zibio, near Battaglia                               235
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Plan of the Botanic Garden, Padua                                   239
-
- Drawn by E. Denison, from Sketch by the Author.
-
- Val San Zibio, near Battaglia                                       241
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
- Gateway, Villa Pisani, Strà                                         244
-
- Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.
-
- Villa Valmarana, Vicenza                                            247
-
- Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.
-
-
-
-
-                    ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS
-
-
-[Illustration: THE RESERVOIR, VILLA FALCONIERI, FRASCATI]
-
-
-
-
-                    ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS
-
-
-
-
-                              INTRODUCTION
-
-                          ITALIAN GARDEN-MAGIC
-
-
-Though it is an exaggeration to say that there are no flowers in Italian
-gardens, yet to enjoy and appreciate the Italian garden-craft one must
-always bear in mind that it is independent of floriculture.
-
-The Italian garden does not exist for its flowers; its flowers exist for
-it: they are a late and infrequent adjunct to its beauties, a
-parenthetical grace counting only as one more touch in the general
-effect of enchantment. This is no doubt partly explained by the
-difficulty of cultivating any but spring flowers in so hot and dry a
-climate, and the result has been a wonderful development of the more
-permanent effects to be obtained from the three other factors in
-garden-composition—marble, water and perennial verdure—and the
-achievement, by their skilful blending, of a charm independent of the
-seasons.
-
-It is hard to explain to the modern garden-lover, whose whole conception
-of the charm of gardens is formed of successive pictures of
-flower-loveliness, how this effect of enchantment can be produced by
-anything so dull and monotonous as a mere combination of clipped green
-and stonework.
-
-The traveller returning from Italy, with his eyes and imagination full
-of the ineffable Italian garden-magic, knows vaguely that the
-enchantment exists; that he has been under its spell, and that it is
-more potent, more enduring, more intoxicating to every sense than the
-most elaborate and glowing effects of modern horticulture; but he may
-not have found the key to the mystery. Is it because the sky is bluer,
-because the vegetation is more luxuriant? Our midsummer skies are almost
-as deep, our foliage is as rich, and perhaps more varied; there are,
-indeed, not a few resemblances between the North American summer climate
-and that of Italy in spring and autumn.
-
-Some of those who have fallen under the spell are inclined to ascribe
-the Italian garden-magic to the effect of time; but, wonder-working as
-this undoubtedly is, it leaves many beauties unaccounted for. To seek
-the answer one must go deeper: the garden must be studied in relation to
-the house, and both in relation to the landscape. The garden of the
-Middle Ages, the garden one sees in old missal illuminations and in
-early woodcuts, was a mere patch of ground within the castle precincts,
-where “simples” were grown around a central wellhead and fruit was
-espaliered against the walls. But in the rapid flowering of Italian
-civilization the castle walls were soon thrown down, and the garden
-expanded, taking in the fish-pond, the bowling-green, the rose-arbour
-and the clipped walk. The Italian country house, especially in the
-centre and the south of Italy, was almost always built on a hillside,
-and one day the architect looked forth from the terrace of his villa,
-and saw that, in his survey of the garden, the enclosing landscape was
-naturally included: the two formed a part of the same composition.
-
-The recognition of this fact was the first step in the development of
-the great garden-art of the Renaissance: the next was the architect’s
-discovery of the means by which nature and art might be fused in his
-picture. He had now three problems to deal with: his garden must be
-adapted to the architectural lines of the house it adjoined; it must be
-adapted to the requirements of the inmates of the house, in the sense of
-providing shady walks, sunny bowling-greens, parterres and orchards, all
-conveniently accessible; and lastly it must be adapted to the landscape
-around it. At no time and in no country has this triple problem been so
-successfully dealt with as in the treatment of the Italian country house
-from the beginning of the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth
-century; and in the blending of different elements, the subtle
-transition from the fixed and formal lines of art to the shifting and
-irregular lines of nature, and lastly in the essential convenience and
-livableness of the garden, lies the fundamental secret of the old
-garden-magic.
-
-However much other factors may contribute to the total impression of
-charm, yet by eliminating them one after another, by _thinking away_ the
-flowers, the sunlight, the rich tinting of time, one finds that,
-underlying all these, there is the deeper harmony of design which is
-independent of any adventitious effects. This does not imply that a plan
-of an Italian garden is as beautiful as the garden itself. The more
-permanent materials of which the latter is made—the stonework, the
-evergreen foliage, the effects of rushing or motionless water, above all
-the lines of the natural scenery—all form a part of the artist’s design.
-But these things are as beautiful at one season as at another; and even
-these are but the accessories of the fundamental plan. The inherent
-beauty of the garden lies in the grouping of its parts—in the converging
-lines of its long ilex-walks, the alternation of sunny open spaces with
-cool woodland shade, the proportion between terrace and bowling-green,
-or between the height of a wall and the width of a path. None of these
-details was negligible to the landscape-architect of the Renaissance: he
-considered the distribution of shade and sunlight, of straight lines of
-masonry and rippled lines of foliage, as carefully as he weighed the
-relation of his whole composition to the scene about it.
-
-[Illustration: THE CASCADE, VILLA TORLONIA, FRASCATI]
-
-Then, again, any one who studies the old Italian gardens will be struck
-with the way in which the architect broadened and simplified his plan if
-it faced a grandiose landscape. Intricacy of detail, complicated
-groupings of terraces, fountains, labyrinths and porticoes, are found in
-sites where there is no great sweep of landscape attuning the eye to
-larger impressions. The farther north one goes, the less grand the
-landscape becomes and the more elaborate the garden. The great
-pleasure-grounds overlooking the Roman Campagna are laid out on severe
-and majestic lines: the parts are few; the total effect is one of
-breadth and simplicity.
-
-It is because, in the modern revival of gardening, so little attention
-has been paid to these first principles of the art that the garden-lover
-should not content himself with a vague enjoyment of old Italian
-gardens, but should try to extract from them principles which may be
-applied at home. He should observe, for instance, that the old Italian
-garden was meant to be lived in—a use to which, at least in America, the
-modern garden is seldom put. He should note that, to this end, the
-grounds were as carefully and conveniently planned as the house, with
-broad paths (in which two or more could go abreast) leading from one
-division to another; with shade easily accessible from the house, as
-well as a sunny sheltered walk for winter; and with effective
-transitions from the dusk of wooded alleys to open flowery spaces or to
-the level sward of the bowling-green. He should remember that the
-terraces and formal gardens adjoined the house, that the ilex or laurel
-walks beyond were clipped into shape to effect a transition between the
-straight lines of masonry and the untrimmed growth of the woodland to
-which they led, and that each step away from architecture was a nearer
-approach to nature.
-
-The cult of the Italian garden has spread from England to America, and
-there is a general feeling that, by placing a marble bench here and a
-sun-dial there, Italian “effects” may be achieved. The results produced,
-even where much money and thought have been expended, are not altogether
-satisfactory; and some critics have thence inferred that the Italian
-garden is, so to speak, _untranslatable_, that it cannot be adequately
-rendered in another landscape and another age.
-
-Certain effects, those which depend on architectural grandeur as well as
-those due to colouring and age, are no doubt unattainable; but there is,
-none the less, much to be learned from the old Italian gardens, and the
-first lesson is that, if they are to be a real inspiration, they must be
-copied, not in the letter but in the spirit. That is, a marble
-sarcophagus and a dozen twisted columns will not make an Italian garden;
-but a piece of ground laid out and planted on the principles of the old
-garden-craft will be, not indeed an Italian garden in the literal sense,
-but, what is far better, _a garden as well adapted to its surroundings
-as were the models which inspired it_.
-
-This is the secret to be learned from the villas of Italy; and no one
-who has looked at them with this object in view will be content to
-relapse into vague admiration of their loveliness. As Browning, in
-passing Cape St. Vincent and Trafalgar Bay, cried out:
-
-   “Here and here did England help me: how can I help England?”—say,
-
-so the garden-lover, who longs to transfer something of the old
-garden-magic to his own patch of ground at home, will ask himself, in
-wandering under the umbrella-pines of the Villa Borghese, or through the
-box-parterres of the Villa Lante: What can I bring away from here? And
-the more he studies and compares, the more inevitably will the answer
-be: “Not this or that amputated statue, or broken bas-relief, or
-fragmentary effect of any sort, but a sense of the informing spirit—an
-understanding of the gardener’s purpose, and of the uses to which he
-meant his garden to be put.”
-
-
-
-
-                           FLORENTINE VILLAS
-
-
-[Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF VENUS, VILLA PETRAJA, FLORENCE]
-
-
-
-
-                                   I
-
-                           FLORENTINE VILLAS
-
-
-For centuries Florence has been celebrated for her villa-clad hills.
-According to an old chronicler, the country houses were more splendid
-than those in the town, and stood so close-set among their
-olive-orchards and vineyards that the traveller “thought himself in
-Florence three leagues before reaching the city.”
-
-Many of these houses still survive, strongly planted on their broad
-terraces, from the fifteenth-century farmhouse-villa, with its
-projecting eaves and square tower, to the many-windowed _maison de
-plaisance_ in which the luxurious nobles of the seventeenth century
-spent the gambling and chocolate-drinking weeks of the vintage season.
-It is characteristic of Florentine thrift and conservatism that the
-greater number of these later and more pretentious villas are merely
-additions to the plain old buildings, while, even in the rare cases
-where the whole structure is new, the baroque exuberance which became
-fashionable in the seventeenth century is tempered by a restraint and
-severity peculiarly Tuscan.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA GAMBERAIA, AT SETTIGNANO, NEAR FLORENCE]
-
-So numerous and well preserved are the buildings of this order about
-Florence that the student who should attempt to give an account of them
-would have before him a long and laborious undertaking; but where the
-villa is to be considered in relation to its garden, the task is reduced
-to narrow limits. There is perhaps no region of Italy so rich in old
-villas and so lacking in old gardens as the neighbourhood of Florence.
-Various causes have brought about this result. The environs of Florence
-have always been frequented by the wealthy classes, not only Italian but
-foreign. The Tuscan nobility have usually been rich enough to alter
-their gardens in accordance with the varying horticultural fashions
-imported from England and France; and the English who have colonized in
-such numbers the slopes above the Arno have contributed not a little to
-the destruction of the old gardens by introducing into their
-horticultural plans two features entirely alien to the Tuscan climate
-and soil, namely, lawns and deciduous shade-trees.
-
-Many indeed are the parterres and terraces which have disappeared before
-the Britannic craving for a lawn, many the olive-orchards and vineyards
-which must have given way to the thinly dotted “specimen trees” so dear
-to the English landscape-gardener, who is still, with rare exceptions,
-the slave of his famous eighteenth-century predecessors, Repton and
-“Capability Brown,” as the English architect is still the descendant of
-Pugin and the Gothic revival. This Anglicization of the Tuscan garden
-did not, of course, come only from direct English influence. The _jardin
-anglais_ was fashionable in France when Marie Antoinette laid out the
-Petit Trianon, and Herr Tuckermann, in his book on Italian gardens,
-propounds a theory, for which he gives no very clear reasons, to the
-effect that the naturalistic school of gardening actually originated in
-Italy, in the Borghese gardens in Rome, which he supposes to have been
-laid out more or less in their present form by Giovanni Fontana, as
-early as the first quarter of the seventeenth century.
-
-It is certain, at any rate, that the Florentines adopted the new fashion
-early in the nineteenth century, as is shown—to give but one instance—in
-the vast Torrigiani gardens, near the Porta Romana, laid out by the
-Marchese Torrigiani about 1830 in the most approved “landscape” style,
-with an almost complete neglect of the characteristic Tuscan vegetation
-and a corresponding disregard of Italian climate and habits. The large
-English colony has, however, undoubtedly done much to encourage, even in
-the present day, the alteration of the old gardens and the introduction
-of alien vegetation in those which have been partly preserved. It is,
-for instance, typical of the old Tuscan villa that the farm, or
-_podere_, should come up to the edge of the terrace on which the house
-stands; but in most cases where old villas have been bought by
-foreigners, the vineyards and olive-orchards near the house have been
-turned into lawns dotted with plantations of exotic trees. Under these
-circumstances it is not surprising that but few unaltered gardens are to
-be found near Florence. To learn what the old Tuscan garden was, one
-must search the environs of the smaller towns, and there are more
-interesting examples about Siena than in the whole circuit of the
-Florentine hills.
-
-[Illustration: BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE]
-
-The old Italian architects distinguished two classes of country houses:
-the _villa suburbana_, or _maison de plaisance_ (literally the
-pleasure-house), standing within or just without the city walls,
-surrounded by pleasure-grounds and built for a few weeks’ residence; and
-the country house, which is an expansion of the old farm, and stands
-generally farther out of town, among its fields and vineyards—the seat
-of the country gentleman living on his estates. The Italian
-pleasure-garden did not reach its full development till the middle of
-the sixteenth century, and doubtless many of the old Florentine villas,
-the semi-castle and the quasi-farm of the fourteenth century, stood as
-they do now, on a bare terrace among the vines, with a small walled
-enclosure for the cultivation of herbs and vegetables. But of the period
-in which the garden began to be a studied architectural extension of the
-house, few examples are to be found near Florence.
-
-The most important, if not the most pleasing, of Tuscan pleasure-gardens
-lies, however, within the city walls. This is the Boboli garden, laid
-out on the steep hillside behind the Pitti Palace. The plan of the
-Boboli garden is not only magnificent in itself, but interesting as one
-of the rare examples, in Tuscany, of a Renaissance garden still
-undisturbed in its main outlines. Eleonora de’ Medici, who purchased the
-Pitti Palace in 1549, soon afterward acquired the neighbouring ground,
-and the garden was laid out by Il Tribolo, continued by Buontalenti, and
-completed by Bartolommeo Ammanati, to whom is also due the garden façade
-of the palace. The scheme of the garden is worthy of careful study,
-though in many respects the effect it now produces is far less
-impressive than its designers intended. Probably no grounds of equal
-grandeur and extent have less of that peculiar magic which one
-associates with the old Italian garden—a fact doubtless due less to
-defects of composition than to later changes in the details of planting
-and decoration. Still, the main outline remains and is full of
-instruction to the garden-lover.
-
-The palace is built against the steep hillside, which is dug out to
-receive it, a high retaining-wall being built far enough back from the
-central body of the house to allow the latter to stand free. The ground
-floor of the palace is so far below ground that its windows look across
-a paved court at the face of the retaining-wall, which Ammanati
-decorated with an architectural composition representing a grotto, from
-which water was meant to gush as though issuing from the hillside. This
-grotto he surmounted with a magnificent fountain, standing on a level
-with the first-floor windows of the palace and with the surrounding
-gardens. The arrangement shows ingenuity in overcoming a technical
-difficulty, and the effect, from the garden, is very successful, though
-the well-like court makes an unfortunate gap between the house and its
-grounds.
-
-[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO UPPER GARDEN, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE]
-
-Behind the fountain, and in a line with it, a horseshoe-shaped
-amphitheatre has been cut out of the hillside, surrounded by tiers of
-stone seats adorned with statues in niches and backed by clipped laurel
-hedges, behind which rise the ilex-clad slopes of the upper gardens.
-This amphitheatre is one of the triumphs of Italian garden-architecture.
-In general design and detail it belongs to the pure Renaissance, without
-trace of the heavy and fantastic _barocchismo_ which, half a century
-later, began to disfigure such compositions in the villas near Rome.
-Indeed, comparison with the grotesque garden-architecture of the Villa
-d’Este at Tivoli, which is but little later in date, shows how long the
-Tuscan sense of proportion and refinement of taste resisted the
-ever-growing desire to astonish instead of charming the spectator.
-
-On each side of the amphitheatre, clipped ilex-walks climb the hill,
-coming out some distance above on a plateau containing the toy lake with
-its little island, the Isola Bella, which was once the pride of the
-Boboli garden. This portion of the grounds has been so stripped of its
-architectural adornments and of its surrounding vegetation that it is
-now merely forlorn; and the same may be said of the little upper garden,
-reached by an imposing flight of steps and commanding a wide view over
-Florence. One must revert to the architect’s plan to see how admirably
-adapted it was to the difficulties of the site he had to deal with, and
-how skilfully he harmonized the dense shade of his ilex-groves with the
-great open spaces and pompous architectural effects necessary in a
-garden which was to form a worthy setting for the pageants of a
-Renaissance court. It is interesting to note in this connection that the
-flower-garden, or _giardino segreto_, which in Renaissance gardens
-almost invariably adjoins the house, has here been relegated to the
-hilltop, doubtless because the only level space near the palace was
-required for state ceremonials and theatrical entertainments rather than
-for private enjoyment.
-
-It is partly because the Boboli is a court-garden, and not designed for
-private use, that it is less interesting and instructive than many
-others of less importance. Yet the other Medicean villas near Florence,
-though designed on much simpler lines, have the same lack of personal
-charm. It is perhaps owing to the fact that Florence was so long under
-the dominion of one all-powerful family that there is so little variety
-in her pleasure-houses. Pratolino, Poggio a Caiano, Cafaggiuolo,
-Careggi, Castello and Petraia, one and all, whatever their origin, soon
-passed into the possessorship of the Medici, and thence into that of the
-Austrian grand dukes who succeeded them; and of the three whose gardens
-have been partly preserved, Castello, Petraia and Poggio Imperiale, it
-may be said that they have the same impersonal official look as the
-Boboli.
-
-[Illustration: CYPRESS ALLEY, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE]
-
-Castello and Petraia, situated a mile apart beyond the village of
-Quarto, were both built by Buontalenti, that brilliant pupil of
-Ammanati’s who had a share in the planning of the gardens behind the
-Pitti. Castello stands on level ground, and its severely plain
-façade, with windows on consoles and rusticated doorway, faces what
-is now a highway, though, according to the print of Zocchi, the
-eighteenth-century engraver, a semicircular space enclosed in a low
-wall once extended between the house and the road, as at the
-neighbouring Villa Corsini and at Poggio Imperiale. It was an
-admirable rule of the old Italian architects, where the garden-space
-was small and where the site permitted, to build their villas facing
-the road, so that the full extent of the grounds was secured to the
-private use of the inmates, instead of being laid open by a public
-approach to the house. This rule is still followed by French
-villa-architects, and it is exceptional in France to see a villa
-entered from its grounds when it may be approached directly from the
-highroad.
-
-Behind Castello the ground rises in terraces, enclosed in lateral walls,
-to a high retaining-wall at the back, surmounted by a wood of ilexes
-which contains a pool with an island. Montaigne, who describes but few
-gardens in his Italian diary, mentions that the terraces of Castello are
-_en pante_ (sic); that is, they incline gradually toward the house, with
-the slope of the ground. This bold and unusual adaptation of formal
-gardening to the natural exigencies of the site is also seen in the
-terraced gardens of the beautiful Villa Imperiali (now Scassi) at
-Sampierdarena, near Genoa. The plan of the garden at Castello is
-admirable, but in detail it has been modernized at the cost of all its
-charm. Wide steps lead up to the first terrace, where Il Tribolo’s
-stately fountain of bronze and marble stands surrounded by marble
-benches and statues on fine rusticated pedestals. Unhappily, fountain
-and statues have lately been scrubbed to preternatural whiteness, and
-the same spirit of improvement has turned the old parterres into
-sunburnt turf, and dotted it with copper beeches and pampas-grass.
-Montaigne alludes to the _berceaux_, or pleached walks, and to the
-close-set cypresses which made a delicious coolness in this garden; and
-as one looks across its sun-scorched expanse one perceives that its lack
-of charm is explained by lack of shade.
-
-As is usual in Italian gardens built against a hillside, the
-retaining-wall at the back serves for the great decorative motive at
-Castello. It is reached by wide marble steps, and flanked at the sides
-by symmetrical lemon-houses. On the central axis of the garden, the wall
-has a wide opening between columns, and on each side an arched recess,
-equidistant between the lemon-houses and the central opening. Within the
-latter is one of those huge grottoes[1] which for two centuries or more
-were the delight of Italian garden-architects. The roof is decorated
-with masks and arabesques in coloured shell-work, and in the niches of
-the tufa of which the background is formed are strange groups of
-life-sized animals, a camel, a monkey, a stag with real antlers, a wild
-boar with real tusks, and various small animals and birds, some made of
-coloured marbles which correspond with their natural tints; while
-beneath these groups are basins of pink-and-white marble, carved with
-sea-creatures and resting on dolphins. Humour is the quality which
-soonest loses its savour, and it is often difficult to understand the
-grotesque side of the old garden-architecture; but the curious delight
-in the representations of animals, real or fantastic, probably arose
-from the general interest in those strange wild beasts of which the
-travellers of the Renaissance brought home such fabulous descriptions.
-As to the general use of the grotto in Italian gardens, it is a natural
-development of the need for shade and coolness, and when the
-long-disused waterworks were playing, and cool streams gushed over
-quivering beds of fern into the marble tanks, these retreats must have
-formed a delicious contrast to the outer glare of the garden.
-
-Footnote 1:
-
-  This grotto and its sculptures are the work of Il Tribolo, who also
-  built the aqueduct bringing thither the waters of the Arno and the
-  Mugnone.
-
-[Illustration: ILEX-WALK, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE]
-
-At Petraia the gardens are less elaborate in plan than at Castello, and
-are, in fact, noted chiefly for a fountain brought from that villa. This
-fountain, the most beautiful of Il Tribolo’s works, is surmounted by the
-famous Venus-like figure of a woman wringing out her hair, now generally
-attributed to Giovanni da Bologna. Like the other Florentine villas of
-this quarter, where water is more abundant, Petraia has a great oblong
-_vasca_, or tank, beneath its upper terrace; while the house itself, a
-simple structure of the old-fashioned Tuscan type, built about an inner
-quadrangle, is remarkable for its very beautiful tower, which, as Herr
-Gurlitt[2] suggests, was doubtless inspired by the tower of the Palazzo
-Vecchio.
-
-Footnote 2:
-
-  “Geschichte des Barockstils in Italien.”
-
-According to Zocchi’s charming etching, the ducal villa of Poggio
-Imperiale, on a hillside to the south of Florence, still preserved, in
-the eighteenth century, its simple and characteristic Tuscan façade.
-This was concealed by the Grand Duke Peter Leopold behind a heavy
-pillared front, to which the rusticated porticoes were added later; and
-externally nothing remains as it was save the ilex and cypress avenue,
-now a public highway, which ascends to the villa from the Porta Romana,
-and the semicircular entrance-court with its guardian statues on mighty
-pedestals.
-
-Poggio Imperiale was for too long the favourite residence of the
-grand-ducal Medici, and of their successors of Lorraine, not to suffer
-many changes, and to lose, one by one, all its most typical features.
-Within there is a fine court surrounded by an open arcade, probably due
-to Giulio Parigi, who, at the end of the sixteenth century, completed
-the alterations of the villa according to the plans of Giuliano da
-Sangallo; and the vast suites of rooms are interesting to the student of
-decoration, since they are adorned, probably by French artists, with
-exquisite carvings and _stucchi_ of the Louis XV and Louis XVI periods.
-But the grounds have kept little besides their general plan. At the
-back, the villa opens directly on a large level pleasure-garden, with
-enclosing walls and a central basin surrounded by statues; but the
-geometrical parterres have been turned into a lawn. To the right of this
-level space, a few steps lead down to a long terrace planted with
-ilexes, whence there is a fine view over Florence—an unusual
-arrangement, as the _bosco_ was generally above, not below, the
-flower-garden.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA GAMBERAIA, NEAR FLORENCE]
-
-If, owing to circumstances, the more famous pleasure-grounds of Florence
-have lost much of their antique charm, she has happily preserved a
-garden of another sort which possesses to an unusual degree the flavour
-of the past. This is the villa of the Gamberaia at Settignano. Till its
-recent purchase, the Gamberaia had for many years been let out in
-lodgings for the summer, and it doubtless owes to this obscure fate the
-complete preservation of its garden-plan. Before the recent alterations
-made in its gardens, it was doubly interesting from its unchanged
-condition, and from the fact that, even in Italy, where small and
-irregular pieces of ground were so often utilized with marvellous skill,
-it was probably the most perfect example of the art of producing a great
-effect on a small scale.
-
-The villa stands nobly on a ridge overlooking the village of Settignano
-and the wide-spread valley of the Arno. The house is small yet
-impressive. Though presumably built as late as 1610, it shows few
-concessions to the baroque style already prevalent in other parts of
-Italy, and is yet equally removed from the classic or Palladian manner
-which held its own so long in the Venetian country. The Gamberaia is
-distinctly Tuscan, and its projecting eaves, heavily coigned angles and
-windows set far apart on massive consoles, show its direct descent from
-the severe and sober school of sixteenth-century architects who produced
-such noble examples of the great Tuscan villa as I Collazzi and Fonte
-all’ Erta. Nevertheless, so well proportioned is its elevation that
-there is no sense of heaviness, and the solidity of the main building is
-relieved by a kind of flying arcade at each end, one of which connects
-the house with its chapel, while the other, by means of a spiral
-stairway in a pier of the arcade, leads from the first floor to what was
-once the old fish-pond and herb-garden. This garden, an oblong piece of
-ground, a few years ago had in its centre a round fish-pond, surrounded
-by symmetrical plots planted with roses and vegetables, and in general
-design had probably been little changed since the construction of the
-villa. It has now been remodelled on an elaborate plan, which has the
-disadvantage of being unrelated in style to its surroundings; but
-fortunately no other change has been made in the plan and planting of
-the grounds.
-
-[Illustration: VIEW OF AMPHITHEATRE, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE]
-
-Before the façade of the house a grassy terrace bounded by a low wall,
-set alternately with stone vases and solemn-looking stone dogs,
-overhangs the vineyards and fields, which, as in all unaltered Tuscan
-country places, come up close to the house. Behind the villa, and
-running parallel with it, is a long grass alley or bowling-green,
-flanked for part of its length by a lofty retaining-wall set with
-statues, and for the remainder by high hedges which divide it on one
-side from the fish-pond garden and on the other from the farm. The green
-is closed at one end by a grotto of coloured pebbles and shells, with
-nymphs and shepherds in niches about a fountain. This grotto is overhung
-by the grove of ancient cypresses for which the Gamberaia is noted. At
-its opposite end the bowling-green terminates in a balustrade whence one
-looks down on the Arno and across to the hills on the southern side of
-the valley.
-
-The retaining-wall which runs parallel with the back of the house
-sustains a terrace planted with cypress and ilex. This terraced wood
-above the house is very typical of Italian gardens: good examples may be
-seen at Castello and at the Villa Medici in Rome. These patches of
-shade, however small, are planted irregularly, like a wild wood, with
-stone seats under the dense ilex boughs, and a statue placed here and
-there in a deep niche of foliage. Just opposite the central doorway of
-the house the retaining-wall is broken, and an iron gate leads to a slit
-of a garden, hardly more than twenty feet wide, on a level with the
-bowling-green. This narrow strip ends also in a grotto-like fountain
-with statues, and on each side balustraded flights of steps lead to the
-upper level oh which the ilex-grove is planted. This grove, however,
-occupies only one portion of the terrace. On the other side of the cleft
-formed by the little grotto-garden, the corresponding terrace, formerly
-laid out as a vegetable-garden, is backed by the low façade of the
-lemon-house, or _stanzone_, which is an adjunct of every Italian villa.
-Here the lemon and orange trees, the camellias and other semi-tender
-shrubs, are stored in winter, to be set out in May in their red earthen
-jars on the stone slabs which border the walks of all old Italian
-gardens.
-
-The plan of the Gamberaia has been described thus in detail because it
-combines in an astonishingly small space, yet without the least sense of
-overcrowding, almost every typical excellence of the old Italian garden:
-free circulation of sunlight and air about the house; abundance of
-water; easy access to dense shade; sheltered walks with different points
-of view; variety of effect produced by the skilful use of different
-levels; and, finally, breadth and simplicity of composition.
-
-Here, also, may be noted in its fullest expression that principle of old
-gardening which the modern “landscapist” has most completely unlearned,
-namely, the value of subdivision of spaces. Whereas the modern
-gardener’s one idea of producing an effect of space is to annihilate his
-boundaries, and not only to merge into one another the necessary
-divisions of the garden, but also to blend this vague whole with the
-landscape, the old garden-architect proceeded on the opposite principle,
-arguing that, as the garden is but the prolongation of the house, and as
-a house containing a single huge room would be less interesting and less
-serviceable than one divided according to the varied requirements of its
-inmates, so a garden which is merely one huge outdoor room is also less
-interesting and less serviceable than one which has its logical
-divisions. Utility was doubtless not the only consideration which
-produced this careful portioning off of the garden. Æsthetic impressions
-were considered, and the effect of passing from the sunny fruit-garden
-to the dense grove, thence to the wide-reaching view, and again to the
-sheltered privacy of the pleached walk or the mossy coolness of the
-grotto—all this was taken into account by a race of artists who studied
-the contrast of æsthetic emotions as keenly as they did the
-juxtaposition of dark cypress and pale lemon-tree, of deep shade and
-level sunlight. But the real value of the old Italian garden-plan is
-that logic and beauty meet in it, as they should in all sound
-architectural work. Each quarter of the garden was placed where
-convenience required, and was made accessible from all the others by the
-most direct and rational means; and from this intelligent method of
-planning the most varying effects of unexpectedness and beauty were
-obtained.
-
-It was said above that lawns are unsuited to the Italian soil and
-climate, but it must not be thought that the Italian gardeners did not
-appreciate the value of turf. They used it, but sparingly, knowing that
-it required great care and was not a characteristic of the soil. The
-bowling-green of the Gamberaia shows how well the beauty of a long
-stretch of greensward was understood; and at the Villa Capponi, at
-Arcetri, on the other side of Florence, there is a fine oblong of old
-turf adjoining the house, said to be the only surviving fragment of the
-original garden. These bits of sward were always used near the house,
-where their full value could be enjoyed, and were set like jewels in
-clipped hedges or statue-crowned walls. Though doubtless intended
-chiefly for games, they were certainly valued for their æsthetic effect,
-for in many Italian gardens steep grass alleys flanked by walls of beech
-or ilex are seen ascending a hillside to the temple or statue which
-forms the crowning ornament of the grounds. In Florence a good example
-of this _tapis vert_, of which Le Nôtre afterward made such admirable
-use in the moist climate of France, is seen at the Villa Danti, on the
-Arno near Campiobbi.
-
-Close to the ducal villas of Castello lies a country-seat possessing
-much of the intimate charm which they lack. This is Prince Corsini’s
-villa, the finest example of a baroque country house near Florence. The
-old villa, of which the typical Tuscan elevation may still be seen at
-the back, was remodelled during the latter half of the seventeenth
-century, probably by Antonio Ferri, who built the state saloon and
-staircase of the Palazzo Corsini on the Lungarno. The Villa Corsini lies
-in the plain, like Castello, and has before it the usual walled
-semicircle. The front of the villa is frankly baroque, a two-storied
-elevation with windows divided by a meagre order, and a stately central
-gable flanked by balustrades surmounted by vases. The whole treatment is
-interesting, as showing the manner in which the seventeenth-century
-architect overlaid a plain Tuscan structure with florid ornament; and
-the effect, if open to criticism, is at once gay and stately.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA CORSINI, FLORENCE]
-
-The house is built about a quadrangle enclosed in an open arcade on
-columns. Opposite the porte-cochère is a doorway opening on a broad
-space bounded by a balustrade with statues. An ilex avenue extends
-beyond this space, on the axis of the doorway. At one end of the house
-is the oblong walled garden, with its box-edged flower-beds grouped in
-an intricate geometrical pattern about a central fountain. Corresponding
-with this garden, at the opposite end of the house, is a dense
-ilex-grove with an alley leading down the centre to a beautiful
-fountain, a tank surmounted by a kind of voluted pediment, into which
-the water falls from a large ilex-shaded tank on a higher level. Here
-again the vineyards and olive-orchards come up close to the formal
-grounds, the ilex-grove being divided from the _podere_ by a line of
-cypresses instead of a wall.
-
-Not far from the Gamberaia, on the hillside of San Gervasio, stands
-another country house which preserves only faint traces of its old
-gardens, but which, architecturally, is too interesting to be
-overlooked. This is the villa of Fonte all’ Erta. Originally a long
-building of the villa-farmhouse order, with chapel, offices and
-outhouses connected with the main house, it was transformed in the
-sixteenth century, probably by Ammanati, into one of the stateliest
-country houses near Florence. A splendid rusticated loggia, approached
-by a double flight of steps, forms an angle of the main house, and
-either then or later the spacious open court, around three sides of
-which the villa is built, was roofed over and turned into a great
-central saloon like those of the Venetian and Milanese villas. This
-two-storied saloon is the finest and most appropriate feature of the
-interior planning of Italian villas, but it seems never to have been as
-popular in Tuscany as it was farther north or south. The Tuscan villas,
-for the most part, are smaller and less pretentious in style than those
-erected in other parts of Italy, and only in exceptional instances did
-the architect free himself from the traditional plan of the old
-farmhouse-villa around its open court. A fine example of this arcaded
-court may be seen at Petraia, the Medicean villa near Castello. At Fonte
-all’ Erta the former court faced toward what was once an old
-flower-garden, raised a few feet above the grass terrace which runs the
-length of the façade. Behind this garden, and adjoining the back of the
-villa, is the old evergreen grove; but the formal surroundings of the
-house have disappeared.
-
-The most splendid and stately villa in the neighbourhood of Florence
-stands among the hills a few miles beyond the Certosa of Val d’Ema, and
-looks from its lofty ridge across the plain toward Pistoia and the
-Apennines. This villa, called Ai Collazzi (now Bombicci), from the
-wooded hills which surround it, was built for the Dini family in the
-sixteenth century, and, as tradition avers, by no less a hand than
-Michelangelo’s. He is known to have been a close friend of the Dini, and
-is likely to have worked for them; and if, as some experts think,
-certain details of the design, as well as the actual construction of the
-villa, are due to Santi di Tito, it is impossible not to feel that its
-general conception must have originated with a greater artist.
-
-The Villa Bombicci has in fact the Michelangelesque quality: the
-austerity, the breadth, the peculiar majesty which he imparted to his
-slightest creations. The house is built about three sides of a raised
-stone-flagged terrace, the enclosing elevation consisting of a
-two-storied open arcade roofed by widely projecting eaves. The wings are
-solid, with the exception of the sides toward the arcade, and the
-windows, with their heavy pediments and consoles, are set far apart in
-true Tuscan fashion. A majestic double flight of steps, flanked by
-shield-bearing lions, leads up to the terrace about which the house is
-built. Within is a high central saloon opening at the back on a stone
-_perron_, with another double flight of steps which descend in a curve
-to the garden. On this side of the house there is, on the upper floor,
-an open loggia of great beauty, consisting of three arches divided by
-slender coupled shafts. Very fine, also, is the arched and rusticated
-doorway surmounted by a stone escutcheon.
-
-The villa is approached by a cypress avenue which leads straight to the
-open space before the house. The ridge on which the latter is built is
-so narrow, and the land falls away so rapidly, that there could never
-have been much opportunity for the development of garden-architecture;
-but though all is now Anglicized, it is easy to trace the original plan:
-in front, the open space supported by a high retaining-wall, on one side
-of the house the grove of cypress and ilex, and at the back, where there
-was complete privacy, the small _giardino segreto_, or hedged garden,
-with its parterres, benches and statues.
-
-The purpose of this book is to describe the Italian villa in relation to
-its grounds, and many villas which have lost their old surroundings must
-therefore be omitted; but near Florence there is one old garden which
-has always lacked its villa, yet which cannot be overlooked in a study
-of Italian garden-craft. Even those most familiar with the fascinations
-of Italian gardens will associate a peculiar thrill with their first
-sight of the Villa[3] Campi. Laid out by one of the Pucci family,
-probably toward the end of the sixteenth century, it lies beyond
-Lastra-Signa, above the Arno, about ten miles from Florence. It is not
-easy to reach, for so long is it since any one has lived in the
-melancholy _villino_ of Villa Campi that even in the streets of Lastra,
-the little walled town by the Arno, a guide is hard to find. But at last
-one is told to follow a steep country road among vines and olives, past
-two or three charming houses buried in ilex-groves, till the way ends in
-a lane which leads up to a gateway surmounted by statues. Ascending
-thence by a long avenue of cypresses, one reaches the level hilltop on
-which the house should have stood. Two pavilions connected by a high
-wall face the broad open terrace, whence there is a far-spreading view
-over the Arno valley: doubtless the main building was to have been
-placed between them. But now the place lies enveloped in a mysterious
-silence. The foot falls noiselessly on the grass carpeting of the
-alleys, the water is hushed in pools and fountains, and broken statues
-peer out startlingly from their niches of unclipped foliage. From the
-open space in front of the pavilions, long avenues radiate, descending
-and encircling the hillside, walled with cypress and ilex, and leading
-to _rond-points_ set with groups of statuary, and to balustraded
-terraces overhanging the valley. The plan is vast and complicated, and
-appears to have embraced the whole hillside, which, contrary to the
-usual frugal Tuscan plan, was to have been converted into a formal park
-with vistas, quincunxes and fountains.
-
-Footnote 3:
-
-  _Villa_, in Italian, signifies not the house alone, but the house and
-  pleasure-grounds.
-
-Entering a gate in the wall between the pavilions, one comes on the
-terraced flower-gardens, and here the same grandeur of conception is
-seen. The upper terrace preserves traces of its formal parterres and
-box-hedges. Thence flights of steps lead down to a long bowling-green
-between hedges, like that at the Gamberaia. A farther descent reveals
-another terrace-garden, with clipped hedges, statues and fountains; and
-thence sloping alleys radiate down to stone-edged pools with reclining
-river-gods in the mysterious shade of the ilex-groves. Statues are
-everywhere: in the upper gardens, nymphs, satyrs, shepherds, and the
-cheerful fauna of the open pleasance; at the end of the shadowy glades,
-solemn figures of Titanic gods, couched above their pools or reared
-aloft on mighty pedestals. Even the opposite hillside must have been
-included in the original scheme of this vast garden, for it still shows,
-on the central axis between the pavilions, a _tapis vert_ between
-cypresses, doubtless intended to lead up to some great stone Hercules
-under a crowning arch.
-
-But it is not the size of the Campi gardens which makes them so
-remarkable; it is the subtle beauty of their planning, to which time and
-neglect have added the requisite touch of poetry. Never perhaps have
-natural advantages been utilized with so little perceptible straining
-after effect, yet with so complete a sense of the needful adjustment
-between landscape and architecture. One feels that these long avenues
-and statued terraces were meant to lead up to a “stately
-pleasure-house”; yet so little are they out of harmony with the
-surrounding scene that nature has gradually taken them back to herself,
-has turned them into a haunted grove in which the statues seem like
-sylvan gods fallen asleep in their native shade.
-
-There are other Florentine villas which preserve traces of their old
-gardens. The beautiful Villa Palmieri has kept its terrace-architecture,
-Lappeggi its fine double stairway, the Villa Danti its grass-walk
-leading to a giant on the hilltop, and Castel Pulci its stately façade
-with a sky-line of statues and the long cypress avenue shown in Zocchi’s
-print; even Pratolino, so cruelly devastated, still preserves Giovanni
-da Bologna’s colossal figure of the Apennines. But where so much of
-greater value remains to be described, space fails to linger over these
-fragments which, romantic and charming as they are, can but faintly
-suggest, amid their altered surroundings, the vanished garden-plans of
-which they formed a part.
-
-
-
-
-                             SIENESE VILLAS
-
-
-[Illustration: VICOBELLO, SIENA]
-
-
-
-
-                                   II
-
-                             SIENESE VILLAS
-
-
-In the order of age, the first country-seat near Siena which claims
-attention is the fortress-villa of Belcaro.
-
-Frequent mention is made of the castle of Belcaro in early chronicles
-and documents, and it seems to have been a place of some importance as
-far back as the eleventh century. It stands on a hilltop clothed with
-oak and ilex in the beautiful wooded country to the west of Siena, and
-from its ancient walls one looks forth over the plain to the hill-set
-city and its distant circle of mountains. It was perhaps for the sake of
-this enchanting prospect that Baldassare Peruzzi, to whom the
-transformation of Belcaro is ascribed, left these crenellated walls
-untouched, and contented himself with adorning the inner court of the
-castle with a delicate mask of Renaissance architecture. A large bare
-villa of no architectural pretensions was added to the mediæval
-buildings, and Peruzzi worked within the enclosed quadrangle thus
-formed.
-
-A handsome architectural screen of brick and marble with a central
-gateway leads from a stone-paved court to a garden of about the same
-dimensions, at the back of which is an arcaded loggia, also of brick and
-marble, exquisitely light and graceful in proportion, and frescoed in
-the Raphaelesque manner with medallions and arabesques, fruit-garlands
-and brightly plumed birds. Adjoining this loggia is a small brick
-chapel, simple but elegant in design, with a frescoed interior also
-ascribed to Peruzzi, and still beautiful under its crude repainting. The
-garden itself is the real _hortus inclusus_ of the mediæval chronicler:
-a small patch of ground enclosed in the fortress walls, with box-edged
-plots, a central well and clipped shrubs. It is interesting as a
-reminder of what the mediæval garden within the castle must have been,
-and its setting of Renaissance architecture makes it look like one of
-those little marble-walled pleasances, full of fruit and flowers, in the
-backgrounds of Gozzoli or Lorenzo di Credi.
-
-Several miles beyond Belcaro, in a pleasant valley among oak-wooded
-hills, lies the Marchese Chigi’s estate of Cetinale. A huge clipped
-ilex, one of the few examples of Dutch topiary work in Italy, stands at
-the angle of the road which leads to the gates. Across the highway,
-facing the courtyard entrance, is another gate, guarded by statues and
-leading to a long _tapis vert_ which ascends between double rows of
-square-topped ilexes to a statue on the crest of the opposite slope. The
-villa looks out on this perspective, facing it across an oblong
-courtyard flanked by low outbuildings. The main house, said to have been
-built (or more probably rebuilt) in 1680 by Carlo Fontana for Flavio
-Chigi, nephew of Pope Alexander VII, is so small and modest of aspect
-that one is surprised to learn that it was one of the celebrated
-pleasure-houses of its day. It must be remembered, however, that with
-the exception of the great houses built near Rome by the Princes of the
-Church, and the country-seats of such reigning families as the Medici,
-the Italian villa was almost invariably a small and simple building, the
-noble proprietor having usually preferred to devote his wealth and time
-to the embellishment of his gardens.
-
-The house at Cetinale is so charming, with its stately double flight of
-steps leading up to the first floor, and its monumental doorway opening
-on a central _salone_, that it may well be ascribed to the architect of
-San Marcello in Rome, and of Prince Lichtenstein’s “Garden Palace” in
-Vienna. The plan of using the low-studded ground floor for offices,
-wine-cellar and store-rooms, while the living-rooms are all
-above-stairs, shows the hand of an architect trained in the Roman
-school. All the Tuscan and mid-Italian villas open on a level with their
-gardens, while about Rome the country houses, at least on one side, have
-beneath the living-rooms a ground floor generally used for the storage
-of wine and oil.
-
-But the glory of Cetinale is its park. Behind the villa a long
-grass-walk as wide as the house extends between high walls to a
-fantastic gateway, with statues in ivy-clad niches, and a curious
-crowning motive terminating in obelisks and balls. Beyond this the
-turf-walk continues again to a raised semicircular terrace, surrounded
-by a wall adorned with busts and enclosed in clipped ilexes. This
-terrace abuts on the ilex-clothed hillside which bounds the valley. A
-gateway leads directly into these wild romantic woods, and a steep
-irregular flight of stone steps is seen ascending the wooded slope to a
-tiny building on the crest of the hill. This ascent is called the Scala
-Santa, and the building to which it leads is a hermitage adorned with
-circular niches set in the form of a cross, each niche containing the
-bust of a saint. The hermitage being directly on the axis of the villa,
-one looks out from the latter down the admirable perspective of the
-_tapis vert_ and up the Scala Santa to the little house at its summit.
-It is interesting to note that this effect of distance and grandeur is
-produced at small cost and in the simplest manner; for the grass-walk
-with its semicircular end forms the whole extent of the Cetinale garden.
-The olive-orchards and corn-fields of the farm come up to the boundary
-walls of the walk, and the wood is left as nature planted it. Fontana,
-if it was indeed he who laid out this simple but admirable plan, was
-wise enough to profit by the natural advantage of the great forest of
-oak and ilex which clothes this part of the country, and to realize that
-only the broadest and simplest lines would be in harmony with so noble a
-background.
-
-[Illustration: LA PALAZZINA (VILLA GORI), SIENA]
-
-As charming in its way, though less romantic and original, is the
-Marchese Chigi’s other seat of Vicobello, a mile or two beyond the Porta
-Ovile, on the other side of Siena. Vicobello lies in an open
-villa-studded country in complete contrast to the wooded hills about
-Cetinale. The villa is placed on a long narrow ridge of land, falling
-away abruptly at the back and front. A straight entrance avenue runs
-parallel to the outer walls of the outbuildings, which form the boundary
-of the court, the latter being entered through a vaulted porte-cochère.
-Facing this entrance (as at Cetinale) is a handsome gateway guarded by
-statues and set in a semicircular wall. Passing through this gate, one
-descends to a series of terraces planted with straight rows of the
-square-topped ilexes so characteristic of the Sienese gardens. These
-densely shaded terraces descend to a level stretch of sward (perhaps an
-old bowling-green) bordered by a wall of clipped ilexes, at the foot of
-the hill on which the villa stands.
-
-On entering the forecourt, one faces the villa, a dignified oblong
-building of simple Renaissance architecture, ascribed in the local
-guide-book to Baldassare Peruzzi, and certainly of earlier construction
-than the house at Cetinale. On the left, a gate in a high wall leads to
-a walled garden, bounded by a long lemon-house which continues the line
-of the outbuildings on the court. Opposite, a corresponding gateway
-opens into the _bosco_ which is the indispensable adjunct of the Italian
-country house. On the other side of the villa are two long terraces, one
-beneath the other, corresponding in dimensions with the court, and
-flanked on each hand by walled terrace-gardens, descending on one side
-from the grove, on the other from the upper garden adjoining the court.
-The plan, which is as elaborate and minutely divided as that of Cetinale
-is spacious and simple, shows an equally sure appreciation of natural
-conditions, and of the distinction between a _villa suburbana_ and a
-country estate. The walls of the upper garden are espaliered with
-fruit-trees, and the box-edged flower-plots are probably laid out much
-as they were in the eighteenth century. All the architectural details
-are beautiful, especially a well in the court, set in the wall between
-Ionic columns, and a charming garden-house at the end of the upper
-garden, in the form of an open archway faced with Doric pilasters,
-before a semicircular recess with a marble seat. The descending walled
-gardens, with their different levels, give opportunity for many charming
-architectural effects—busts in niches, curving steps, and well-placed
-vases and statues; and the whole treatment of Vicobello is remarkable
-for the discretion and sureness of taste with which these ornamental
-touches are added. There is no excess of decoration, no crowding of
-effects, and the garden-plan is in perfect keeping with the simple
-stateliness of the house.
-
-About a mile from Vicobello, on an olive-clad hillside near the famous
-monastery of the Osservanza, lies another villa of much more modest
-dimensions, with grounds which, though in some respects typically
-Sienese, are in one way unique in Italy. This is La Palazzina, the
-estate of the De’ Gori family. The small seventeenth-century house, with
-its adjoining chapel and outbuildings, lies directly on the public road,
-and forms the boundary of its own grounds. The charming garden-façade,
-with its voluted sky-line, and the two-storied open loggia forming the
-central motive of the elevation, faces on a terrace-like open space,
-bounded by a wall, and now irregularly planted _à l’Anglaise_, but
-doubtless once the site of the old flower-garden. Before the house
-stands an old well with a beautiful wrought-iron railing, and on the
-axis of the central loggia a gate opens into one of the pleached
-ilex-alleys which are the glory of the Palazzina. This ancient tunnel of
-gnarled and interlocked trees, where a green twilight reigns in the
-hottest summer noon, extends for several hundred feet along a ridge of
-ground ending in a sort of circular knoll or platform, surrounded by an
-impenetrable wall of square-clipped ilexes. The platform has in its
-centre a round clearing, from which four narrow paths radiate at right
-angles, one abutting on the pleached walk, the others on the outer
-ilex-wall. Between these paths are four small circular spaces planted
-with stunted ilexes and cypresses, which are cut down to the height of
-shrubs. In these dwarf trees blinded thrushes are tied as decoys to
-their wild kin, who are shot at from the circular clearing or the side
-paths. This elaborate plantation is a perfectly preserved specimen of a
-species of bird-trap once, alas! very common in this part of Italy, and
-in which one may picture the young gallants of Folgore da San
-Gimignano’s Sienese sonnets “Of the Months” taking their cruel pleasure
-on an autumn day.
-
-Another antique alley of pleached ilexes, as densely shaded but not
-quite as long, runs from the end of the terrace to a small open-air
-theatre which is the greatest curiosity of the Villa de’ Gori. The pit
-of this theatre is a semicircular opening, bounded by a low wall or
-seat, which is backed by a high ilex-hedge. The parterre is laid out in
-an elaborate _broderie_ of turf and gravel, above which the stage is
-raised about three feet. The pit and the stage are enclosed in a double
-hedge of ilex, so that the actors may reach the wings without being seen
-by the audience; but the stage-setting consists of rows of clipped
-cypresses, each advancing a few feet beyond the one before it, so that
-they form a perspective running up to the back of the stage, and
-terminated by the tall shaft of a single cypress which towers high into
-the blue in the exact centre of the background. No mere description of
-its plan can convey the charm of this exquisite little theatre,
-approached through the mysterious dusk of the long pleached alley, and
-lying in sunshine and silence under its roof of blue sky, in its walls
-of unchanging verdure. Imagination must people the stage with the sylvan
-figures of the _Aminta_ or the _Pastor Fido_, and must place on the
-encircling seats a company of _nobil donne_ in pearls and satin, with
-their cavaliers in the black Spanish habit and falling lace collar which
-Vandyke has immortalized in his Genoese portraits; and the remembrance
-of this leafy stage will lend new life to the reading of the Italian
-pastorals, and throw a brighter sunlight over the woodland comedies of
-Shakspeare.
-
-[Illustration: THE THEATRE AT LA PALAZZINA, SIENA]
-
-
-
-
-                              ROMAN VILLAS
-
-
-[Illustration: THE DOME OF ST. PETER’S, FROM THE VATICAN GARDENS]
-
-
-
-
-                                  III
-
-                              ROMAN VILLAS
-
-
-In studying the villas near the smaller Italian towns, it is difficult
-to learn much of their history. Now and then some information may be
-gleaned from a local guide-book, but the facts are usually meagre or
-inaccurate, and the name of the architect, the date of the building, the
-original plan of the garden, have often alike been forgotten.
-
-With regard to the villas in and about Rome, the case is different. Here
-the student is overwhelmed by a profusion of documents. Illustrious
-architects dispute the honour of having built the famous pleasure-houses
-on the seven hills, and historians of art, from Vasari downward, have
-recorded their annals. Falda engraved them in the seventeenth century,
-and Percier and Fontaine at the beginning of the nineteenth; and they
-have been visited and described, at various periods, by countless
-travellers from different countries.
-
-One of the earliest Roman gardens of which a description has been
-preserved is that which Bramante laid out within the Vatican in the last
-years of the fifteenth century. This terraced garden, with its
-monumental double flight of steps leading up by three levels to the
-Giardino della Pigna, was described in 1523 by the Venetian ambassador
-to Rome, who speaks of its grass parterres and fountains, its hedges of
-laurel and cypress, its plantations of mulberries and roses. One half of
-the garden (the court of the Belvedere) had brick-paved walks between
-rows of orange-trees; in its centre were statues of the Nile and the
-Tiber above a fountain; while the Apollo, the Laocoon and the Venus of
-the Vatican were placed about it in niches. This garden was long since
-sacrificed to the building of the Braccio Nuovo and the Vatican Library;
-but it is worth mentioning that Burckhardt, whose least word on Italian
-gardens is more illuminating than the treatises of other writers,
-thought that Bramante’s terraced stairway first set the example of that
-architectural magnificence which marks the great Roman gardens of the
-Renaissance.
-
-Next in date comes the Villa Madama, Raphael’s unfinished masterpiece on
-the slope of Monte Mario. This splendid pleasure-house, which was begun
-in 1516 for Cardinal Giuliano de’ Medici, afterward Pope Clement VII,
-was intended to be the model of the great _villa suburbana_, and no
-subsequent building of the sort is comparable to what it would have been
-had the original plans been carried out. But the villa was built under
-an evil star. Raphael died before the work was finished, and it was
-carried on with some alterations by Giulio Romano and Antonio da
-Sangallo. In 1527 the troops of Cardinal Colonna nearly destroyed it by
-fire; and, without ever being completed, it passed successively into the
-possession of the Chapter of St. Eustace, of the Duchess of Parma
-(whence its name of _Madama_), and of the King of Naples, who suffered
-it to fall into complete neglect.
-
-The unfinished building, with its mighty loggia stuccoed by Giovanni da
-Udine, and the semicircular arcade at the back, is too familiar to need
-detailed description; and the gardens are so dilapidated that they are
-of interest only to an eye experienced enough to reconstruct them from
-their skeleton. They consist of two long terraces, one above the other,
-cut in the side of the wooded slope overhanging the villa. The upper
-terrace is on a level with Raphael’s splendid loggia, and seems but a
-roofless continuation of that airy hall. Against the hillside and at the
-end it is bounded by a retaining-wall once surmounted by a marble
-balustrade and set with niches for statuary, while on the other side it
-looks forth over the Tiber and the Campagna. Below this terrace is
-another of the same proportions, its retaining-wall broken at each end
-by a stairway descending from the upper level, and the greater part of
-its surface taken up by a large rectangular tank, into which water
-gushes from the niches in the lateral wall. It is evident from the
-breadth of treatment of these terraces that they are but a fragment of
-the projected whole. Percier and Fontaine, in their “Maisons de
-Plaisance de Rome” (1809), published an interesting “reconstitution” of
-the Villa Madama and its gardens, as they conceived it might have been
-carried to completion; but their plan is merely the brilliant conjecture
-of two artists penetrated with the spirit of the Renaissance, for they
-had no documents to go by. The existing fragment is, however, well
-worthy of study, for the purity of its architecture and the broad
-simplicity of its plan are in marked contrast to the complicated design
-and overcharged details of some of the later Roman gardens.
-
-Third in date among the early Renaissance gardens comes another, of
-which few traces are left: that of the Vigna del Papa, or Villa di Papa
-Giulio, just beyond the Porta del Popolo. Here, however, the building
-itself, and the architectural composition which once united the house
-and grounds, are fortunately well preserved, and so exceptionally
-interesting that they deserved a careful description. The Villa di Papa
-Giulio was built by Pope Julius III, whose pontificate extends from 1550
-to 1555. The villa therefore dates from the middle of the sixteenth
-century; but so many architects were associated with it, and so much
-confusion exists as to their respective contributions, that it can only
-be said that the Pope himself, Michelangelo, Vignola, Vasari and
-Ammanati appear all to have had a hand in the work. The exterior
-elevation, though it has been criticized, is not as inharmonious as
-might have been expected, and on the garden side both plan and elevation
-have a charm and picturesqueness which disarm criticism. Above all, it
-is felt at once that the arrangement is perfectly suited to a warm
-climate. The villa forms a semicircle at the back, enclosing a paved
-court. The ground floor is an open vaulted arcade, adorned with
-Zucchero’s celebrated frescoes of _putti_ peeping through vine-wreathed
-trellises; and the sides of the court, beyond this arcade, are bounded
-by two-storied lateral wings, with blind arcades and niches adorned with
-statues. Facing the villa, a colonnaded loggia terminates the court; and
-thence one looks down into the beautiful lower court of the bath, which
-appears to have been designed by Vasari. From the loggia, steps descend
-to a semicircular court enclosed in walls, with a balustraded opening in
-its centre; and this balustrade rests on a row of caryatids which
-encircle the lowest court and form a screen before the grotto-like bath
-under the arches of the upper terrace. The plan is too complicated, and
-the architectural motives are too varied, to admit of clear description:
-both must be seen to give an idea of the full beauty of the composition.
-Returning to the upper loggia above the bath, one looks across the
-latter to a corresponding loggia of three arches on the opposite side,
-on the axis of which is a gateway leading to the actual gardens—gardens
-which, alas! no longer exist. It will thus be seen that the flagged
-court, the two open loggias, and the bath are so many skilfully
-graduated steps in what Percier and Fontaine call the “artistic
-progression” linking the gardens to the house, while the whole is so
-planned that from the central hall of the villa (and in fact from its
-entrance-door) one may look across the court and down the long vista of
-columns, into what were once the shady depths of the garden.
-
-In all Italian garden-architecture there is nothing quite comparable for
-charm and delicately reminiscent classicalism with this grotto-bath of
-Pope Julius’s villa. Here we find the tradition of the old Roman
-villa-architecture, as it had been lovingly studied in the letters of
-Pliny, transposed into Renaissance forms, with the sense of its
-continued fitness to unchanged conditions of climate and a conscious
-return to the splendour of the old patrician life. It is instructive to
-compare this natural reflowering of a national art with the frigid
-archæological classicalism of Winckelmann and Canova. Here there is no
-literal transcription of uncomprehended detail: the spirit is preserved,
-because it is still living, but it finds expression in subtly altered
-forms. Above all, the artist has drawn his inspiration from Roman art,
-the true source of modern architecture, and not from that of Greece,
-which, for all its beauty and far-reaching æsthetic influences, was
-_not_ the starting-point of modern artistic conceptions, for the plain
-historical reason that it was utterly forgotten and unknown when the
-mediæval world began to wake from its lethargy and gather up its
-scattered heritage of artistic traditions.
-
-[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO FORECOURT, VILLA BORGHESE, ROME]
-
-When John Evelyn came to Rome in 1644 and alighted “at Monsieur Petit’s
-in the Piazza Spagnola,” many of the great Roman villas were still in
-the first freshness of their splendour, and the taste which called them
-forth had not yet wearied of them. Later travellers, with altered ideas,
-were not sufficiently interested to examine in detail what already
-seemed antiquated and out of fashion; but to Evelyn, a passionate lover
-of architecture and garden-craft, the Italian villas were patterns of
-excellence, to be carefully studied and minutely described for the
-benefit of those who sought to imitate them in England. It is doubtful
-if later generations will ever be diverted by the aquatic “surprises”
-and mechanical toys in which Evelyn took such simple pleasure; but the
-real beauties he discerned are once more receiving intelligent
-recognition after two centuries of contempt and indifference. It is
-worth noting in this connection that, at the very height of the reaction
-against Italian gardens, they were lovingly studied and truly understood
-by two men great enough to rise above the prejudices of their age: the
-French architects Percier and Fontaine, whose volume contains some of
-the most suggestive analyses ever written of the purpose and meaning of
-Renaissance garden-architecture.
-
-Probably one of the least changed among the villas visited by Evelyn is
-“the house of the Duke of Florence upon the brow of Mons Pincius.” The
-Villa Medici, on being sold by that family in 1801, had the good fortune
-to pass into the hands of the French government, and its “facciata
-incrusted with antique and rare basso-relievos and statues” still looks
-out over the statued arcade, the terrace “balustraded with white marble”
-and planted with “perennial greens,” and the “mount planted with
-cypresses,” which Evelyn so justly admired.
-
-The villa, built in the middle of the sixteenth century by Annibale
-Lippi, was begun for one cardinal and completed for another. It stands
-in true Italian fashion against the hillside above the Spanish Steps,
-its airy upper stories planted on one of the mighty bastion-like
-basements so characteristic of the Roman villa. A villa above, a
-fortress below, it shows that, even in the polished cinque-cento, life
-in the Papal States needed the protection of stout walls and heavily
-barred windows. The garden-façade, raised a story above the entrance,
-has all the smiling openness of the Renaissance pleasure-house, and is
-interesting as being probably the earliest example of the systematic use
-of fragments of antique sculpture in an architectural elevation. But
-this façade, with its charming central loggia, is sufficiently well
-known to make a detailed description superfluous, and it need be studied
-here only in relation to its surroundings.
-
-[Illustration: GROTTO, VILLA DI PAPA GIULIO, ROME]
-
-Falda’s plan of the grounds, and that of Percier and Fontaine, made over
-a hundred and fifty years later, show how little succeeding fashions
-have been allowed to disturb the original design. The gardens are still
-approached by a long shady alley which ascends from the piazza before
-the entrance; and they are still divided into a symmetrically planted
-grove, a flower-garden before the house, and an upper wild-wood with a
-straight path leading to the “mount planted with cypresses.”
-
-It is safe to say that no one enters the grounds of the Villa Medici
-without being soothed and charmed by that garden-magic which is the
-peculiar quality of some of the old Italian pleasances. It is not
-necessary to be a student of garden-architecture to feel the spell of
-quiet and serenity which falls on one at the very gateway; but it is
-worth the student’s while to try to analyze the elements of which the
-sensation is composed. Perhaps they will be found to resolve themselves
-into diversity, simplicity and fitness. The plan of the garden is
-simple, but its different parts are so contrasted as to produce, by the
-fewest means, a pleasant sense of variety without sacrifice of repose.
-The ilex-grove into which one first enters is traversed by hedged alleys
-which lead to _rond-points_ with stone seats and marble Terms. At one
-point the enclosing wall of ilex is broken to admit a charming open
-loggia, whence one looks into the depths of green below. Emerging from
-the straight shady walks, with their effect of uniformity and repose,
-one comes on the flower-garden before the house, spreading to the
-sunshine its box-edged parterres adorned with fountains and statues.
-Here garden and house-front are harmonized by a strong predominance of
-architectural lines, and by the beautiful lateral loggia, with niches
-for statues, above which the upper ilex-wood rises. Tall hedges and
-trees there are none; for from the villa one looks across the garden at
-the wide sweep of the Campagna and the mountains; indeed, this is
-probably one of the first of the gardens which Gurlitt defines as
-“gardens to look out from,” in contradistinction to the earlier sort,
-the “gardens to look into.” Mounting to the terrace, one comes to the
-third division of the garden, the wild-wood with its irregular levels,
-through which a path leads to the mount, with a little temple on its
-summit. This is a rare feature in Italian grounds: in hilly Italy there
-was small need of creating the artificial hillocks so much esteemed in
-the old English gardens. In this case, however, the mount justifies its
-existence, for it affords a wonderful view over the other side of Rome
-and the Campagna.
-
-Finally, the general impression of the Medici garden resolves itself
-into a sense of fitness, of perfect harmony between the material at hand
-and the use made of it. The architect has used his opportunities to the
-utmost; but he has adapted nature without distorting it. In some of the
-great French gardens, at Vaux and Versailles for example, one is
-conscious, under all the beauty, of the immense effort expended, of the
-vast upheavals of earth, the forced creating of effects; but it was the
-great gift of the Italian gardener to see the natural advantages of his
-incomparable landscape, and to fit them into his scheme with an art
-which concealed itself.
-
-[Illustration: TEMPLE OF ÆSCULAPIUS, VILLA BORGHESE, ROME]
-
-While Annibale Lippi, an architect known by only two buildings, was
-laying out the Medici garden, the Palatine Hill was being clothed with
-monumental terraces by a master to whom the Italian Renaissance owed
-much of its stateliest architecture. Vignola, who transformed the slopes
-of the Palatine into the sumptuous Farnese gardens, was the architect of
-the mighty fortress-villa of Caprarola, and of the garden-portico of
-Mondragone; and tradition ascribes to him also the incomparable Lante
-gardens at Bagnaia.
-
-In the Farnese gardens he found full play for his gift of grouping
-masses and for the scenic sense which enabled him to create such
-grandiose backgrounds for the magnificence of the great Roman prelates.
-The Palatine gardens have been gradually sacrificed to the excavations
-of the Palace of the Cæsars, but their almost theatrical magnificence is
-shown in the prints of Falda and of Percier and Fontaine. In this
-prodigal development of terraces, niches, porticoes and ramps, one
-perceives the outcome of Bramante’s double staircase in the inner
-gardens of the Vatican, and Burckhardt justly remarks that in the
-Farnese gardens “the period of unity of composition and effective
-grouping of masses” finally triumphs over the earlier style.
-
-No villa was ever built on this site, and there is consequently an air
-of heaviness and over-importance about the stately ascent which leads
-merely to two domed pavilions; but the composition would have regained
-its true value had it been crowned by such a palace as the Roman
-cardinals were beginning to erect for themselves. It is especially
-interesting to note the contrast in style and plan between this garden
-and that of the contemporaneous Villa Medici. One was designed for
-display, the other for privacy, and the success with which the purpose
-of each is fulfilled shows the originality and independence of their
-creators. It is a common error to think of the Italian gardens of the
-Renaissance as repeating endlessly the same architectural effects: their
-peculiar charm lies chiefly in the versatility with which their
-designers adapted them to different sites and different requirements.
-
-As an example of this independence of meaningless conventions, let the
-student turn from the Villa Medici and the Orti Farnesiani to a third
-type of villa created at the same time—the Casino of Pope Pius IV in the
-Vatican gardens, built in 1560 by the Neapolitan architect Pirro
-Ligorio.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA MEDICI, ROME]
-
-This exquisite little garden-house lies in a hollow of the outer Vatican
-gardens near the Via de’ Fondamenti. A hillside once clothed with a
-grove rises abruptly behind it, and in this hillside a deep oblong cut
-has been made and faced with a retaining-wall. In the space thus cleared
-the villa is built, some ten or fifteen feet away from the wall, so that
-its ground floor is cool and shaded without being damp. The building,
-which is long and narrow, runs lengthwise into the cut, its long façades
-being treated as sides, while it presents a narrow end as its front
-elevation. The propriety of this plan will be seen when the restricted
-surroundings are noted. In such a small space a larger structure would
-have been disproportionate; and Ligorio hit on the only means of giving
-to a house of considerable size the appearance of a mere
-garden-pavilion.
-
-Percier and Fontaine say that Ligorio built the Villa Pia “after the
-manner of the ancient houses, of which he had made a special study.” The
-influence of the Roman fresco-architecture is in fact visible in this
-delicious little building, but so freely modified by the personal taste
-of the architect that it has none of the rigidity of the
-“reconstitution,” but seems rather the day-dream of an artist who has
-saturated his mind with the past.
-
-The façade is a mere pretext for the display of the most exquisite and
-varied stucco ornamentation, in which motives borrowed from the Roman
-_stucchi_ are harmonized with endless versatility. In spite of the
-wealth of detail, it is saved from heaviness and confusion by its
-delicacy of treatment and by a certain naïveté which makes it more akin
-(fantastic as the comparison may seem) with the stuccoed façade of San
-Bernardino at Perugia than with similar compositions of its own period.
-The angels or genii in the oblong panels are curiously suggestive of
-Agostino da Duccio, and the pale-yellow tarnished surface of the stucco
-recalls the delicate hues of the Perugian chapel.
-
-[Illustration: COURTYARD GATE OF THE VILLA PIA]
-
-The ground floor consists of an open loggia of three arches on columns,
-forming a kind of atrium curiously faced with an elaborate mosaic-work
-of tiny round pebbles, stained in various colours and set in arabesques
-and other antique patterns. The coigns of the façade are formed of this
-same mosaic—a last touch of fancifulness where all is fantastic. The
-barrel-vault of the atrium is a marvel of delicate _stuccature_,
-evidently inspired by the work of Giovanni da Udine at the Villa Madama;
-and at each end stands a splendid marble basin resting on winged
-griffins. The fragile decorations of this exquisite loggia are open on
-three sides to the weather, and many windows of the upper rooms (which
-are decorated in the same style) are unshuttered and have broken panes,
-so that this unique example of cinque-cento decoration is gradually
-falling into ruin from mere exposure. The steps of the atrium, flanked
-by marble Cupids on dolphins, lead to an oval paved court with a central
-fountain in which the Cupid-motive is repeated. This court is enclosed
-by a low wall with a seat running around it and surmounted by marble
-vases of a beautiful tazza-like shape. Facing the loggia, the wall is
-broken (as at the Villa di Papa Giulio) by a small pavilion resting on
-an open arcade, with an attic adorned with stucco panels; while at the
-sides, equidistant between the villa and the pavilion, are two vaulted
-porticoes, with façades like arches of triumph, by means of which access
-is obtained to curving ramps that lead to the lower level of the
-gardens. These porticoes are also richly adorned with stucco panels, and
-lined within with a mosaic-work of pebbles, forming niches for a row of
-busts.
-
-From the central pavilion one looks down on a tank at its base (the
-pavilion being a story lower on its outer or garden side). This tank is
-surmounted by a statue of Thetis on a rock-work throne, in a niche
-formed in the basement of the pavilion. The tank encloses the pavilion
-on three sides, like a moat, and the water, gushing from three niches,
-overflows the low stone curb and drips on a paved walk slightly hollowed
-to receive it—a device producing a wonderful effect of coolness and
-superabundance of water.
-
-The old gardens of the villa were on a level with the tank, and Falda’s
-print shows the ingenuity of their planning. These gardens have now been
-almost entirely destroyed, and the _bosco_ above the villa has been cut
-down and replaced by bare grass-banks dotted with shrubs.
-
-The Villa Pia has been thus minutely described, first, because it is
-seldom accessible, and consequently little known; but chiefly because it
-is virtually not a dwellinghouse, but a garden-house, and thus forms a
-part of the actual composition of the garden. As such it stands alone in
-Italian architecture, and Burckhardt, who notes how well its lavish
-ornament is suited to a little pleasure-pavilion in a garden, is right
-in describing it as the “most perfect retreat imaginable for a midsummer
-afternoon.”
-
-The outer gardens of the Vatican, in a corner of which the Villa Pia
-lies, were probably laid out by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who
-died in 1546; and though much disfigured, they still show traces of
-their original plan. The sunny sheltered terrace, espaliered with
-lemons, is a good example of the “walk for the cold season” for which
-Italian garden-architects always provided; and the large sunken
-flower-garden surrounded by hanging woods is one of the earliest
-instances of this effective treatment of the _giardino segreto_. In
-fact, the Vatican may have suggested many features of the later
-Renaissance garden, with its wide-spread plan which gradually came to
-include the park.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA PIA—IN THE GARDENS OF THE VATICAN]
-
-The seventeenth century saw the development of this extended plan, but
-saw also the decline of the architectural restraint and purity of detail
-which mark the generation of Vignola and Sangallo. The Villa Borghese,
-built in 1618 by the Flemish architect Giovanni Vasanzia (John of
-Xanten), shows a complete departure from the old tradition. Its
-elevation may indeed be traced to the influence of the garden-front of
-the Villa Medici, which was probably the prototype of the gay
-pleasure-house in which ornamental detail superseded architectural
-composition; but the garden-architecture of the Villa Borghese, and the
-treatment of its extensive grounds, show the complete triumph of the
-baroque.
-
-The grounds of the Villa Borghese, which include a park of several
-hundred acres, were laid out by Domenico Savino and Girolamo Rainaldi,
-while its waterworks are due to Giovanni Fontana, whose name is
-associated with the great _jeux d’eaux_ of the villas at Frascati.
-Falda’s plan shows that the grounds about the house have been little
-changed. At each end of the villa is the oblong secret garden, not
-sunken but walled; in front an entrance-court, at the back an open space
-enclosed in a wall of clipped ilexes against which statues were set, and
-containing a central fountain. Beyond the left-hand walled garden are
-various dependencies, including an aviary. These little buildings,
-boldly baroque in style, surcharged with stucco ornament, and not
-without a certain Flemish heaviness of touch, have yet that gaiety, that
-_imprévu_, which was becoming the distinguishing note of Roman
-garden-architecture. On a larger scale they would be oppressive; but as
-mere garden-houses, with their leafy background, and the picturesque
-adjuncts of high walls, wrought-iron gates, vases and statues, they have
-an undeniable charm.
-
-[Illustration: GATEWAY OF THE VILLA BORGHESE]
-
-The plan of the Borghese park has been the subject of much discussion.
-Falda’s print shows only the vicinity of the villa, and it has never
-been decided when the outlying grounds were laid out and how much they
-have been modified. At present the park, with its romantic groves of
-umbrella-pine, its ilex avenues, lake and amphitheatre, its sham ruins
-and little buildings scattered on irregular grassy knolls, has the
-appearance of a _jardin anglais_ laid out at the end of the eighteenth
-century. Herr Tuckermann, persuaded that this park is the work of
-Giovanni Fontana, sees in him the originator of the “sentimental”
-English and German landscape-gardens, with their hermitages, mausoleums
-and temples of Friendship; but Percier and Fontaine, from whose plan of
-the park his inference is avowedly drawn, state that the grounds were
-much modified in 1789 by Jacob Moore, an English landscape-gardener, and
-by Pietro Camporesi of Rome. Herr Gurlitt, who seems to have overlooked
-this statement, declares himself unable to pronounce on the date of this
-“creation already touched with the feeling of sentimentality”; but
-Burckhardt, who is always accurate, says that the hippodrome and the
-temple of Æsculapius are of late date, and that the park was remodelled
-in the style of Poussin’s landscapes in 1849.
-
-About thirty years later than the Villa Borghese there arose its rival
-among the great Roman country-seats, the Villa Belrespiro or Pamphily,
-on the Janiculan. The Villa Pamphily, designed by Alessandro Algardi of
-Bologna, is probably the best known and most admired of Roman _maisons
-de plaisance_, and its incomparable ilex avenues and pine-woods, its
-rolling meadows and wide views over the Campagna, have enchanted many to
-whom its architectural beauties would not appeal.
-
-The house, with its incrustations of antique bas-reliefs, cleverly
-adapted in the style of the Villa Medici, but with far greater richness
-and license of ornament, is a perfect example of the seventeenth-century
-villa, or rather casino; for it was really intended, not for a
-residence, but for a suburban lodge. It is flanked by lateral terraces,
-and the garden-front is a story lower than the other, so that the
-balcony of the first floor looks down on a great sunken garden, enclosed
-in the retaining-walls of the terraces, and richly adorned with statues
-in niches, fountains and _parterres de broderie_. Thence a double
-stairway descends to what was once the central portion of the gardens, a
-great amphitheatre bounded by ilex-woods, with a _théâtre d’eaux_ and
-stately flights of steps leading up to terraced ilex-groves; but all
-this lower garden was turned into an English park in the first half of
-the nineteenth century. One of the finest of Roman gardens fell a
-sacrifice to this senseless change; for in beauty of site, in grandeur
-of scale, and in the wealth of its Roman sculpture, the Villa Pamphily
-was unmatched. Even now it is full of interesting fragments; but the
-juxtaposition of an undulating lawn and dotty shrubberies to the stately
-garden-architecture about the villa has utterly destroyed the unity of
-the composition.
-
-There is a legend to the effect that Le Nôtre laid out the park of the
-Villa Pamphily when he came to Rome in 1678; but Percier and Fontaine,
-who declare that there is nothing to corroborate the story, point out
-that the Villa Pamphily was begun over thirty years before Le Nôtre’s
-visit. Absence of proof, however, means little to the average French
-author, eager to vindicate Le Nôtre’s claim to being the father not only
-of French, but of Italian landscape-architecture; and M. Riat, in “L’Art
-des Jardins,” repeats the legend of the Villa Pamphily, while Dussieux,
-in his “Artists Français à l’Etranger,” anxious to heap further honours
-on his compatriot, actually ascribes to him the plan of the Villa
-Albani, which was laid out by Pietro Nolli nearly two hundred years
-after Le Nôtre’s visit to Rome! Apparently the whole story of Le Nôtre’s
-laying out of Italian gardens is based on the fact that he remodelled
-some details of the Villa Ludovisi; but one need only compare the dates
-of his gardens with those of the principal Roman villas to see that he
-was the pupil and not the master of the great Italian garden-architects.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA CHIGI, ROME]
-
-The last great country house built for a Roman cardinal is the villa
-outside the Porta Salaria which Carlo Marchionne built in 1746 for
-Cardinal Albani. In spite of its late date, the house still conforms to
-the type of Roman _villa suburbana_ which originated with the Villa
-Medici; and it is interesting to observe that the Roman architects,
-having hit on so appropriate and original a style, did not fear to
-continue it in spite of the growing tendency toward a lifeless
-classicalism.
-
-Cardinal Albani was a passionate collector of antique sculpture, and the
-villa, having been built to display his treasures, is appropriately
-planned with an open arcade between rusticated pilasters, which runs the
-whole length of the façade on the ground floor, and is continued by a
-long portico at each end. The grounds, laid out by Antonio Nolli, have
-been much extolled. Burckhardt sees in them traces of the reaction of
-French eighteenth-century gardening on the Italian school; but may it
-not rather be that, the Villa Albani being, by a rare exception, built
-on level ground, the site inevitably suggested a treatment similar to
-the French? It is hard to find anything specifically French, any motive
-which has not been seen again and again in Italy, in the plan of the
-Albani gardens; and their most charming feature, the long ilex-walk
-connecting the villa with the _bosco_, exemplifies the Italian habit of
-providing shady access from the house to the wood. Dussieux, at any
-rate, paid Le Nôtre no compliment in attributing to him the plan of the
-Villa Albani; for the great French artist contrived to put more poetry
-into the flat horizons of Vaux and Versailles than Nolli has won from
-the famous view of the Campagna which is said to have governed the
-planning of the Villa Albani.
-
-The grounds are laid out in formal quincunxes of clipped ilex, but
-before the house lies a vast sunken garden enclosed in terraces. The
-farther end of the garden is terminated by a semicircular portico called
-the _Caffè_, built later than the house, under the direction of
-Winckelmann; and in this structure, and in the architecture of the
-terraces, one sees the heavy touch of that neo-Grecianism which was to
-crush the life out of eighteenth-century art. The gardens of the Villa
-Albani seem to have been decorated by an archæologist rather than an
-artist. It is interesting to note that antique sculpture, when boldly
-combined with a living art, is one of the most valuable adjuncts of the
-Italian garden; whereas, set in an artificial evocation of its own past,
-it loses all its vitality and becomes as lifeless as its background.
-
-[Illustration: PARTERRES ON TERRACE, VILLA BELRESPIRO (PAMPHILY-DORIA),
-ROME]
-
-One of the most charming of the smaller Roman villas lies outside the
-Porta Salaria, a mile or two beyond the Villa Albani. This is the
-country-seat of Prince Don Lodovico Chigi. In many respects it recalls
-the Sienese type of villa. At the entrance, the highroad is enlarged
-into a semicircle, backed by a wall with busts; and on the axis of the
-iron gates one sees first a court flanked by box-gardens, then an open
-archway running through the centre of the house, and beyond that, the
-vista of a long walk enclosed in high box-hedges and terminating in
-another semicircle with statues, backed by an ilex-planted mount. The
-plan has all the compactness and charm of the Tuscan and Umbrian villas.
-The level ground about the house is subdivided into eight square
-box-hedged gardens, four on a side, enclosing symmetrical box-bordered
-plots. Beyond these are two little groves with statues and benches. The
-ground falls away in farm-land below this level, leaving only the long
-central alley which appears to lead to other gardens, but which really
-ends in the afore-mentioned semicircle, behind which is a similar alley,
-running at right angles, and leading directly to the fields.
-
-At the other end of Rome lies the only small Roman garden comparable in
-charm with Prince Chigi’s. This is the Priorato, or Villa of the Knights
-of Malta, near Santa Sabina, on the Aventine. Piranesi, in 1765,
-remodelled and decorated the old chapel adjoining the house; and it is
-said that he also laid out the garden. If he did so, it shows how late
-the tradition of the Renaissance garden lingered in Italy; for there is
-no trace of romantic influences in the Priorato. The grounds are small,
-for the house stands on a steep ledge overlooking the Tiber, whence
-there is a glorious view of St. Peter’s and the Janiculan. The designer
-of the garden evidently felt that it must be a mere setting to this
-view; and accordingly he laid out a straight walk, walled with box and
-laurel and running from the gate to the terrace above the river. The
-prospect framed in this green tunnel is one of the sights of Rome; and,
-by a touch peculiarly Italian, the keyhole of the gate has been so
-placed as to take it in. To the left of the pleached walk lies a small
-flower-garden, planted with square-cut box-trees, and enclosed in a high
-wall with niches containing statues: a real “secret garden,” full of
-sunny cloistered stillness, in restful contrast to the wide prospect
-below the terrace.
-
-The grounds behind the Palazzo Colonna belong to another type, and are
-an interesting example of the treatment of a city garden, especially
-valuable now that so many of the great gardens within the walls of Rome
-have been destroyed.
-
-The Colonna palace stands at the foot of the Quirinal Hill, and the
-gardens are built on the steep slope behind it, being entered by a
-stately gateway from the Via Quirinale. On this upper level there is a
-charming rectangular box-garden, with flower-plots about a central
-basin. Thence one descends to two narrow terraces, one beneath the
-other, planted with box and ilex, and adorned with ancient marbles. Down
-the centre, starting from the upper garden, there is an elaborate
-_château d’eau_ of baroque design, with mossy urns and sea-gods,
-terminating in a basin fringed with ferns; and beneath this central
-composition the garden ends in a third wide terrace, planted with
-square-clipped ilexes, which look from above like a level floor of
-verdure. Graceful stone bridges connect this lowest terrace with the
-first-floor windows of the palace, which is divided from its garden by a
-narrow street; and the whole plan is an interesting example of the
-beauty and variety of effect which may be produced on a small steep
-piece of ground.
-
-Of the other numerous gardens which once crowned the hills of Rome, but
-few fragments remain. The Villa Celimontana, or Mattei, on the Cælian,
-still exists, but its grounds have been so Anglicized that it is
-interesting chiefly from its site and from its associations with St.
-Philip Neri, whose seat beneath the giant ilexes is still preserved. The
-magnificent Villa Ludovisi has vanished, leaving only, amid a network of
-new streets, the Casino of the Aurora and a few beautiful fragments of
-architecture incorporated in the courtyard of the ugly Palazzo
-Margherita; and the equally famous Villa Negroni was swept away to make
-room for the Piazza delle Terme and the Grand Hôtel. The Villa
-Sacchetti, on the slope of Monte Mario, is in ruins; in ruins the old
-hunting-lodge of Cecchignola, in the Campagna, on the way to the Divino
-Amore. These and many others are gone or going; but at every turn the
-watchful eye still lights on some lingering fragment of old
-garden-art—some pillared gateway or fluted _vasca_ or broken statue
-cowering in its niche—all testifying to what Rome’s crown of gardens
-must have been, and still full of suggestion to the student of her past.
-
-[Illustration: VIEW FROM LOWER GARDEN, VILLA BELRESPIRO
-(PAMPHILY-DORIA), ROME]
-
-
-
-
-                            VILLAS NEAR ROME
-
-
-[Illustration: VILLA D’ESTE, TIVOLI]
-
-
-
-
-                                   IV
-
-                            VILLAS NEAR ROME
-
-
-                                   I
-
-                          CAPRAROLA AND LANTE
-
-The great cardinals did not all build their villas within sight of St.
-Peter’s. One of them, Alexander Farnese, chose a site above the mountain
-village of Caprarola, which looks forth over the Etrurian plain strewn
-with its ancient cities—Nepi, Orte and Cività Castellana—to Soracte,
-rising solitary in the middle distance, and the encircling line of
-snow-touched Apennines.
-
-There is nothing in all Italy like Caprarola. Burckhardt calls it
-“perhaps the highest example of restrained majesty which secular
-architecture has achieved”; and Herr Gurlitt makes the interesting
-suggestion that Vignola, in building it, broke away from the traditional
-palace-architecture of Italy and sought his inspiration in France.
-“Caprarola,” he says, “shows the northern castle in the most modern form
-it had then attained.... We have to do here with one of the fortified
-residences rarely seen save in the north, but doubtless necessary in a
-neighbourhood exposed to the ever-increasing dangers of brigandage.
-Italy, indeed, built castles and fortified works, but the
-fortress-palace, equally adapted to peace and war, was almost unknown.”
-
-The numerous illustrated publications on Caprarola make it unnecessary
-to describe its complex architecture in detail. It is sufficient to say
-that its five bastions are surrounded by a deep moat, across which a
-light bridge at the back of the palace leads to the lower garden. To
-pass from the threatening façade to the wide-spread beauty of pleached
-walks, fountains and grottoes, brings vividly before one the curious
-contrasts of Italian country life in the transition period of the
-sixteenth century. Outside, one pictures the cardinal’s soldiers and
-_bravi_ lounging on the great platform above the village; while within,
-one has a vision of noble ladies and their cavaliers sitting under
-rose-arbours or strolling between espaliered lemon-trees, discussing a
-Greek manuscript or a Roman bronze, or listening to the last sonnet of
-the cardinal’s court poet.
-
-The lower garden of Caprarola is a mere wreck of overgrown box-parterres
-and crumbling wall and balustrade. Plaster statues in all stages of
-decay stand in the niches or cumber the paths; fruit-trees have been
-planted in the flower-beds, and the maidenhair withers in grottoes where
-the water no longer flows. The architectural detail of the fountains and
-arches is sumptuous and beautiful, but the outline of the general plan
-is not easy to trace; and one must pass out of this enclosure and climb
-through hanging oak-woods to a higher level to gain an idea of what the
-gardens once were.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA CAPRAROLA]
-
-Beyond the woods a broad _tapis vert_ leads to a level space with a
-circular fountain sunk in turf. Partly surrounding this is an
-architectural composition of rusticated arcades, between which a
-_château d’eau_ descends the hillside from a grotto surmounted by two
-mighty river-gods, and forming the central motive of a majestic double
-stairway of rusticated stonework. This leads up to the highest terrace,
-which is crowned by Vignola’s exquisite casino, surely the most
-beautiful garden-house in Italy. The motive of the arcades and stairway,
-though fine in itself, may be criticized as too massive and important to
-be in keeping with the delicate little building above; but once on the
-upper terrace, the lack of proportion is no longer seen and all the
-surroundings are harmonious. The composition is simple: around the
-casino, with its light arcades raised on a broad flight of steps,
-stretches a level box-garden with fountains, enclosed in a low wall
-surmounted by the famous Canephoræ seen in every picture of
-Caprarola—huge sylvan figures half emerging from their stone sheaths,
-some fierce or solemn, some full of rustic laughter. The audacity of
-placing that row of fantastic terminal divinities against reaches of
-illimitable air girdled in mountains gives an indescribable touch of
-poetry to the upper garden of Caprarola. There is a quality of
-inevitableness about it—one feels of it, as of certain great verse, that
-it could not have been otherwise, that, in Vasari’s happy phrase, it was
-_born, not built_.
-
-Not more than twelve miles from Caprarola lies the other famous villa
-attributed to Vignola, and which one wishes he may indeed have built, if
-only to show how a great artist can vary his resources in adapting
-himself to a new theme. The Villa Lante, at Bagnaia, near Viterbo,
-appears to have been the work not of one cardinal, but of four. Raphael
-Riario, Cardinal Bishop of Viterbo, began it toward the end of the
-fifteenth century, and the work, carried on by his successors in the
-see, Cardinals Ridolfi and Gambara, was finally completed in 1588 by
-Cardinal Montalto, nephew of Sixtus V, who bought the estate from the
-bishops of Viterbo and bequeathed it to the Holy See. Percier and
-Fontaine believe that several architects collaborated in the work, but
-its unity of composition shows that the general scheme must have
-originated in one mind, and Herr Gurlitt thinks there is nothing to
-disprove that Vignola was its author.
-
-[Illustration: THE CASINO, VILLA FARNESE, CAPRAROLA]
-
-Lante, like Caprarola, has been exhaustively sketched and photographed,
-but so perfect is it, so far does it surpass, in beauty, in
-preservation, and in the quality of garden-magic, all the other great
-pleasure-houses of Italy, that the student of garden-craft may always
-find fresh inspiration in its study. If Caprarola is “a garden to look
-out from,” Lante is one “to look into,” not in the sense that it is
-enclosed, for its terraces command a wide horizon; but the pleasant
-landscape surrounding it is merely accessory to the gardens, a last
-touch of loveliness where all is lovely.
-
-The designer of Lante understood this, and perceived that, the
-surroundings being unobtrusive, he might elaborate the foreground. The
-flower-garden occupies a level space in front of the twin pavilions; for
-instead of one villa there are two at Lante, absolutely identical, and
-connected by a _rampe douce_ which ascends between them to an upper
-terrace. This peculiar arrangement is probably due to the fact that
-Cardinal Montalto, who built the second pavilion, found there was no
-other way of providing more house-room without disturbing the plan of
-the grounds. The design of the flower-garden is intricate and beautiful,
-and its box-bordered parterres surround one of the most famous and
-beautiful fountains in Italy. The abundance of water at Lante enabled
-the designer to produce a great variety of effects in what Germans call
-the “water-art,” and nowhere was his invention happier than in planning
-this central fountain. It stands in a square tank or basin, surrounded
-by a balustrade, and crossed by four little bridges which lead to a
-circular balustraded walk, enclosing an inner basin from the centre of
-which rises the fountain. Bridges also cross from the circular walk to
-the platform on which the fountain is built, so that one may stand under
-the arch of the water-jets, and look across the garden through a mist of
-spray.
-
-Lante, doubly happy in its site, is as rich in shade as in water, and
-the second terrace, behind the pavilions, is planted with ancient
-plane-trees. Above this terrace rise three others, all wooded with plane
-and ilex, and down the centre, from the woods above, rushes the cascade
-which feeds the basin in the flower-garden. The terraces, with their
-balustrades and obelisks and double flights of steps, form a stately
-setting to this central _château d’eau_, through which the water gushes
-by mossy steps and channels to a splendid central composition of
-superimposed basins flanked by recumbent river-gods.
-
-All the garden-architecture at Lante merits special study. The twin
-pavilions seem plain and insignificant after the brilliant elevations of
-the great Roman villas, but regarded as part of the garden-scheme, and
-not as dominating it, they fall into their proper place, and are seen to
-be good examples of the severe but pure style of the early cinque-cento.
-Specially interesting also is the treatment of the retaining-wall which
-faces the entrance to the grounds; and the great gates of the
-flower-gardens, and the fountains and garden-houses on the upper
-terraces, are all happy instances of Renaissance garden-art untouched by
-_barocchismo_.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA LANTE, BAGNAIA]
-
-At Lante, also, one sees one of the earliest examples of the inclusion
-of the woodland in the garden-scheme. All the sixteenth-century villas
-had small groves adjacent to the house, and the shade of the natural
-woodland was used, if possible, as a backing to the gardens; but at the
-Villa Lante it is boldly worked into the general scheme, the terraces
-and garden-architecture are skilfully blent with it, and its recesses
-are pierced by grass alleys leading to clearings where pools surrounded
-by stone seats slumber under the spreading branches.
-
-The harmonizing of wood and garden is one of the characteristic features
-of the villas at Frascati; but as these are mostly later in date than
-the Lante grounds, priority of invention may be claimed for the designer
-of the latter. It was undoubtedly from the Italian park of the
-Renaissance that Le Nôtre learned the use of the woodland as an adjunct
-to the garden; but in France these parks had for the most part to be
-planted, whereas in Italy the garden-architect could use the natural
-woodland, which was usually hilly, and the effects thus produced were
-far more varied and interesting than those possible in the flat
-artificial parks of France.
-
-
-                                   II
-
-                              VILLA D’ESTE
-
-Of the three great villas built by cardinals beyond the immediate
-outskirts of Rome, the third and the most famous is the Villa d’Este at
-Tivoli.
-
-Begun before 1540 by the Cardinal Bishop of Cordova, the villa became
-the property of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, son of Alfonso I of Ferrara,
-who carried on its embellishment at the cost of over a million Roman
-scudi. Thence it passed successively to two other cardinals of the house
-of Este, who continued its adornment, and finally, in the seventeenth
-century, was inherited by the ducal house of Modena.
-
-The villa, an unfinished barrack-like building, stands on a piazza at
-one end of the town of Tivoli, above gardens which descend the steep
-hillside to the gorge of the Anio. These gardens have excited so much
-admiration that little thought has been given to the house, though it is
-sufficiently interesting to merit attention. It is said to have been
-built by Pirro Ligorio, and surprising as it seems that this huge
-featureless pile should have been designed by the creator of the Casino
-del Papa, yet one observes that the rooms are decorated with the same
-fantastic pebble-work used in such profusion at the Villa Pia. In
-extenuation of the ugliness of the Villa d’Este it should, moreover, be
-remembered that its long façade is incomplete, save for the splendid
-central portico; and also that, while the Villa Pia was intended as
-shelter for a summer afternoon, the great palace at Tivoli was planned
-to house a cardinal and his guests, including, it is said, “a suite of
-two hundred and fifty gentlemen of the noblest blood of Italy.” When one
-pictures such a throng, with their innumerable retainers, it is easy to
-understand why the Villa d’Este had to be expanded out of all likeness
-to an ordinary country house.
-
-[Illustration: THE POOL, VILLA D’ESTE, TIVOLI]
-
-The plan is ingenious and interesting. From the village square only a
-high blank wall is visible. Through a door in this wall one passes into
-a frescoed corridor which leads to a court enclosed in an open arcade,
-with fountains in rusticated niches. From a corner of the court a fine
-intramural stairway descends to what is, on the garden side, the _piano
-nobile_ of the villa. On this side, looking over the gardens, is a long
-enfilade of rooms, gaily frescoed by the Zuccheri and their school; and
-behind the rooms runs a vaulted corridor built against the side of the
-hill, and lighted by bull’s-eyes in its roof. This corridor has lost its
-frescoes, but preserves a line of niches decorated in coloured pebbles
-and stucco-work, with gaily painted stucco caryatids supporting the
-arches; and as each niche contains a semicircular fountain, the whole
-length of the corridor must once have rippled with running water.
-
-The central room opens on the great two-storied portico or loggia,
-whence one descends by an outer stairway to a terrace running the length
-of the building, and terminated at one end by an ornamental wall, at the
-other by an open loggia overlooking the Campagna. From this upper
-terrace, with its dense wall of box and laurel, one looks down on the
-towering cypresses and ilexes of the lower gardens. The grounds are not
-large, but the impression produced is full of a tragic grandeur. The
-villa towers above so high and bare, the descent from terrace to terrace
-is so long and steep, there are such depths of mystery in the infinite
-green distances and in the cypress-shaded pools of the lower garden,
-that one has a sense of awe rather than of pleasure in descending from
-one level to another of darkly rustling green. But it is the omnipresent
-rush of water which gives the Este gardens their peculiar character.
-From the Anio, drawn up the hillside at incalculable cost and labour, a
-thousand rills gush downward, terrace by terrace, channelling the stone
-rails of the balusters, leaping from step to step, dripping into mossy
-conchs, flashing in spray from the horns of sea-gods and the jaws of
-mythical monsters, or forcing themselves in irrepressible overflow down
-the ivy-matted banks. The whole length of the second terrace is edged by
-a deep stone channel, into which the stream drips by countless outlets
-over a quivering fringe of maidenhair. Every side path or flight of
-steps is accompanied by its sparkling rill, every niche in the
-retaining-walls has its water-pouring nymph or gushing urn; the solemn
-depths of green reverberate with the tumult of innumerable streams. “The
-Anio,” as Herr Tuckermann says, “throbs through the whole organism of
-the garden like its inmost vital principle.”
-
-[Illustration: VILLA LANTE, BAGNAIA]
-
-The gardens of the Villa d’Este were probably begun by Pirro Ligorio,
-and, as Herr Gurlitt thinks, continued later by Giacomo della Porta. It
-will doubtless never be known how much Ligorio owed to the taste of
-Orazio Olivieri, the famous hydraulic engineer, who raised the Anio to
-the hilltop and organized its distribution through the grounds. But it
-is apparent that the whole composition was planned about the central
-fact of the rushing Anio: that the gardens were to be, as it were, an
-organ on which the water played. The result is extraordinarily romantic
-and beautiful, and the versatility with which the stream is used, the
-varying effects won from it, bear witness to the imaginative feeling of
-the designer.
-
-When all has been said in praise of the poetry and charm of the Este
-gardens, it must be owned that from the architect’s standpoint they are
-less satisfying than those of the other great cinque-cento villas. The
-plan is worthy of all praise, but the details are too complicated, and
-the ornament is either trivial or cumbrous. So inferior is the
-architecture to that of the Lante gardens and Caprarola that Burckhardt
-was probably right in attributing much of it to the seventeenth century.
-Here for the first time one feels the heavy touch of the baroque. The
-fantastic mosaic and stucco temple containing the water-organ above the
-great cascade, the arches of triumph, the celebrated “grotto of
-Arethusa,” the often-sketched fountain on the second terrace, all seem
-pitiably tawdry when compared with the garden-architecture of Raphael or
-Vignola. Some of the details of the composition are absolutely
-puerile—such as the toy model of an ancient city, thought to be old
-Rome, and perhaps suggested by the miniature “Valley of Canopus” in the
-neighbouring Villa of Hadrian; and there are endless complications of
-detail, where the earlier masters would have felt the need of breadth
-and simplicity. Above all, there is a want of harmony between the
-landscape and its treatment. The baroque garden-architecture of Italy is
-not without charm, and even a touch of the grotesque has its attraction
-in the flat gardens of Lombardy or the sunny Euganeans; but the
-cypress-groves of the Villa d’Este are too solemn, and the Roman
-landscape is too august, to suffer the nearness of the trivial.
-
-
-                                  III
-
-                                FRASCATI
-
-The most famous group of villas in the Roman country-side lies on the
-hill above Frascati. Here, in the middle of the sixteenth century,
-Flaminio Ponzio built the palace of Mondragone for Cardinal Scipione
-Borghese.[4] Aloft among hanging ilex-woods rises the mighty pile on its
-projecting basement. This fortress-like ground floor, with high-placed
-grated windows, is common to all the earlier villas on the
-brigand-haunted slopes of Frascati. An avenue of ancient ilexes (now
-cruelly cut down) leads up through the park to the villa, which is
-preceded by a great walled courtyard, with fountains in the usual
-rusticated niches. To the right of this court is another, flanked by the
-splendid loggia of Vignola, with the Borghese eagles and dragons
-alternating in its sculptured spandrels, and a vaulted ceiling adorned
-with _stucchi_—one of the most splendid pieces of garden-architecture in
-Italy.
-
-Footnote 4:
-
-  The villa was begun by Martino Lunghi the Elder, in 1567, for the
-  Cardinal Marco d’Altemps, enlarged by Pope Gregory VII, and completed
-  by Paul V and his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. See Gustav Ebe,
-  “Die Spätrenaissance.”
-
-[Illustration: CASCADE AND ROTUNDA, VILLA ALDOBRANDINI, FRASCATI]
-
-At the other end of this inner court, which was formerly a
-flower-garden, Giovanni Fontana, whose name is identified with the
-fountains of Frascati, constructed a _théâtre d’eau_, raised above the
-court, and approached by a double ramp elaborately inlaid in mosaic.
-This ornate composition, with a series of mosaic niches simulating
-arcaded galleries in perspective, is now in ruins, and the most
-impressive thing about Mondragone is the naked majesty of its great
-terrace, unadorned save by a central fountain and two tall twisted
-columns, and looking out over the wooded slopes of the park to Frascati,
-the Campagna, and the sea.
-
-On a neighbouring height lies the more famous Villa Aldobrandini, built
-for the cardinal of that name by Giacomo della Porta in 1598, and said
-by Evelyn, who saw it fifty years later, “to surpass the most delicious
-places ... for its situation, elegance, plentiful water, groves, ascents
-and prospects.”
-
-The house itself does not bear comparison with such buildings as the
-Villa Medici or the Villa Pamphily. In style it shows the first stage of
-the baroque, before that school had found its formula. Like all the
-hill-built villas of Frascati, it is a story lower at the back than in
-front; and the roof of this lower story forms at each end a terrace
-level with the first-floor windows. These terraces are adorned with two
-curious turrets, resting on baroque basements and crowned by
-swallow-tailed crenellations—a fantastic reversion to mediævalism, more
-suggestive of “Strawberry Hill Gothic” than of the Italian seventeenth
-century.
-
-Orazio Olivieri and Giovanni Fontana are said to have collaborated with
-Giacomo della Porta in designing the princely gardens of the villa.
-Below the house a series of splendid stone terraces lead to a long
-_tapis vert_, with an ilex avenue down its centre, which descends to the
-much-admired grille of stone and wrought-iron enclosing the grounds at
-the foot of the hill. Behind the villa, in a semicircle cut out of the
-hillside, is Fontana’s famous water-theatre, of which Evelyn gives a
-picturesque description: “Just behind the Palace ... rises a high hill
-or mountain all overclad with tall wood, and so formed by nature as if
-it had been cut out by art, from the summit of which falls a cascade ...
-precipitating into a large theatre of water. Under this is an artificial
-grot wherein are curious rocks, hydraulic organs, and all sorts of
-singing birds, moving and chirping by force of the water, with several
-other pageants and surprising inventions. In the centre of one of these
-rooms rises a copper ball that continually dances about three feet above
-the pavement, by virtue of a wind conveyed secretly to a hole beneath
-it; with many other devices for wetting the unwary spectators.... In one
-of these theatres of water is an Atlas spouting, ... and another monster
-makes a terrible roaring with a horn; but, above all, the representation
-of a storm is most natural, with such fury of rain, wind and thunder as
-one would imagine oneself in some extreme tempest.”
-
-[Illustration: GARDEN OF VILLA LANCELLOTTI, FRASCATI]
-
-Atlas and the monster are silent, and the tempest has ceased to roar;
-but the architecture of the great water-theatre remains intact. It has
-been much extolled by so good a critic as Herr Gurlitt, yet compared
-with Vignola’s loggia at Mondragone or the terrace of the Orti
-Farnesiani, it is a heavy and uninspired production. It suffers also
-from too great proximity to the villa, and from being out of scale with
-the latter’s modest elevation: there is a distinct lack of harmony
-between the two façades. But even Evelyn could not say too much in
-praise of the glorious descent of the cascade from the hilltop. It was
-in the guidance of rushing water that the Roman garden-architects of the
-seventeenth century showed their poetic feeling and endless versatility;
-and the architecture of the upper garden at the Aldobrandini merits all
-the admiration which has been wasted on its pompous theatre.
-
-Another example of a _théâtre d’eau_, less showy but far more beautiful,
-is to be seen at the neighbouring Villa Conti (now Torlonia). Of the
-formal gardens of this villa there remain only the vast terraced
-stairways which now lead to an ilex-grove level with the first story of
-the villa. This grove is intersected by mossy alleys, leading to
-circular clearings where fountains overflow their wide stone basins, and
-benches are ranged about in the deep shade. The central alley, on the
-axis of the villa, leads through the wood to a great grassy semicircle
-at the foot of an ilex-clad hill. The base of the hillside is faced with
-a long arcade of twenty niches, divided by pilasters, and each
-containing a fountain. In the centre is a great baroque pile of
-rock-work, from which the spray tosses into a semicircular basin, which
-also receives the cascade descending from the hilltop. This cascade is
-the most beautiful example of fountain-architecture in Frascati. It
-falls by a series of inclined stone ledges into four oval basins, each a
-little wider than the one above it. On each side, stone steps which
-follow the curves of the basins lead to a grassy plateau above, with a
-balustraded terrace overhanging the rush of the cascade. The upper
-plateau is enclosed in ilexes, and in its centre is one of the most
-beautiful fountains in Italy—a large basin surrounded by a richly
-sculptured balustrade. The plan of this fountain is an interesting
-example of the variety which the Italian garden-architects gave to the
-outline of their basins. Even in the smaller gardens the plan of these
-basins is varied with taste and originality; and the small
-wall-fountains are also worthy of careful study.
-
-[Illustration: CASINO, VILLA FALCONIERI, FRASCATI]
-
-Among the villas of Frascati there are two, less famous than the
-foregoing, but even more full of a romantic charm. One is the Villa
-Muti, a mile or two beyond the town, on the way to Grotta Ferrata. From
-the gate three ancient ilex avenues lead to the villa, the central one
-being on the axis of the lowest garden. The ground rises gradually
-toward the house, and the space between the ilex avenues was probably
-once planted in formal _boschi_, as fragments of statuary are still seen
-among the trees. The house, set against the hillside, with the usual
-fortress-like basement, is two stories lower toward the _basse-cour_
-than toward the gardens. The avenue to the left of the entrance leads to
-a small garden, probably once a court, in front of the villa, whence one
-looks down over a mighty retaining-wall at the _basse-cour_ on the left.
-On the right, divided from the court by a low wall surmounted by vases,
-lies the most beautiful box-garden in Italy, laid out in an elaborate
-geometrical design, and enclosed on three sides by high clipped walls of
-box and laurel, and on the fourth by a retaining-wall which sustains an
-upper garden. Nothing can surpass the hushed and tranquil beauty of the
-scene. There are no flowers or bright colours—only the contrasted tints
-of box and ilex and laurel, and the vivid green of the moss spreading
-over damp paths and ancient stonework.
-
-In the upper garden, which is of the same length but narrower, the
-box-parterres are repeated. This garden, at the end nearest the villa,
-has a narrow raised terrace, with an elaborate architectural
-retaining-wall, containing a central fountain in stucco-work. Steps
-flanked by statues lead up to this fountain, and thence one passes by
-another flight of steps to the third, or upper, garden, which is level
-with the back of the villa. This third garden, the largest of the three,
-was once also laid out in formal parterres and _bosquets_ set with
-statues, and though it has now been remodelled in the landscape style,
-its old plan may still be traced. Before it was destroyed the three
-terraces of the Villa Muti must have formed the most enchanting garden
-in Frascati, and their plan and architectural details are worthy of
-careful study, for they belong to the rare class of small Italian
-gardens where grandeur was less sought for than charm and sylvan
-seclusion, and where the Latin passion for the monumental was
-subordinated to a desire for moderation and simplicity.
-
-[Illustration: THE ENTRANCE, VILLA FALCONIERI, FRASCATI]
-
-The Villa Falconieri, on the hillside below Mondragone, is remarkable
-for the wealth of its garden-architecture. The grounds are entered by
-two splendid stone gateways, the upper one being on an axis with the
-villa. A grass avenue leads from this gate to an arch of triumph, a
-rusticated elevation with niches and statues, surmounted by the
-inscription “Horatius Falconieris,” and giving access to the inner
-grounds. Hence a straight avenue runs between formal ilex-groves to the
-court before the house. On the right, above the _bosco_, is a lofty wall
-of rock, picturesquely overgrown by shrubs and creepers, with busts and
-other fragments of antique sculpture set here and there on its
-projecting ledges. This natural cliff sustains an upper plateau, where
-there is an oblong artificial water (called “the lake”) enclosed in
-rock-work and surrounded by a grove of mighty cypresses. From this shady
-solitude the wooded slopes of the lower park are reached by a double
-staircase so simple and majestic in design that it harmonizes perfectly
-with the sylvan wildness which characterizes the landscape. This
-staircase should be studied as an example of the way in which the
-Italian garden-architects could lay aside exuberance and whimsicality
-when their work was intended to blend with some broad or solemn effect
-of nature.
-
-The grounds of the Villa Falconieri were laid out by Cardinal Ruffini in
-the first half of the sixteenth century, but the villa was not built
-till 1648. It is one of the most charming creations of Borromini, that
-brilliant artist in whom baroque architecture found its happiest
-expression; and the Villa Falconieri makes one regret that he did not
-oftener exercise his fancy in the construction of such pleasure-houses.
-The elevation follows the tradition of the Roman _villa suburbana_. The
-centre of the ground floor is an arcaded loggia, the roof of which forms
-a terrace to the recessed story above; while the central motive of this
-first story is another semicircular recess, adorned with stucco ornament
-and surmounted by a broken pediment. The attic story is set still
-farther back, so that its balustraded roof-line forms a background for
-the richly decorated façade, and the building, though large, thus
-preserves the airy look and lightness of proportion which had come to be
-regarded as suited to the suburban pleasure-house.
-
-To the right of the villa, the composition is prolonged by a gateway
-with coupled columns surmounted by stone dogs, and leading from the
-forecourt to the adjoining _basse-cour_. About the latter are grouped a
-number of low farm-buildings, to which a touch of the baroque gives
-picturesqueness. In the charm of its elevation, and in the happy
-juxtaposition of garden-walls and outbuildings, the Villa Falconieri
-forms the most harmonious and successful example of garden-architecture
-in Frascati.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA LANCELLOTTI, FRASCATI]
-
-The elevation which most resembles it is that of the Villa Lancellotti.
-Here the house, which is probably nearly a century earlier, shows the
-same happy use of the open loggia, which in this case forms the central
-feature of the first story, above a stately pedimented doorway. The
-loggia is surmounted by a kind of square-headed gable crowned by a
-balustrade with statues, and the façade on each side of this central
-composition is almost Tuscan in its severity. Before the house lies a
-beautiful box-garden of intricate design, enclosed in high walls of
-ilex, with the inevitable _théâtre d’eau_ at its farther end. This is a
-semicircular composition, with statues in niches between rusticated
-pilasters, and a central grotto whence a fountain pours into a wide
-balustraded basin; the whole being surmounted by another balustrade,
-with a statue set on each pier. It is harmonious and dignified in
-design, but unfortunately a fresh coating of brown and yellow paint has
-destroyed that exquisite _patina_ by means of which the climate of Italy
-effects the gradual blending of nature and architecture.
-
-
-
-
-                             GENOESE VILLAS
-
-
-[Illustration: VILLA SCASSI, GENOA]
-
-
-
-
-                                   V
-
-                             GENOESE VILLAS
-
-
-Genoa, one of the most splendour-loving cities in Italy, had almost
-always to import her splendour. In reading Soprani’s “Lives of the
-Genoese Painters, Sculptors and Architects,” one is struck by the fact
-that, with few exceptions, these worthies were Genoese only in the sense
-of having placed their talents at the service of the merchant princes
-who reared the marble city above its glorious harbour.
-
-The strength of the race lay in other directions; but, as is often the
-case with what may be called people of secondary artistic instincts, the
-Genoese pined for the beauty they could not create, and in the sixteenth
-century they called artists from all parts of Italy to embody their
-conceptions of magnificence. Two of the most famous of these, Fra
-Montorsoli and Pierin del Vaga, came from Florence, Galeazzo Alessi from
-Perugia, Giovanni Battista Castello from Bergamo; and it is to the
-genius of these four men, sculptor, painter, architect, and _stuccatore_
-(and each more or less versed in the crafts of the others), that Genoa
-owes the greater part of her magnificence.
-
-Fra Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, the Florentine, must here be named
-first, since his chief work, the Palazzo Andrea Doria, built in 1529, is
-the earliest of the great Genoese villas. It is also the most familiar
-to modern travelers, for the other beautiful country houses which
-formerly crowned the heights above Genoa, from Pegli to Nervi, have now
-been buried in the growth of manufacturing suburbs, so that only the
-diligent seeker after villa-architecture will be likely to come upon
-their ruined gardens and peeling stucco façades among the factory
-chimneys of Sampierdarena or the squalid tenements of San Fruttuoso.
-
-The great Andrea Doria, “Admiral of the Navies of the Pope, the Emperor,
-the King of France and the Republic of Genoa,” in 1521 bought the villas
-Lomellini and Giustiniani, on the western shore of the port of Genoa,
-and throwing the two estates together, created a villa wherein “to enjoy
-in peace the fruits of an honoured life”—so runs the inscription on the
-outer wall of the house.
-
-Fra Montorsoli was first and foremost a sculptor, a pupil of
-Michelangelo’s, a plastic artist to whom architecture was probably of
-secondary interest. Partly perhaps for this reason, and also because the
-Villa Doria was in great measure designed to show the frescoes of Pierin
-del Vaga, there is little elaboration in its treatment. Yet the
-continuous open loggia on the ground floor, and the projecting side
-colonnades enclosing the upper garden, give an airy elegance to the
-water-front, and make it, in combination with its mural paintings and
-stucco-ornamentation, and the sculpture of the gardens, one of the most
-villa-like of Italian villas. The gardens themselves descend in terraces
-to the shore, and contain several imposing marble fountains, among them
-one with a statue of Neptune, executed in 1600 by the Carloni, and
-supposed to be a portrait of the great Admiral.
-
-The house stands against a steep terraced hillside, formerly a part of
-the grounds, but now unfortunately divided from them by the railway
-cutting. A wide _tapis vert_ still ascends the hill to a colossal
-Jupiter (under which the Admiral’s favourite dog is said to be buried);
-and when the villa is seen from the harbour one understands how
-necessary this stately terraced background was to the setting of the
-low-lying building. Beautiful indeed must have been the surroundings of
-the villa when Evelyn visited it in 1644, and described the marble
-terraces above the sea, the aviary “wherein grew trees of more than two
-feet in diameter, besides cypress, myrtles, lentiscuses and other rare
-shrubs,” and “the other two gardens full of orange-trees, citrons and
-pomegranates, fountains, grots and statues.” All but the statues have
-now disappeared, yet much of the old garden-magic lingers in the narrow
-strip between house and sea. It is the glory of the Italian
-garden-architects that neglect and disintegration cannot wholly mar the
-effects they were skilled in creating: effects due to such a fine sense
-of proportion, to so exquisite a perception of the relation between
-architecture and landscape, between verdure and marble, that while a
-trace of their plan remains one feels the spell of the whole.
-
-When Rubens came to Genoa in 1607 he was so impressed by the
-magnificence of its great street of palaces—the lately built Strada
-Nuova—that he recorded his admiration in a series of etchings, published
-in Antwerp in 1622 under the title “Palazzi di Genova,” a priceless
-document for the student of Renaissance architecture in Italy, since the
-Flemish master did not content himself with mere impressionist sketches,
-like Canaletto’s fanciful Venetian etchings, but made careful
-architectural drawings and bird’s-eye views of all the principal Genoese
-palaces. As many of these buildings have since been altered, Rubens’s
-volume has the additional value of preserving a number of interesting
-details which might never have been recovered by subsequent study.
-
-The Strada Nuova of Genoa, planned by Galeazzo Alessi between 1550 and
-1560, is the earliest example in Europe of a street laid out by an
-architect with deliberate artistic intent, and designed to display the
-palaces with which he subsequently lined it. Hitherto, streets had
-formed themselves on the natural lines of traffic, and individual houses
-had sprung up along them without much regard to the site or style of
-their nearest neighbors. The Strada Nuova, on the contrary, was planned
-and carried out homogeneously, and was thus the progenitor of all the
-great street plans of modern Europe—of the Place Royale and the Place
-Vendôme in Paris, the great Place at Nancy, the grouping of Palladian
-palaces about the Basilica of Vicenza, and all subsequent attempts to
-create an organic whole out of a number of adjacent buildings. Even
-Lenfant’s plan of Washington may be said to owe its first impulse to the
-Perugian architect’s conception of a street of palaces.
-
-When Alessi projected this great work he had open ground to build on,
-though, as Evelyn remarked, the rich Genoese merchants had, like the
-Hollanders, “little or no extent of ground to employ their estates in.”
-Still, there was space enough to permit of spreading porticoes and
-forecourts, and to one of the houses in the Strada Nuova Alessi gave the
-ample development and airy proportions of a true _villa suburbana_. This
-is the Palazzo Parodi, which, like the vanished Sauli palace, shows,
-instead of the block plan of the city dwelling, a central _corps de
-bâtiment_ with pavilions crowned by open loggias, and a rusticated
-screen dividing the court from the street. It is curious that, save in
-the case of the beautiful Villa Sauli (now completely rebuilt), Alessi
-did not repeat this appropriate design in the country houses with which
-he adorned the suburbs of Genoa—those “ravishing retirements of the
-Genoese nobility” which prolonged the splendour of the city for miles
-along the coast. Of his remaining villas, all are built on the block
-plan, or with but slight projections, and rich though they are in
-detail, and stately in general composition, they lack that touch of
-fantasy which the Roman villa-architects knew how to impart.
-
-Before pronouncing this a defect, however, one must consider the
-different conditions under which Alessi and his fellow-architects in
-Genoa had to work. Annibale Lippi, Pirro Ligorio, Giacomo della Porta
-and Carlo Borromini reared their graceful loggias and stretched their
-airy colonnades against masses of luxuriant foliage and above a
-far-spreading landscape,
-
-                                           wonderful
-                 To the sea’s edge for gloss and gloom,
-
-while Alessi and Montorsoli had to place their country houses on narrow
-ledges of waterless rock, with a thin coating of soil parched by the
-wind, and an outlook over the serried roofs and crowded shipping of a
-commercial city. The Genoese gardens are mere pockets of earth in coigns
-of masonry, where a few olives and bay-trees fight the sun-glare and
-sea-wind of a harsh winter and a burning summer. The beauty of the
-prospect consists in the noble outline of the harbour, enclosed in
-exquisitely modelled but leafless hills, and in the great blue stretch
-of sea on which, now and then, the mountains of Corsica float for a
-moment. It will be seen that, amid such surroundings, the architectural
-quality must predominate over the picturesque or naturalistic. Not only
-the natural restrictions of site and soil, but the severity of the
-landscape and the nearness of a great city, made it necessary that the
-Genoese villa-architects should produce their principal effects by means
-of masonry and sculpture, rather than of water and verdure. The somewhat
-heavy silhouette of the Genoese country houses is thus perhaps partly
-explained; for where the garden had to be a stone monument, it would
-have been illogical to make the house less massive.
-
-The most famous of Alessi’s villas lies in the once fashionable suburb
-of Sampierdarena, to the west of Genoa. Here, along the shore, were
-clustered the most beautiful pleasure-houses of the merchant princes.
-The greater number have now been turned into tenements for
-factory-workers, or into actual factories, while the beautiful gardens
-descending to the sea have been cut in half by the railway and planted
-with cabbages and mulberries. Amid this labyrinth of grimy walls,
-crumbling loggias and waste ground heaped with melancholy refuse, it is
-not easy to find one’s way to the Villa Imperiali (now Scassi), the
-masterpiece of Alessi, which stands as a solitary witness to the former
-“ravishments” of Sampierdarena. By a happy chance this villa has become
-the property of the municipality, which has turned the house into a
-girls’ school, while the grounds are used as a public garden; and so
-well have house and grounds been preserved that the student of
-architecture may here obtain a good idea of the magnificence with which
-the Genoese nobles surrounded even their few weeks of _villeggiatura_.
-To match such magnificence, one must look to one of the great villas of
-the Roman cardinals; and, with the exception of the Villa Doria Pamphily
-(which is smaller) and of the Villa Albani, it would be difficult to
-cite an elevation where palatial size is combined with such lavish
-richness of ornament.
-
-Alessi was once thought to have studied in Rome under Michelangelo; but
-Herr Gurlitt shows that the latter was absent from Rome from 1516 to
-1535—that is, precisely during what must have been the formative period
-of Alessi’s talent. The Perugian architect certainly shows little trace
-of Michelangelesque influences, but seems to derive rather from the
-school of his own great contemporary, Palladio.
-
-The Villa Scassi, with its Tuscan order below and fluted Corinthian
-pilasters above, its richly carved frieze and cornice, and its beautiful
-roof-balustrade, is perhaps more familiar to students than any other
-example of Genoese suburban architecture. Almost alone among Genoese
-villas, it stands at the foot of a hill, with gardens rising behind it
-instead of descending below it to the sea. Herr Gurlitt thinks these
-grounds are among the earliest in Italy in which the narrow mediæval
-_hortus inclusus_ was blent with the wider lines of the landscape;
-indeed, he makes the somewhat surprising statement that “all the later
-garden-craft has its source in Alessi, who, in the Scassi gardens, has
-shown to the full his characteristic gift for preserving unity of
-conception in multiplicity of form.”
-
-[Illustration: A GARDEN-NICHE, VILLA SCASSI, GENOA]
-
-There could be no better definition of the garden-science of the Italian
-Renaissance; and if, as it seems probable, the Scassi gardens are
-earlier in date than the Boboli and the Orti Farnesiani, they certainly
-fill an important place in the evolution of the pleasure-ground; but the
-Vatican gardens, if they were really designed by Antonio da Sangallo,
-must still be regarded as the source from which the later school of
-landscape-architects drew their first inspiration. It was certainly
-here, and in the unfinished gardens of the Villa Madama, that the
-earliest attempts were made to bring the untamed forms of nature into
-relation with the disciplined lines of architecture.
-
-Herr Gurlitt is, however, quite right in calling attention to the
-remarkable manner in which the architectural lines of the Scassi gardens
-have been adapted to their site, and also to the skill with which Alessi
-contrived the successive transition from the formal surroundings of the
-house to the sylvan freedom of the wooded hilltop beneath which it lies.
-
-A broad terrace, gently sloping with the natural grade of the land,
-leads up to a long level walk beneath the high retaining-wall which
-sustains the second terrace. In the centre of this retaining-wall is a
-beautifully designed triple niche, divided by Atlantides supporting a
-delicately carved entablature, while a double flight of steps encloses
-this central composition. Niches with statues and marble seats also
-adorn the lateral walls of the gardens, and on the upper terrace is a
-long tank or canal, flanked by clipped shrubs and statues. Thence an
-inclined path leads to a rusticated temple with _colonnes torses_, and
-statues in niches above fluted basins into which water once flowed; and
-beyond this there is a winding ascent to the grove which crowns the
-hill. All the architectural details of the garden are remarkable for a
-classical purity and refinement, except the rusticated temple, of which
-the fantastic columns are carved to resemble tree-trunks. This may be of
-later date; but if contemporary, its baroque style was probably intended
-to mark the transition from the formality of the lower gardens to the
-rustic character of the naturalistic landscape above—to form, in fact, a
-gate from the garden to the park.
-
-The end of the sixteenth century saw this gradual recognition of nature,
-and adoption of her forms, in the architecture and sculpture of the
-Italian pleasure-house, and more especially in those outlying
-constructions which connected the formal and the sylvan portions of the
-grounds. “In mid-Renaissance garden-architecture,” as Herr Tuckermann
-puts it, “the relation between art and landscape is reversed. Previously
-the garden had had to adapt itself to architecture; now architectural
-forms are forced into a resemblance with nature.”
-
-Bernini was the great exponent of this new impulse, though it may be
-traced back as far as Michelangelo. It was Bernini who first expressed
-in his fountains the tremulous motion and shifting curves of water, and
-who put into his garden-sculpture that rustle of _plein air_ which the
-modern painter seeks to express in his landscapes. To trace the gradual
-development of this _rapprochement_ to nature at a period so highly
-artificial would be beyond the scope of these articles; but in judging
-the baroque garden architecture and sculpture of the late Renaissance,
-it should be remembered that they are not the expression of a wilful
-eccentricity, but an attempted link between the highly conventionalized
-forms of urban art and that life of the fields and woods which was
-beginning to charm the imagination of poets and painters.
-
-On the height above the Acqua Sola gardens, on the eastern side of
-Genoa, lies Alessi’s other great country house, the Villa Pallavicini
-alle Peschiere—not to be confounded with the ridiculous Villa
-Pallavicini at Pegli, a brummagem creation of the early nineteenth
-century, to which the guide-books still send throngs of unsuspecting
-tourists, who come back imagining that this tawdry jumble of weeping
-willows and Chinese pagodas, mock Gothic ruins and exotic vegetation,
-represents the typical “Italian garden,” of which so much is said and so
-little really known.
-
-The Villa Pallavicini alle Peschiere (a drawing of which may be seen in
-Rubens’s collection) is in site and design a typical Genoese suburban
-house of the sixteenth century. The lower story has a series of arched
-windows between Ionic pilasters; above are square-headed windows with
-upper lights, divided by fluted Corinthian pilasters and surmounted by a
-beautiful cornice and a roof-balustrade of unusual design, in which
-groups of balusters alternate with oblong panels of richly carved
-openwork. The very slightly projecting wings have, on both stories,
-arched recesses in which heroic statues are painted in _grisaille_.
-
-The narrow ledge of ground on which the villa is built permits only of a
-broad terrace in front of the house, with a central basin surmounted by
-a beautiful winged figure and enclosed in stone-edged flower-beds.
-Stately flights of steps lead down to a lower terrace, of which the
-mighty retaining-wall is faced by a Doric portico, with a recessed
-loggia behind it. From this level other flights of steps, flanked by
-great balustraded walls nearly a hundred feet high, descend to a third
-terrace, narrower than the others, whence one looks down into
-lower-lying gardens, wedged into every projecting shelf of ground
-between palace roofs and towering slopes of masonry; while directly
-beneath this crowded foreground sparkles the blue expanse of the
-Mediterranean.
-
-On a higher ledge, above the Villa Pallavicini, lies the Villa
-Durazzo-Grapollo, perhaps also a work of Alessi’s. Here the unusual
-extent of ground about the house has permitted an interesting
-development of landscape-architecture. A fine pedimented gateway with
-rusticated piers gives admission to a straight avenue of plane-trees
-leading up to the house, which is a dignified building with two stories,
-a _mezzanine_ and an attic. The windows on the ground floor are
-square-headed, with oblong sunk panels above; while on the first floor
-there is a slightly baroque movement about the architraves, and every
-other window is surmounted by a curious shell-shaped pediment. On the
-garden side a beautiful marble balcony forms the central motive of the
-_piano nobile_, and the roof is enclosed in a balustrade with alternate
-solid panels and groups of balusters. The plan is oblong, with slightly
-projecting wings, adorned on both stories with coupled pilasters, which
-on the lower floor are rusticated and above are fluted Corinthian,
-painted on the stucco surface of the house. This painting of
-architectural ornament is very characteristic of Genoese architecture,
-and was done with such skill that, at a little distance, it is often
-impossible to distinguish a projecting architectural member from its
-frescoed counterfeit.
-
-In front of the villa is a long narrow formal garden, supported on three
-sides by a lofty retaining-wall. Down the middle of this garden, on an
-axis with the central doorway of the façade, runs a canal terminated by
-reclining figures of river-gods and marble dolphins spouting water. An
-ilex-walk flanks it on each side, and at the farther end a balustrade
-encloses this upper garden, and two flights of steps, with the usual
-central niche, lead to the next level. Here there is a much greater
-extent of ground, and the old formal lines have been broken up into the
-winding paths and shrubberies of a _jardin anglais_. Even here, however,
-traces of the original plan may be discovered, and statues and fountains
-are scattered with charming effect among the irregular plantations,
-while paths between clipped walls of green lead to beautiful distant
-views of the sea and mountains. Specially interesting is the treatment
-of the lateral retaining-walls of the upper garden. In these immense
-ramparts of masonry have been cut tunnels decorated with shell-work and
-stucco ornament, which lead up by a succession of wide steps to the
-ground on a level with the house. One of these tunnels contains a series
-of pools of water, which finally pour into a stream winding through a
-romantic _boschetto_ on a lower level. Here, as at the Villa Scassi, all
-the garden-architecture is pure and dignified in style, and there is
-great beauty in the broad and simple treatment of the upper terrace,
-with its canal and ilex-walks.
-
-From the terraces of the Villa Durazzo one looks forth over the hillside
-of San Francesco d’Albaro, the suburb which balances Sampierdarena on
-the east. Happily this charming district is still a fashionable
-villeggiatura, and the houses which Alessi built on its slopes stand
-above an almost unaltered landscape of garden and vineyard. A fine road
-crosses the Bisagno and leads up between high walls and beautiful
-hanging gardens, passing at every turn some charming villa-façade in its
-setting of cypresses and camellias. Among these, one should not overlook
-the exquisite little Paradisino, a pale-green toy villa with Ionic
-pilasters and classic pediment, perched above a high terrace on the left
-of the ascent.
-
-Just above stands the Paradiso (or Villa Cambiaso), another masterpiece
-of Alessi’s,[5] to which it is almost impossible to obtain admission.
-Unfortunately, the house stands far back from the road, above
-intervening terraces and groves, and one can obtain only an imperfect
-glimpse of its beautiful façade, which is as ornate and imposing as that
-of the Villa Scassi, and of garden-walks lined with clipped hedges and
-statues.
-
-Footnote 5:
-
-  In his “Baukunst der Renaissance in Italien” (Part II, Vol. V) Dr.
-  Josef Durm, without citing his authority, says that the Villa Paradiso
-  was built in 1600 by Andrea Ceresola, called Vanove.
-
-At Alessi’s other Villa Cambiaso, higher up the hill of San Francesco
-d’Albaro, a more hospitable welcome awaits the sight-seer. Here
-admission is easily obtained, and it is possible to study and photograph
-at leisure. This villa is remarkable for the beauty of the central
-loggia on the ground floor of the façade: a grand Doric arcade, leading
-into a two-storied atrium designed in the severest classical spirit. So
-suggestive is this of the great loggia of the Villa Bombicci, near
-Florence, that one understands why Alessi was called the pupil of
-Michelangelo. At the back of the house there is (as at the Villa
-Bombicci) a fine upper loggia, and the wide spacing of the windows on
-the ground floor, and the massiveness and simplicity of all the
-architectural details, inevitably recall the Tuscan style. Little is
-left of the old gardens save a _tapis vert_ flanked by clipped hedges,
-which descends to an iron grille on a lower road; but the broad grassy
-space about the house has a boundary-wall with a continuous marble
-bench, like that at the Villa Pia in the Vatican gardens.
-
-In the valley between San Francesco d’Albaro and the Bisagno lies the
-dismal suburb of San Fruttuoso. Here one must seek, through a waste of
-dusty streets lined with half-finished tenements, for what must once
-have been the most beautiful of Genoese pleasure-houses—the Villa
-Imperiali, probably built by Fra Montorsoli. It stands high above broad
-terraced grounds of unusual extent, backed by a hanging wood; but all
-the old gardens have been destroyed, save the beautiful upper terrace,
-and even the house has suffered some injury, though not enough to
-detract greatly from its general effect. Here at last one finds that
-union of lightness and majesty which characterizes the Villa Medici and
-other Roman houses of its kind. The long elevation, with wings set back,
-has a rusticated basement, surmounted by two stories and an attic above
-the cornice. There is no order, but the whole façade is richly frescoed
-in a severe architectural style, with niches, statues in grisaille, and
-other ornaments, all executed by a skilful hand. The windows on the
-first floor have broken pediments with a shell-like movement, and those
-above show the same treatment, alternating with the usual triangular
-pediment. But the crowning distinction of the house consists in the two
-exquisite loggias which form the angles of the second story. These tall
-arcades, resting on slender columns, give a wonderful effect of
-spreading lightness to the façade, and break up its great bulk without
-disturbing the general impression of strength and dignity. As a skilful
-distribution of masses the elevation of the Villa Imperiali deserves the
-most careful study, and it is to be regretted that it can no longer be
-seen in combination with the wide-spread terraces which once formed a
-part of its composition.
-
-
-
-
-                             LOMBARD VILLAS
-
-
-[Illustration: VILLA CICOGNA, BISUSCHIO]
-
-
-
-
-                                   VI
-
-                             LOMBARD VILLAS
-
-
-On the walls of the muniment-room of the old Borromeo palace in Milan,
-Michelino, a little-known painter of the fifteenth century, has depicted
-the sports and diversions of that noble family. Here may be seen ladies
-in peaked hennins and long drooping sleeves, with their shock-headed
-gallants in fur-edged tunics and pointed shoes, engaged in curious games
-and dances, against the background of Lake Maggiore and the Borromean
-Islands.
-
-It takes the modern traveller an effort of mental readjustment to
-recognize in this “clump of peakèd isles”—bare Leonardesque rocks
-thrusting themselves splinter-wise above the lake—the smiling groves and
-terraces of the Isola Bella and the Isola Madre. For in those days the
-Borromei had not converted their rocky islands into the hanging gardens
-which to later travellers became one of the most important sights of the
-“grand tour”; and one may learn from this curious fresco with what
-seemingly hopeless problems the Italian garden-art dealt, and how, while
-audaciously remodelling nature, it contrived to keep in harmony with the
-surroundings amid which it worked.
-
-The Isola Madre, the largest of the Borromean group, was the first to be
-built on and planted. The plain Renaissance palace still looks down on a
-series of walled gardens and a grove of cypress, laurel and pine; but
-the greater part of the island has been turned into an English park of
-no special interest save to the horticulturist, who may study here the
-immense variety of exotic plants which flourish in the mild climate of
-the lakes. The Isola Bella, that pyramid of flower-laden terraces rising
-opposite Stresa, in a lovely bend of the lake, began to take its present
-shape about 1632, when Count Carlo III built a _casino di delizie_ on
-the rocky pinnacle. His son, Count Vitaliano IV, continued and completed
-the work. He levelled the pointed rocks, filled their interstices with
-countless loads of soil from the mainland, and summoned Carlo Fontana
-and a group of Milanese architects to raise the palace and
-garden-pavilions above terraces created by Castelli and Crivelli, while
-the waterworks were entrusted to Mora of Rome, the statuary and other
-ornamental sculpture to Vismara. The work was completed in 1671, and the
-island, which had been created a baronial fief, was renamed Isola
-Isabella, after the count’s mother—a name which euphony, and the general
-admiration the place excited, soon combined to contract to Isola Bella.
-
-The island is built up in ten terraces, narrowing successively toward
-the top, the lowest resting on great vaulted arcades which project into
-the lake and are used as a winter shelter for the lemon-trees of the
-upper gardens. Each terrace is enclosed in a marble balustrade, richly
-ornamented with vases, statues and obelisks, and planted with a
-profusion of roses, camellias, jasmine, myrtle and pomegranate, among
-which groups of cypresses lift their dark shafts. Against the
-retaining-walls oranges and lemons are espaliered, and flowers border
-every path and wreathe every balustrade and stairway. It seems probable,
-from the old descriptions of the Isola Bella, that it was originally
-planted much as it now appears; in fact, the gardens of the Italian
-lakes are probably the only old pleasure-grounds of Italy where flowers
-have always been used in profusion. In the equable lake climate, neither
-cold in winter, like the Lombard plains, nor parched in summer, like the
-South, the passion for horticulture seems to have developed early, and
-the landscape-architect was accustomed to mingle bright colours with his
-architectural masses, instead of relying on a setting of uniform
-verdure.
-
-The topmost terrace of the Isola Bella is crowned by a mount, against
-which is built a water-theatre of excessively baroque design. This
-architectural composition faces the southern front of the palace, a
-large and not very interesting building standing to the north of the
-gardens; while the southern extremity of the island terminates in a
-beautiful garden-pavilion, hexagonal in shape, with rusticated coigns
-and a crowning balustrade beset with statues. Even the narrow reef
-projecting into the lake below this pavilion has been converted into
-another series of terraces, with connecting flights of steps, which
-carry down to the water’s edge the exuberant verdure of the upper
-gardens.
-
-The palace is more remarkable for what it contains in the way of
-furniture and decoration than for any architectural value. Its great
-bulk and heavy outline are quite disproportionate to the airy elegance
-of the gardens it overlooks, and house and grounds seem in this case to
-have been designed without any regard to each other. The palace has,
-however, one feature of peculiar interest to the student of
-villa-architecture, namely, the beautiful series of rooms in the south
-basement, opening on the gardens, and decorated with the most exquisite
-ornamentation of pebble-work and seashells, mingled with delicately
-tinted stucco. These low vaulted rooms, with marble floors, grotto-like
-walls, and fountains dripping into fluted conchs, are like a poet’s
-notion of some twilight refuge from summer heats, where the languid
-green air has the coolness of water; even the fantastic consoles, tables
-and benches, in which cool-glimmering mosaics are combined with carved
-wood and stucco painted in faint greens and rose-tints, might have been
-made of mother-of-pearl, coral and seaweed for the adornment of some
-submarine palace. As examples of the decoration of a garden-house in a
-hot climate, these rooms are unmatched in Italy, and their treatment
-offers appropriate suggestions to the modern garden-architect in search
-of effects of coolness.
-
-To show how little the gardens of the Isola Bella have been changed
-since they were first laid out, it is worth while to quote the
-description of Bishop Burnet, that delightful artist in orthography and
-punctuation, who descended into Italy in the year 1685, with his
-“port-mangles” laden upon “mullets.”
-
-“From _Lugane_,” the bishop’s breathless periods begin, “I went to the
-_Lago Maggiore_, which is a great and noble Lake, it is six and fifty
-Miles long, and in most places six Miles broad, and a hundred Fathoms
-deep about the middle of it, it makes a great Bay to the Westward, and
-there lies here two Islands called the _Borromean_ Islands, that are
-certainly the loveliest spots of ground in the World, there is nothing
-in all Italy that can be compared to them, they have the full view of
-the Lake, and the ground rises so sweetly in them that nothing can be
-imagined like the Terraces here, they belong to two Counts of the
-_Borromean_ family. I was only in one of them, which belongs to the head
-of the Family, who is Nephew to the famous Cardinal known by the name of
-St _Carlo_.... The whole Island is a garden ... and because the figure
-of the Island was not made regular by Nature, they have built great
-Vaults and Portica’s along the Rock, which are all made Grotesque, and
-so they have brought it into a regular form by laying earth over those
-Vaults. There is first a Garden to the East that rises up from the Lake
-by five rows of Terrasses, on the three sides of the Garden that are
-watered by the Lake, the Stairs are noble, the Walls are all covered
-with Oranges and Citrons, and a more beautiful spot of a Garden cannot
-be seen: There are two buildings in the two corners of this Garden, the
-one is only a Mill for fetching up the Water, and the other is a noble
-Summer-House [the hexagonal pavilion] all Wainscotted, if I may speak
-so, with Alabaster and Marble of a fine colour inclining to red, from
-this Garden one goes in a level to all the rest of the Alleys and
-Parterres, Herb-Gardens and Flower-Gardens, in all which there are
-Varieties of Fountains and Arbors, but the great Parterre is a
-surprizing thing, for as it is well furnished with Statues and
-Fountains, and is of a vast extent, and justly situated to the Palace,
-so at the further-end of it there is a great Mount, that face of it that
-looks to the Parterre is made like a Theatre all full of Fountains and
-Statues, the height rising up in five several rows ... and round this
-Mount, answering to the five rows into which the Theatre is divided,
-there goes as Many Terrasses of noble Walks, the Walls are all as close
-covered with Oranges and Citrons as any of our Walls in _England_ are
-with Laurel: the top of the Mount is seventy foot long and forty broad,
-and here is a vast Cistern into which the Mill plays up the water that
-must furnish all the Fountains.... The freshness of the Air, it being
-both in a Lake and near the Mountains, the fragrant smell, the beautiful
-Prospect, and the delighting Variety that is here makes it such a
-habitation for Summer that perhaps the whole World hath nothing like
-it.”
-
-[Illustration: VILLA ISOLA BELLA, LAKE MAGGIORE]
-
-Seventeenth-century travellers were unanimous in extolling the Isola
-Bella, though, as might have been expected, their praise was chiefly for
-those elaborations and ingenuities of planning and engineering which
-give least pleasure in the present day. Toward the middle of the
-eighteenth century a critical reaction set in. Tourists, enamoured of
-the new “English garden,” and of Rousseau’s descriptions of the “bosquet
-de Julie,” could see nothing to admire in the ordered architecture of
-the Borromean Islands. The sentimental sight-seer, sighing for sham
-Gothic ruins, for glades planted “after Poussin,” and for all the
-laboured naturalism of Repton and Capability Brown, shuddered at the
-frank artifice of the old Italian garden-architecture. The quarrel then
-begun still goes on, and sympathies are divided between the
-artificial-natural and the frankly conventional. The time has come,
-however, when it is recognized that both these manners _are_ manners,
-the one as artificial as the other, and each to be judged, not by any
-ethical standard of “sincerity,” but on its own æsthetic merits. This
-has enabled modern critics to take a fairer view of such avowedly
-conventional compositions as the Isola Bella, a garden in comparison
-with which the grounds of the great Roman villas are as naturalistic as
-the age of Rousseau could have desired.
-
-Thus impartially judged, the Isola Bella still seems to many too
-complete a negation of nature; nor can it appear otherwise to those who
-judge of it only from pictures and photographs, who have not seen it in
-its environment. For the landscape surrounding the Borromean Islands has
-precisely that quality of artificiality, of exquisitely skilful
-arrangement and manipulation, which seems to justify, in the
-garden-architect, almost any excesses of the fancy. The Roman landscape,
-grandiose and ample, seems an unaltered part of nature; so do the subtly
-modelled hills and valleys of central Italy: all these scenes have the
-deficiencies, the repetitions, the meannesses and profusions, with which
-nature throws her great masses on the canvas of the world; but the lake
-scenery appears to have been designed by a lingering and fastidious
-hand, bent on eliminating every crudeness and harshness, and on blending
-all natural forms, from the bare mountain-peak to the melting curve of
-the shore, in one harmony of ever-varying and ever-beautiful lines.
-
-The effect produced is undoubtedly one of artificiality, of a chosen
-exclusion of certain natural qualities, such as gloom, barrenness, and
-the frank ugliness into which nature sometimes lapses. There is an
-almost forced gaiety about the landscape of the lakes, a fixed smile of
-perennial loveliness. And it is as a complement to this attitude that
-the Borromean gardens justify themselves. Are they real? No; but neither
-is the landscape about them. Are they like any other gardens on earth?
-No; but neither are the mountains and shores about them like earthly
-shores and mountains. They are Armida’s gardens anchored in a lake of
-dreams, and they should be compared, not with this or that actual piece
-of planted ground, but with a page of Ariosto or Boiardo.
-
-From the garden-student’s point of view, there is nothing in Lombardy as
-important as the Isola Bella. In these rich Northern provinces, as in
-the environs of Florence, the old gardens have suffered from the
-affluence of their owners, and scarcely any have been allowed to retain
-their original outline. The enthusiasm for the English garden swept over
-Lombardy like a tidal wave, obliterating terraces and grottoes,
-substituting winding paths for pleached alleys, and transforming level
-box-parterres into rolling lawns which turn as brown as door-mats under
-the scorching Lombard sun.
-
-On the lakes, where the garden-architect was often restricted to a
-narrow ledge of ground between mountains and water, these
-transformations were less easy, for the new style required a
-considerable expanse of ground for its development. Along the shores of
-Como especially, where the ground rises so abruptly from the lake,
-landscape effects were difficult to produce, nor was it easy to discover
-a naturalistic substitute for the marble terraces built above the water.
-Even here, however, the narrow gardens have been as much modified as
-space permitted, the straight paths have been made to wind, and spotty
-flower-beds in grass have replaced the ordered box-gardens with their
-gravelled walks and their lemon-trees in earthen vases.
-
-The only old garden on Como which keeps more than a fragment of its
-original architecture is that of the Villa d’Este at Cernobbio, a mile
-or two from the town of Como, at the southern end of the lake. The
-villa, built in 1527 by Cardinal Gallio (who was born a fisher-lad of
-Cernobbio), has passed through numerous transformations. In 1816 it was
-bought by Caroline of Brunswick, who gave it the name of Este, and
-turned it into a great structure of the Empire style. Here for several
-years the Princess of Wales held the fantastic court of which Bergami,
-the courier, was High Chamberlain if not Prince Consort; and, whatever
-disadvantages may have accrued to herself from this establishment, her
-residence at the Villa d’Este was a benefit to the village, for she
-built the road connecting Cernobbio with Moltrasio, which was the first
-carriage-drive along the lake, and spent large sums on improvements in
-the neighbourhood of her estate.
-
-Since then the villa has suffered a farther change into a large and
-fashionable hotel; but though Queen Caroline anglicized a part of the
-grounds, the main lines of the old Renaissance garden still exist.
-
-[Illustration: IN THE GARDENS OF ISOLA BELLA, LAKE MAGGIORE]
-
-Behind the Villa d’Este the mountains are sufficiently withdrawn to
-leave a gentle acclivity, which was once laid out in a series of
-elaborate gardens. Adjoining the villa is a piece of level ground just
-above the lake, which evidently formed the “secret garden” with its
-parterres and fountains. This has been replaced by a lawn and
-flower-beds, but still keeps its boundary-wall at the back, with a
-baroque grotto and fountain of pebbles and shell-work. Above this rises
-a _tapis vert_ shaded by cypresses, and leading to the usual Hercules in
-a temple. The peculiar feature of this ascent is that it is bordered on
-each side with narrow steps of channelled stone, down which the water
-rushes under overlapping ferns and roses to the fish-pool below the
-grotto in the lower garden. Beyond the formal gardens is the _bosco_, a
-bit of fine natural woodland climbing the cliff-side, with winding paths
-which lead to various summer-houses and sylvan temples. The rich leafage
-of walnut, acacia and cypress, the glimpses of the blue lake far below,
-the rush of a mountain torrent through a deep glen spanned by a romantic
-ivy-clad bridge, make this _bosco_ of the Villa d’Este one of the most
-enchanting bits of sylvan gardening in Italy. Scarcely less enchanting
-is the grove of old plane-trees by the water-gate on the lake, where, in
-a solemn twilight of over-roofing branches, woodland gods keep watch
-above the broad marble steps descending to the water. In the gardens of
-the Villa d’Este there is much of the Roman spirit—the breadth of
-design, the unforced inclusion of natural features, and that
-sensitiveness to the quality of the surrounding landscape which
-characterizes the great gardens of the Campagna.
-
-Just across the lake, in the deep shade of the wooded cliffs beneath the
-Pizzo di Torno, lies another villa still more steeped in the Italian
-garden-magic. This is the Villa Pliniana, built in 1570 by the Count
-Anguissola of Piacenza, and now the property of the Trotti family of
-Milan. The place takes its name from an intermittent spring in the
-court, which is supposed to be the one described by Pliny in one of his
-letters; and it is farther celebrated as being the coolest villa on
-Como. It lies on a small bay on the east side of the lake, and faces due
-north, so that, while the villas of Cernobbio are bathed in sunlight, a
-deep green shade envelops it. The house stands on a narrow ledge, its
-foundations projecting into the lake, and its back built against the
-almost vertical wooded cliff which protects it from the southern sun.
-Down this cliff pours a foaming mountain torrent from the Val di Calore,
-just beneath the peak of Torno; and this torrent the architect of the
-Villa Pliniana has captured in its descent to the lake and carried
-through the central apartment of the villa.
-
-The effect produced is unlike anything else, even in the wonderland of
-Italian gardens. The two wings of the house, a plain and somewhat
-melancholy-looking structure, are joined by an open arcaded room,
-against the back wall of which the torrent pours down, over stonework
-tremulous with moss and ferns, gushing out again beneath the balustrade
-of the loggia, where it makes a great semicircle of glittering whiteness
-in the dark-green waters of the lake. The old house is saturated with
-the freshness and drenched with the flying spray of the caged torrent.
-The bare vaulted rooms reverberate with it, the stone floors are green
-with its dampness, the air quivers with its cool incessant rush. The
-contrast of this dusky dripping loggia, on its perpetually shaded bay,
-with the blazing blue waters of the lake and their sun-steeped western
-shores, is one of the most wonderful effects in _sensation_ that the
-Italian villa-art has ever devised.
-
-The architect, not satisfied with diverting a part of the torrent to
-cool his house, has led the rest in a fall down the cliff immediately
-adjoining the villa, and has designed winding paths through the woods
-from which one may look down on the bright rush of the waters. On the
-other side of the house lies a long balustraded terrace, between the
-lake and the hanging woods, and here, on the only bit of open and level
-ground near the house, are the old formal gardens, now much neglected,
-but still full of a melancholy charm.
-
-After the Villa Pliniana, the other gardens of Como seem almost
-commonplace. All along both shores are villas which, amid many
-alterations, have preserved traces of their old garden-architecture,
-such as the Bishop of Como’s villa, south of Leno, with its baroque
-saints and prophets perched along the garden-balustrade, and the more
-famous Villa Carlotta at Cadenabbia, where the fine gateways and the
-architectural treatment of the terraces bear witness to the former
-beauty of the grounds. But almost everywhere the old garden-magic has
-been driven out by a fury of modern horticulture. The pleached alleys
-have made way for lawns dotted with palms and bananas, the box-parterres
-have been replaced by star-shaped beds of begonias and cinerarias, and
-the groves of laurel and myrtle by thickets of pampas-grass and bamboo.
-This description applies to all the principal gardens between Como and
-Bellagio. Here and there, indeed, in almost all of them, some
-undisturbed corner remains—a flight of steps wreathed in Banksian roses
-and descending to a shady water-gate; a fern-lined grotto with a stucco
-Pan or Syrinx; a clipped laurel-walk set with marble benches, or a
-classic summer-house above the lake—but these old bits are so scattered
-and submerged under the new order of gardening that it requires an
-effort of the imagination to reconstruct from them an image of what the
-old lake-gardens must have been before every rich proprietor tried to
-convert his marble terraces into an English park.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA CICOGNA, FROM THE TERRACE ABOVE THE HOUSE]
-
-Almost to be included among lake-villas is the beautiful Villa Cicogna
-at Bisuschio. This charming old place lies in the lovely but
-little-known hill-country between the Lake of Varese and the southern
-end of Lugano. The house, of which the history appears to be unknown to
-the present owners, is an early Renaissance building of great beauty,
-with a touch of Tuscan austerity in its design. The plain front, with
-deep projecting eaves and widely spaced windows, might stand on some
-village square above the Arno; and the interior court, with its
-two-storied arcade, recalls, in purity and lightness of design, the
-inheritors of Brunelleschi’s tradition. So few country houses of the
-early sixteenth century are to be found in the Milanese that it would be
-instructive to learn whether the Villa Cicogna is in fact due to a
-Tuscan hand, or whether this mid-Italian style was at that time also
-prevalent in Lombardy.
-
-The villa is built against a hillside, and the interior court forms an
-oblong, enclosed on three sides by the house, and continued on the
-fourth by a beautiful sunken garden, above which runs a balustraded walk
-on a level with the upper story. On the other side of the house is
-another garden, consisting of a long terrace bounded by a high
-retaining-wall, which is tunnelled down its whole length to form a shady
-arcaded walk lined with ferns and dripping with runnels of water. At the
-back of the house the ground continues to rise, and a _château d’eau_ is
-built against the hillside; while beyond the terrace-garden already
-described, a gate leads to a hanging woodland, with shady walks from
-which, at every turn, there are enchanting views across the southern bay
-of Lake Lugano.
-
-The house itself is as interesting as the garden. The walls of the court
-are frescoed in charming cinque-cento designs, and the vaulted ceiling
-of the loggia is painted in delicate trellis-work, somewhat in the
-manner of the semicircular arcade at the Villa di Papa Giulio. Several
-of the rooms also preserve their wall-frescoes and much of their
-Renaissance furniture, while a series of smaller apartments on the
-ground floor are exquisitely decorated with stucco ornament in the light
-style of the eighteenth century; so that the Villa Cicogna still gives a
-vivid idea of what an old Italian country house must have been in its
-original state.
-
-From the hill-villas of the lakes to the country places of the Milanese
-rice-fields the descent is somewhat abrupt; but the student of
-garden-architecture may mitigate the transition by carrying on his
-researches from the southern end of Como through the smiling landscape
-of the Brianza. Here there are many old villas, in a lovely setting of
-vineyard and woodland, with distant views of the Alps and of the sunny
-Lombard plain; but of old gardens few are to be found. There is one of
-great beauty, belonging to the Villa Crivelli, near the village of
-Inverigo; but as it is inaccessible to visitors, only tantalizing
-glimpses may be obtained of its statues and terraces, its cypress-walks
-and towering “Gigante.” Not far from Inverigo is the Rotonda Cagnola,
-now the property of the Marchese d’Adda, and built in 1813 by the
-Marchese Luigi Cagnola in imitation of the Propylæa of the Acropolis.
-The house is beautifully placed on a hilltop, with glorious views over
-the Alps and Apennines, and is curious to the student as an example of
-the neo-classicism of the Empire; but it has of course no gardens in the
-old sense of the term.
-
-The flat environs of Milan were once dotted with country houses, but
-with the growth of the city and the increased facilities of travel,
-these have been for the most part abandoned for villas in the hills or
-on the lakes, and to form an idea of their former splendour one must
-turn to the pages of Alberto del Rè’s rare volumes. Here one may see in
-all its detail that elaborate style of gardening which the French
-landscape-gardeners developed from the “grand manner” acquired by Le
-Nôtre in his study of the great Roman country-seats. This style, adapted
-to the flat French landscape, and complicated by the mannerisms and
-elaborations of the eighteenth century, came back to Italy with the
-French fashions which Piedmont and Lombardy were so fond of importing.
-The time had passed when Europe modelled itself on Italy: France was now
-the glass of fashion, and, in northern Italy especially, French
-architecture and gardening were eagerly reproduced.
-
-In Lombardy the natural conditions were so similar that the French
-geometrical gardens did not seem out of place; yet even here a
-difference is felt, both in the architecture and the gardens. Italy, in
-spite of Palladio and the Palladian tradition, never freed herself from
-the baroque. Her artistic tendencies were all toward freedom,
-improvisation, individual expression, while France was fundamentally
-classical and instinctively temperate. Just as the French cabinet-makers
-and bronze-chisellers and modellers in stucco produced more delicate and
-finished, but less personal, work than the Italian craftsmen, so the
-French architects designed with greater precision and restraint, and
-less play of personal invention. To establish a rough distinction, it
-might be said that French art has always been intellectual and Italian
-art emotional; and this distinction is felt even in the treatment of the
-pleasure-house and its garden. In Italy the architectural detail
-remained baroque till the end of the eighteenth century, and the
-architect permitted himself far greater license in the choice of forms
-and the combination of materials. The old villas of the Milanese have a
-very strong individuality, and it is to be regretted that so few remain
-intact to show what a personal style they preserved even under the most
-obvious French influences.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA PLINIANA, LAKE COMO]
-
-The Naviglio, the canal which flows through Milan and sends various
-branches to the Ticino and the Adda, was formerly lined for miles beyond
-the city with suburban villas. Few remain unaltered, and even of these
-few the old gardens have disappeared. One of the most interesting houses
-in Del Rè’s collection, the Villa Alario (now Visconti di Saliceto), on
-the Naviglio near Cernusco, is still in perfect preservation without and
-within; and though its old gardens were replaced by an English park
-early in the nineteenth century, their general outline is still
-discoverable. The villa, a stately pile built by Ruggieri in 1736, looks
-on a court divided from the highway by a fine wall and beautiful iron
-gates. Low wings containing the chapel and offices, and running at right
-angles to the main building, connect the latter with the courtyard
-walls; and arched passages through the centre of the wings lead to
-outlying courts surrounded by stables and other dependencies. The house,
-toward the forecourt, has a central open loggia or atrium, and the upper
-windows are framed in baroque architraves and surmounted by square attic
-lights. The garden elevation is more elaborate. Here there is a central
-projection, three windows wide, flanked by two-storied open loggias, and
-crowned by an attic with ornamental pilasters and urns. This central bay
-is adorned with beautiful wrought-iron balconies, which are repeated in
-the wings at each end of the building. All the wrought-iron of the Villa
-Visconti is remarkable for its elegance and originality, and as used on
-the terraces, and in the balustrade of the state staircase, in
-combination with heavy baroque stone balusters, it is an interesting
-example of a peculiarly Lombard style of decoration.
-
-Between the house and the Naviglio there once lay an elaborate _parterre
-de broderie_, terminated above the canal by a balustraded retaining-wall
-adorned with statues, and flanked on each side by pleached walks,
-arbours, trellis-work and fish-ponds. Of this complicated pleasance
-little remains save the long terraces extending from each end of the
-house, the old flower-garden below one of these, and some bits of
-decorative sculpture incorporated in the boundary-walls. The long tank
-or canal shown in Del Rè’s print has been turned into an irregular pond
-with grass-banks, and the _parterre de broderie_ is now a lawn; even the
-balustrade has been removed from the wall along the Naviglio. Still, the
-architectural details of the forecourt and the terraces are worthy of
-careful study, and the unusual beauty of the old villa, with its
-undisturbed group of dependencies, partly atones for the loss of its
-original surroundings.
-
-[Illustration: IRON GATES OF THE VILLA ALARIO| (NOW VISCONTI DI
-SALICETO)]
-
-Many eighteenth-century country houses in the style of the Villa
-Visconti are scattered through the Milanese, though few have retained so
-unaltered an outline, or even such faint traces of their formal gardens.
-The huge villa of the Duke of Modena at Varese—now the Municipio—is a
-good example of the same architecture, and has a beautiful
-stone-and-iron balustrade and many wrought-iron balconies in the same
-style as those at Cernusco; and its gardens, ascending the hillside
-behind the house, and now used as a public park, must once have been
-very fine. The Grand Hôtel of Varese is also an old villa, and its
-architectural screen and projecting wings form an unusually
-characteristic façade of the same period. Here, again, little remains of
-the old garden but a charming upper terrace; but the interior
-decorations of many of the rooms are undisturbed, and are exceptionally
-interesting examples of the more delicate Italian baroque.
-
-Another famous country house, Castellazzo d’Arconate, at Bollate, is
-even more palatial than the Duke of Modena’s villa at Varese, and, while
-rather heavy in general outline, has an interesting interior façade,
-with a long arcade resting on coupled columns, and looking out over a
-stately courtyard with statues. This villa is said to have preserved a
-part of its old gardens, but it is difficult of access, and could not be
-visited at the time when the material for these chapters was collected.
-
-[Illustration: RAILING OF THE VILLA ALARIO]
-
-
-
-
-                           VILLAS OF VENETIA
-
-
-[Illustration: GATEWAY OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN, PADUA]
-
-
-
-
-                                  VII
-
-                           VILLAS OF VENETIA
-
-
-Writers on Italian architecture have hitherto paid little attention to
-the villa-architecture of Venetia. It is only within the last few years
-that English and American critics have deigned to recognize any
-architectural school in Italy later than that of Vignola and Palladio,
-and even these two great masters of the sixteenth century have been held
-up as examples of degeneracy to a generation bred in the Ruskinian code
-of art ethics. In France, though the influence of Viollet-le-Duc was
-nearly as hostile as Ruskin’s to any true understanding of Italian art,
-the Latin instinct for form has asserted itself in a revived study of
-the classic tradition; but French writers on architecture have hitherto
-confined themselves chiefly to the investigation of their national
-styles.
-
-It is only in Germany that Italian architecture from Palladio to Juvara
-has received careful and sympathetic study. Burckhardt pointed the way
-in his “Cicerone” and in “The Architecture of the Renaissance in Italy”;
-Herr Gustav Ebe followed with an interesting book on the late
-Renaissance throughout Europe; and Herr Gurlitt has produced the most
-masterly work yet written on the subject, his “History of the Baroque
-Style in Italy.” These authors, however, having to work in a new and
-extensive field, have necessarily been obliged to restrict themselves to
-its most important divisions. Burckhardt’s invaluable “Renaissance
-Architecture,” though full of critical insight, is rather a collection
-of memoranda than a history of the subject; and even Herr Gurlitt,
-though he goes into much greater detail, cannot forsake the highroad for
-the by-paths, and has consequently had to pass by many minor
-ramifications of his subject. This is especially to be regretted in
-regard to the villa-architecture of Venetia, the interest and
-individuality of which he fully appreciates. He points out that the
-later Venetian styles spring from two sources, the schools of Palladio
-and of Sansovino. The former, greatly as his work was extolled, never
-had the full sympathy of the Venetians. His art was too pure and severe
-for a race whose taste had been formed on the fantastic mingling of
-Gothic and Byzantine and on the glowing decorations of the greatest
-school of colourists the world has known. It was from the warm and
-picturesque art of Sansovino and Longhena that the Italian baroque
-naturally developed; and though the authority of Palladio made itself
-felt in the official architecture of Venetia, its minor constructions,
-especially the villas and small private houses, seldom show any trace of
-his influence save in the grouping of their windows. So little is known
-of the Venetian villa-builders that this word as to their general
-tendencies must replace the exact information which still remains to be
-gathered.
-
-Many delightful examples of the Venetian _maison de plaisance_ are still
-to be found in the neighbourhood of Padua and Treviso, along the Brenta,
-and in the country between the Euganeans and the Monti Berici.
-Unfortunately, in not more than one or two instances have the old
-gardens of these houses been preserved in their characteristic form;
-and, by a singular perversity of fate, it happens that the villas which
-have kept their gardens are not typical of the Venetian style. One of
-them, the castle of Cattajo, at Battaglia in the Euganean Hills, stands
-in fact quite apart from any contemporary style. This extraordinary
-edifice, built for the Obizzi of Venice about 1550, is said to have been
-copied from the plans of a castle in Tartary brought home by Marco Polo.
-It shows, at any rate, a deliberate reversion, in mid-cinque-cento, to a
-kind of Gothicism which had become obsolete in northern Italy three
-hundred years earlier; and the mingling of this rude style with classic
-detail and Renaissance sculpture has produced an effect picturesque
-enough to justify so quaint a tradition.
-
-Cattajo stands on the edge of the smiling Euganean country, its great
-fortress-like bulk built up against a wooded knoll with a little river
-at its base. Crossing the river by a bridge flanked by huge piers
-surmounted with statues, one reaches a portcullis in a massive
-gatehouse, also adorned with statues. The portcullis opens on a long
-narrow court planted with a hedge of clipped euonymus; and at one end a
-splendid balustraded stairway _à cordon_ leads up to a flagged terrace
-with yew-trees growing between the flags. To the left of this terrace is
-a huge artificial grotto, with a stucco Silenus lolling on an elephant,
-and other life-size animals and figures, a composition recalling the
-zoölogical wonders of the grotto at Castello. This Italian reversion to
-the grotesque, at a time when it was losing its fascination for the
-Northern races, might form the subject of an interesting study of race
-æsthetics. When the coarse and sombre fancy of mediæval Europe found
-expression in grinning gargoyles and baleful or buffoonish images,
-Italian art held serenely to the beautiful, and wove the most tragic
-themes into a labyrinth of lovely lines; but in the seventeenth and
-eighteenth centuries, when the classical graces had taken possession of
-northern Europe, the chimerical animals, the gnomes and goblins, the
-gargoyles and broomstick-riders, fled south of the Alps, and reappeared
-in the queer fauna of Italian grottoes and in the leering dwarfs and
-satyrs of the garden-walk.
-
-[Illustration: VIEW AT VAL SAN ZIBIO, NEAR BATTAGLIA]
-
-From the yew-tree terrace at Cattajo an arcaded loggia gives access to
-the interior of the castle, which is a bewilderment of low-storied
-passageways and long flights of steps hewn in the rock against which the
-castle is built. From a vaulted tunnel of stone one passes abruptly into
-a suite of lofty apartments decorated with seventeenth-century frescoes
-and opening on a balustraded terrace guarded by marble divinities; or,
-taking another turn, one finds one’s self in a sham Gothic chapel or in
-a mediæval _chemin de ronde_ on the crenelated walls. This fantastic
-medley of styles, in conjunction with the unusual site of the castle,
-has produced several picturesque bits of garden, wedged between the
-walls and the hillside, or on the terraces overhanging the river; but
-from the architectural point of view, the most interesting thing about
-Cattajo is the original treatment of the great stairway in the court.
-
-Six or seven miles from Battaglia, in a narrow and fertile valley of the
-Euganeans, lies one of the most beautiful pleasure-grounds in Italy.
-This is the garden of the villa at Val San Zibio. On approaching it, one
-sees, across a grassy common, a stately and ornate arch of triumph with
-a rusticated façade and a broken pediment enriched with statues. This
-arch, which looks as though it were the principal entrance-gate, appears
-to have been placed in the high boundary-wall merely in order to afford
-from the highway a vista of the _château d’eau_ which is the chief
-feature of the gardens. The practice of breaking the wall to give a view
-of some special point in the park or garden was very common in France,
-but is seldom seen in Italy, though there is a fine instance of it in
-the open grille below the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati.
-
-The house at Val San Zibio is built with its back to the highroad, and
-is an unpretentious structure of the seventeenth century, not unlike the
-Villa de’ Gori at Siena, though the Palladian grouping of its central
-windows shows the nearness of Venice. It looks on a terrace enclosed by
-a balustrade, whence a broad flight of steps descends to the gently
-sloping gardens. They are remarkable for their long pleached alleys of
-beech, their wide _tapis verts_, fountains, marble benches and statues
-charmingly placed in niches of clipped verdure. In one direction is a
-little lake, in another a “mount” crowned by a statue, while a long
-alley leads to a well-preserved maze with a raised platform in its
-centre. These labyrinths are now rarely found in Italian gardens, and
-were probably never as popular south of the Alps as in Holland and
-England. The long _château d’eau_, with its couchant Nereids and
-conch-blowing Tritons, descends a gentle slope instead of a steep hill,
-and on each side high beech-hedges enclose tall groves of deciduous
-trees. These hedges are characteristic of the north Italian gardens,
-where the plane, beech and elm replace the “perennial greens” of the
-south; and there is one specially charming point at Val San Zibio, where
-four grass-alleys walled with clipped beeches converge on a stone basin
-sunk in the turf, with four marble putti seated on the curb, dangling
-their feet in the water. An added touch of quaintness is given to the
-gardens by the fact that the old waterworks are still in action, so that
-the unwary visitor, assailed by fierce jets of spray darting up at him
-from the terrace steps, the cracks in the flagstones, and all manner of
-unexpected ambushes, may form some idea of the aquatic surprises which
-afforded his ancestors such inexhaustible amusement.
-
-[Illustration: THE BOTANIC GARDEN OF PADUA]
-
-There are few gardens in Italy comparable with Val San Zibio; but in
-Padua there is one of another sort which has kept something of the same
-ancient savor. This is the famous Botanic Garden, founded in 1545, and
-said to be the oldest in Italy. The accompanying plan, though roughly
-sketched from memory, will give some idea of its arrangement. Outside is
-a grove of exotic trees, which surrounds a large circular space enclosed
-in a beautiful old brick wall surmounted by a marble balustrade and
-adorned alternately with busts and statues. The wall is broken by four
-gateways, one forming the principal entrance from the grove, the other
-three opening on semicircles in which statues are set against a
-background of foliage. In the garden itself the beds for “simples” are
-enclosed in low iron railings, within which they are again subdivided by
-stone edgings, each subdivision containing a different species of plant.
-
-Padua, in spite of its flat surroundings, is one of the most picturesque
-cities of upper Italy; and the seeker after gardens will find many
-charming bits along the narrow canals, or by the sluggish river skirting
-the city walls. Indeed, one might almost include in a study of gardens
-the beautiful Prato della Valle, the public square before the church of
-Santa Giustina, with its encircling canal crossed by marble bridges, its
-range of baroque statues of “worthies,” and its central expanse of turf
-and trees. There is no other example in Italy of a square laid out in
-this park-like way, and the Prato della Valle would form an admirable
-model for the treatment of open spaces in a modern city.
-
-[Illustration: VAL SAN ZIBIO, NEAR BATTAGLIA]
-
-A few miles from Padua, at Ponte di Brenta, begins the long line of
-villas which follows the course of the river to its outlet at Fusina.
-Dante speaks in the “Inferno” of the villas and castles on the Brenta,
-and it continued the favourite villeggiatura of the Venetian nobility
-till the middle of the nineteenth century. There dwelt the Signor
-Pococurante, whom Candide visited on his travels; and of flesh-and-blood
-celebrities many might be cited, from the famous Procuratore Pisani to
-Byron, who in 1819 carried off the Guiccioli to his villa at La Mira on
-the Brenta.
-
-The houses still remain almost line for line as they were drawn in
-Gianfrancesco Costa’s admirable etchings, “Le Delizie del Fiume Brenta,”
-published in 1750; but unfortunately almost all the old gardens have
-disappeared. One, however, has been preserved, and as it is the one most
-often celebrated by travellers and poets of the eighteenth century, it
-may be regarded as a good example of a stately Venetian garden. This is
-the great villa built at Strà, in 1736, for Alvise Pisani, procurator of
-St. Mark’s, by the architects Prati and Frigimelica. In size and
-elegance it far surpasses any other house on the Brenta. The prevailing
-note of the other villas is one of simplicity and amenity. They stand
-near each other, either on the roadside or divided from it by a low wall
-bordered with statues and a short strip of garden, also thickly peopled
-with nymphs, satyrs, shepherdesses, and the grotesque and comic figures
-of the Commedia dell’ Arte; unassuming _villini_ for the most part,
-suggesting a life of suburban neighbourliness and sociability. But the
-Villa Pisani is a palace. Its majestic façade, with pillared central
-_corps de bâtiment_ and far-reaching wings, stands on the highway
-bordering the Brenta; behind are the remains of the old formal gardens,
-and on each side, the park extends along the road, from which it is
-divided by a high wall and several imposing gateways. The palace is
-built about two inner courts, and its innumerable rooms are frescoed by
-the principal Italian decorative painters of the day, while the great
-central saloon has one of Tiepolo’s most riotously splendid ceilings.
-Fortunately for the preservation of these treasures, Strà, after being
-the property of Eugène Beauharnais, was acquired by the Italian
-government, and is now a “villa nazionale,” well kept up and open to the
-public.
-
-[Illustration: GATEWAY—VILLA PISANI, STRÀ]
-
-In the etching of Costa, an elaborate formal garden with _parterres de
-broderie_ is seen to extend from the back of the villa to the
-beautifully composed stables which face it. This garden has
-unfortunately been replaced by a level meadow, flanked on both sides by
-_boschi_, with long straight walks piercing the dense green leafage of
-elm, beech and lime. Here and there fragments of garden-architecture
-have survived the evident attempt to convert the grounds into a _jardin
-anglais_ of the sentimental type. There is still a maze, with a fanciful
-little central tower ascended by winding stairs; there is a little
-wooded “mount,” with a moat about it, and a crowning temple; and there
-are various charming garden-pavilions, orangeries, gardeners’ houses,
-and similar small constructions, all built in the airy and romantic
-style of which the Italian villa-architect had not yet lost the secret.
-Architecturally, however, the stables are perhaps the most interesting
-buildings at Strà. Their classical central façade is flanked by two
-curving wings, forming charmingly proportioned lemon-houses, and in the
-stables themselves the stalls are sumptuously divided by columns of red
-marble, each surmounted by the gilded effigy of a horse.
-
-From Strà to Fusina the shores of the Brenta are lined with charming
-pleasure-houses, varying in size from the dignified villa to the little
-garden-pavilion, and all full of interest and instruction to the student
-of villa-architecture; but unhappily no traces of their old gardens
-remain, save the statues which once peopled the parterres and surmounted
-the walls. Several of the villas are attributed to Palladio, but only
-one is really typical of his style: the melancholy Malcontenta, built by
-the Foscari, and now standing ruinous and deserted in a marshy field
-beside the river.
-
-The Malcontenta has all the chief characteristics of Palladio’s manner:
-the high basement, the projecting pillared portico, the general air of
-classical correctness, which seems a little cold beside the bright and
-graceful villa-architecture of Venetia. Burckhardt, with his usual
-discernment, remarks in this connection that it was a fault of
-Palladio’s to substitute for the recessed loggia of the Roman villa a
-projecting portico, thus sacrificing one of the most characteristic and
-original features of the Italian country house to a not particularly
-appropriate adaptation of the Greek temple porch.
-
-But Palladio was a great artist, and if he was great in his civic
-architecture rather than in his country houses, if his stately genius
-lent itself rather to the grouping of large masses than to the
-construction of pretty toys, yet his most famous villa is a distinct and
-original contribution to the chief examples of the Italian
-pleasure-house. The Villa Capra, better known as the Rotonda, which
-stands on a hill above Vicenza, has been criticized for having four
-fronts instead of one front, two sides and a back. It is, in fact, a
-square building with a projecting Ionic portico on each face—a plan open
-to the charge of monotony, but partly justified in this case by the fact
-that the house is built on the summit of a knoll from which there are
-four views, all equally pleasing, and each as it were entitled to the
-distinction of having a loggia to itself. Still, it is certain that
-neither in the Rotonda nor in his other villas did Palladio hit on a
-style half as appropriate or pleasing as the typical manner of the Roman
-villa-architects, with its happy mingling of freedom and classicalism,
-its wonderful adaptation to climate and habits of life, its capricious
-grace of detail, and its harmony with the garden-architecture which was
-designed to surround it.
-
-[Illustration: VILLA VALMARANA, VICENZA]
-
-The Villa Capra has not preserved its old gardens, and at the Villa
-Giacomelli, at Maser, Palladio’s other famous country house, the grounds
-have been so modernized and stripped of all their characteristic
-features that it is difficult to judge of their original design; but one
-feels that all Palladio’s rural architecture lacked that touch of fancy
-and freedom which, in the Roman school, facilitated the transition of
-manner from the house to the garden-pavilion, and from the pavilion to
-the half-rustic grotto and the woodland temple.
-
-The Villa Valmarana, also at Vicenza, on the Monte Berico, not far from
-the Rotonda, has something of the intimate charm lacking in the latter.
-The low and simply designed house is notable only for the charming
-frescoes with which Tiepolo adorned its rooms; but the beautiful loggia
-in the garden is attributed to Palladio, and this, together with the old
-beech-alleys, the charming frescoed fountain, the garden-wall crowned by
-Venetian grotesques, forms a composition of exceptional picturesqueness.
-
-The beautiful country-side between Vicenza and Verona is strewn with old
-villas, many of which would doubtless repay study; but there are no
-gardens of note in this part of Veneto, except the famous Giusti gardens
-at Verona, probably better known to sightseers than any others in
-northern Italy. In spite of all their charm, however, the dusky massing
-of their old cypresses, and their winding walks along the cliff-side,
-the Giusti gardens preserve few traces of their original design, and are
-therefore not especially important to the student of Italian
-garden-architecture. More interesting in this connection is the Villa
-Cuzzano, about seven miles from Verona, a beautiful old house standing
-above a terrace-garden planted with an elaborate _parterre de broderie_.
-Behind the villa is a spacious court bounded by a line of low buildings
-with a central chapel. The interior of the house has been little
-changed, and is an interesting example of north Italian villa planning
-and decoration. The passion of the Italian architects for composition
-and continuity of design is seen in the careful placing of the chapel,
-which is exactly on an axis with the central saloon of the villa, so
-that, standing in the chapel, one looks across the court, through this
-lofty saloon, and out on the beautiful hilly landscape beyond. It was by
-such means that the villa-architects obtained, with simple materials and
-in a limited space, impressions of distance, and sensations of the
-unexpected, for which one looks in vain in the haphazard and slipshod
-designs of the present day.
-
-
-
-
-                        LIST OF BOOKS MENTIONED
-
-
-                                 ITALIAN
-
- Gianfrancesco Costa     _Le Delizie del Fiume Brenta._ 1750.
-
- Giovanni Falda          _Giardini di Roma._ N. d.
-
- Peter Paul Rubens       _Palazzi di Genova._ 1622.
-
- Rafaello Soprani        _Vite de’ Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti
-                           Genovesi._ (Second edition, revised, enlarged
-                           and supplied with notes by C. G. Ratti.
-                           1768.)
-
- Giuseppe Zocchi         _Vedute delle Ville e d’altri luoghi della
-                           Toscana._ 1744.
-
-
-                                 FRENCH
-
- Le Président de Brosses _Lettres Familières écrites d’Italie en 1739 et
-                           1740._
-
- L. Dussieux             _Artistes Français a l’Etranger._
-
- Michel de Montaigne     _Journal du Voyage en Italie par la Suisse et
-                           l’Allemagne en 1580 et 1581._
-
- Percier et Fontaine     _Choix des plus célèbres Maisons de Plaisance
-                           de Rome et de ses Environs._ 1809.
-
- Marc Antonio del Rè     _Maisons de Plaisance de l’Etat de Milan.
-                           Milan._ 1743.
-
- Georges Riat            _L’Art des Jardins._ N. d.
-
- Eugène Emmanuel         _Dictionnaire Raisonné de l’Architecture
-   Viollet-le-Duc          Française._ 1858.
-
-
-                                 GERMAN
-
- Jacob Burckhardt        _Der Cicerone._ 1901.
-
- Jacob Burckhardt        _Geschichte der Renaissance in Italien._ 1891.
-
- Josef Durm              _Die Baustile: Die Baukunst der Renaissance in
-                           Italien._ 1903.
-
- Gustav Ebe              _Die Spätrenaissance._ 1886.
-
- Cornelius Gurlitt       _Geschichte des Barockstils in Italien._ 1887.
-
- W. C. Tuckermann        _Die Gartenkunst der Italienischen
-                           Renaissance-Zeit._ 1884.
-
-
-                                 ENGLISH
-
- Michael Bryan           _Dictionary of Painters and Engravers,
-                           biographical and critical._ Revised and
-                           enlarged by Robert Edmund Graves, B.A., 1886.
-
- G. Burnet, D.D., Bishop Some Letters, containing an Account of what
-   of Salisbury.           seemed most remarkable in Switzerland, Italy,
-                           etc. 1686.
-
- John Evelyn             Diary, 1644.
-
-
-
-
-              ARCHITECTS AND LANDSCAPE-GARDENERS MENTIONED
-
-
-                           ALESSI (GALEAZZO)
-                               1512-1572
-
-Though Alessi was a native of Perugia his best-known buildings were
-erected in Genoa. Among them are the Villa Pallavicini alle Peschiere,
-the Villa Imperiali (now Scassi), the Villa Giustiniani (now Cambiaso),
-the Palazzo Parodi, the public granaries, and the church of the Madonna
-di Carignano. He also laid out the Strada Nuova in Genoa. His chief
-works in other places are: the Palazzo Marin (now the Municipio) in
-Milan; the Palazzo Antinori, and the front of the church of S. Maria del
-Popolo at Perugia; and the church of the Madonna degli Angeli near
-Assisi.
-
-
-                          ALGARDI (ALESSANDRO)
-                               1602-1654
-
-Algardi, a Bolognese architect, was also distinguished as an engraver
-and sculptor, and was noted for his figures of children. He built the
-Villa Belrespiro or Pamphily on the Janiculan, and the Villa Sauli, both
-in Rome.
-
-
-                         AMMANATI (BARTOLOMMEO)
-                               1511-1592
-
-Ammanati, the pupil of Bandinelli and Sansovino, was one of the most
-distinguished Florentine architects of the sixteenth century, and was
-also noted for his garden-sculpture. In Florence some of his best work
-is seen in the Boboli garden and in the court of the Palazzo Pitti,
-while the bridge of the S. Trinità is considered his masterpiece. In
-Rome he built the fine façades of the Palazzo Ruspoli and of the
-Collegio Romano. The rusticated loggia of the Villa Fonte all’ Erta is
-ascribed to him.
-
-
-                       BERNINI (GIOVANNI LORENZO)
-                               1598-1680
-
-Bernini, a Neapolitan by birth, was the greatest Italian architect and
-sculptor of the seventeenth century. One of his masterpieces in
-architecture is the church of S. Andrea al Noviziato on the Quirinal,
-and among his other works in Rome are: the piazza and colonnade of St.
-Peter’s, the Scala Regia in the Vatican, the Palazzo di Monte Citorio,
-and the fountains of Trevi and the Tritone; at Pistoja the Villa
-Rospigliosi, at Terni the cathedral, and at Ravenna the Porta Nuova.
-
-
-                         BORROMINI (FRANCESCO)
-                               1599-1667
-
-Borromini, a pupil of Maderna, was, next to Bernini, the most original
-and brilliant exponent of _baroque_ architecture in Italy. He was born
-in Lombardy, but worked principally in Rome. Among his best-known
-buildings are the church of St. Agnes on the Piazza Navona, that of San
-Carlo alle quattro fontane, and the College of the Propaganda Fide. In
-conjunction with Bernini and Maderna, he built the Palazzo Barberini in
-Rome. Some of his best work is seen in the Villa Falconieri at Frascati.
-
-
-                           BRAMANTE (DONATO)
-                               1444-1514
-
-Bramante was born at Urbino, but executed all his early work in Milan,
-producing the church of S. Maria delle Grazie, the Ospedale Maggiore,
-and the sacristy of San Satiro, which he not only built, but decorated
-internally. In Lombardy the early Renaissance of building is called the
-Bramantesque style. Bramante’s works in Rome are: the Tempietto of San
-Pietro in Montorio, the palace of the Cancelleria, a part of the
-Vatican, and a part of the Palazzo di San Biagio.
-
-
-                            BROWN (LANCELOT)
-                               1715-1783
-
-Lancelot Brown, known as “Capability Brown,” a native of Northumberland,
-began his career in a kitchen-garden, but, though without artistic
-training and unable to draw, he became for a time a popular designer of
-landscape-gardens. He was appointed Royal Gardener at Hampton Court, and
-laid out the lake at Blenheim. He was considered to excel in
-water-gardens.
-
-
-                     BUONTALENTI (BERNARDO TIMANTE)
-                               1536-1608
-
-Buontalenti, one of the leading Florentine architects of the sixteenth
-century, was also distinguished as a sculptor and painter. He built the
-villa of Pratolino and carried on the planning of the Boboli garden. His
-other works in Florence are: the façades of the Palazzi Strozzi and
-Riccardi, the Palazzo Acciajuoli (now Corsini), the corridor leading
-from the Uffizi to the Pitti Palace, and the casino behind San Marco. At
-Siena, Buontalenti built the Palazzo Reale, and at Pisa, the Loggia de’
-Banchi.
-
-
-                           CAMPORESI (PIETRO)
-                             B. ——, d. 1781
-
-Camporesi, a Roman architect, is mentioned as working with “Moore of
-Rome” on the grounds of the Villa Borghese.
-
-
-                                CARLONE
-
-Several brothers of this name lived in Genoa between 1550 and 1650. They
-were known as sculptors, painters and gilders, and workers in stucco.
-The beautiful ceiling of the church of the Santissima Annunziata in
-Genoa is known to be by one of the Carloni.
-
-
-                            CASTELLI (CARLO)
-                              XVII Century
-
-Castelli, who completed the façade of Santa Maria alla Porta, in Milan,
-was an architect of the school of Maderna. With Crivelli he laid out the
-gardens of the Isola Bella, near Como.
-
-
-                      CASTELLO (GIOVANNI BATTISTA)
-                          CALLED IL BERGAMASCO
-                               1509-1579
-
-Giovanni Castello of Bergamo was a pupil of Alessi’s and distinguished
-himself in fresco-painting and sculpture. In Genoa he remodelled the
-Palazzo Pallavicini (now Cataldi) and built the Palazzo Imperiali.
-Soprani (“Vite de’ Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Genovesi”) says that
-Il Bergamasco was court-architect to Philip II of Spain and worked on
-the Escorial. Bryan, in his Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, states
-that Il Bergamasco was employed on the Prado by Charles V, while his son
-worked for Philip II.
-
-
-                                CRIVELLI
-                              XVII Century
-
-This landscape-gardener worked with Carlo Castelli on the grounds of the
-Isola Bella, near Como.
-
-
-                            FERRI (ANTONIO)
-                              XVII Century
-
-Ferri, a Florentine architect, built the Villa Corsini near Florence,
-and remodelled the Palazzo Corsini on the Lungarno.
-
-
-                            FONTANA (CARLO)
-                               1634-1714
-
-Fontana, one of the most versatile and accomplished architects of his
-day, was born at Bruciato, near Milan. He was called to Rome as
-architect of St. Peter’s, and collaborated with Bernini on several
-occasions. In Rome he built the palace of Monte Citorio, the façade of
-San Marcello, and the Palazzo Torlonia. As a villa-architect his most
-famous creation is the Garden Palace of Prince Liechtenstein in Vienna.
-He built the palace on the Isola Bella, and the Villa Chigi, at
-Cetinale, near Siena, is also attributed to him. He was the author of
-works on the Vatican and on the antiquities of Rome.
-
-
-                           FONTANA (GIOVANNI)
-                               1546-1614
-
-Giovanni Fontana, of Melide, near Lugano, excelled in everything
-relating to hydraulic work. At the Villa Borghese in Rome, and in the
-principal villas at Frascati (Aldobrandini, Taverna, Mondragone), he
-introduced original designs for the waterworks. In Rome he built the
-Palazzi Giustiniani and de’ Gori, and made the design for the Fontana
-dell’ Acqua Paola, though he did not live to carry it out.
-
-
-                      FRIGIMELICA (COUNT GIROLAMO)
-                             XVIII Century
-
-Count Frigimelica, an accomplished Venetian nobleman, built the church
-of S. Gaetano at Vicenza, and collaborated with Prati in the
-construction of the Villa Pisani at Strà.
-
-
-                            JUVARA (FILIPPO)
-                               1685-1735
-
-Juvara, the most original and interesting Italian architect of the
-eighteenth century, was a pupil of Carlo Fontana’s. His most important
-work is the church of the Superga near Turin, and his principal
-buildings are found in or near Turin: among them being the hunting-lodge
-of Stupinigi and the churches of Santa Cristina and Santa Maria in
-Carmine. The church of San Filippo in Turin was rebuilt by Juvara, and
-the royal villa at Rivoli, as well as other villas in the environs of
-Turin, show his hand. He remodelled the Palazzo Madama in Rome; at Lucca
-he finished the Palazzo Reale; at Mantua the dome on the church of S.
-Andrea is by him, and in Lisbon and Madrid, respectively, he built the
-royal palaces.
-
-
-                            LE NÔTRE (ANDRÉ)
-                               1613-1700
-
-Le Nôtre, the greatest of French landscape-gardeners, first studied
-painting under Simon Vouet, together with Mignard, Lebrun and Lesueur,
-then succeeded his father as superintendent of the royal gardens. Among
-his great works are the gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte, at Sceaux, at
-Chantilly, and the cascades and park at Saint-Cloud. The park of
-Versailles, the gardens of the Trianon, of Clagny and of Marly, are
-considered his masterpieces. When he visited Italy he remodelled the
-grounds of the Villa Ludovisi. He was frequently consulted by the
-Elector of Brandenburg and other notable foreigners.
-
-
-                            LIGORIO (PIRRO)
-                               1493-1580
-
-Ligorio, the Neapolitan architect, was also distinguished as antiquary,
-sculptor and engineer; he worked much in _sgraffiti_. He built the
-beautiful Villa Pia in the Vatican gardens, and the Villa d’Este at
-Tivoli, and made additions to the Vatican. The Library in Turin
-possesses his numerous manuscripts, some of which have been published.
-His best-known works are “An Attempt to Restore Ancient Rome” and “The
-Restoration of Hadrian’s Villa,” the plates for which were engraved on
-copper by Francesco Contini in 1751.
-
-
-                            LIPPI (ANNIBALE)
-                             B. ——, d. 1581
-
-Lippi is generally said to have been the son of Nanni di Baccio Bigio,
-the architect and sculptor, though some biographers declare them to have
-been the same person. Assuming Lippi to have had a separate identity,
-only two of his works are known: the church of S. Maria di Loreto, near
-Spoleto, and the Villa Medici in Rome. His fame rests on the latter,
-which became the model of the Roman _maison de plaisance_.
-
-
-                         LONGHENA (BALDASSARE)
-                               1604-1682
-
-Longhena, the most distinguished architect of the late Renaissance in
-Venetia, gave all his time and work to his native city. Among the
-buildings he erected there are: S. Maria della Salute, S. Maria al
-Scalzi, the Ospedaletto, the cloister and staircase in San Giorgio
-Maggiore, the Palazzo Pesaro, and the Palazzo Rezzonico (now Zelinsky).
-
-
-                  LUNGHI OR LONGHI (MARTINO) THE ELDER
-                              XVI Century
-
-Lunghi, born at Viggiù in the Milanese, in the second half of the
-sixteenth century, built the Villa Mondragone at Frascati, in 1567, for
-Cardinal Marco d’Altemps. The villa was enlarged by Gregory VII, and
-later by Paul V and his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese.
-
-
-                           MARCHIONNE (CARLO)
-                               1704-1780
-
-Marchionne was the architect of the Villa Albani near Rome, built in
-1746.
-
-
-                    MICHELANGELO (SIMONE BUONARROTI)
-                               1475-1564
-
-The great architect, sculptor and painter, was born in Florence, where
-he built the Laurentian Library and the chapel of S. Lorenzo, with the
-cupola of the sacristy. In Rome he built the Palazzo de’ Conservatorii
-on the Capitoline hill, the cornice of the Palazzo Farnese, the Porta
-del Popolo and the Porta Pia. His model for the dome of St. Peter’s was
-carried out except as to the lantern. Tradition assigns to him the Villa
-ai Collazzi (now Bombicci) near Florence.
-
-
-                    MONTORSOLI (FRA GIOVANNI ANGELO)
-                               1507-1563
-
-Fra Giovanni Montorsoli, a Florentine monk of the Servite Order, was a
-sculptor, and studied under Michelangelo. He was early called to Genoa,
-where he decorated the church of San Matteo (the church of the Doria
-family) and built the famous villa in the harbour for the Admiral Andrea
-Doria. The Villa Imperiali, at San Fruttuoso, near Genoa, is also
-attributed to Montorsoli. One of his best works is the high altar in the
-church of the Servi at Bologna.
-
-
-                             MOORE (JACOB)
-                               1740-1793
-
-Moore, a Scotch landscape-painter—known as “Moore of Rome”—was
-patronized by Prince Borghese, and remodelled the grounds of the Villa
-Borghese in the style of the _jardin anglais_.
-
-
-                                  MORA
-                              XVII Century
-
-A Roman engineer of the name built some of the waterworks on the Isola
-Bella, near Como, in the seventeenth century.
-
-
-                            NOLLI (ANTONIO)
-                             XVIII Century
-
-Nolli laid out the grounds of the Villa Albani near Rome, in 1746.
-
-
-                             NOLLI (PIETRO)
-                             XVIII Century
-
-Pietro Nolli is also mentioned as one of the landscape-gardeners who
-laid out the Villa Albani.
-
-
-                      OLIVIERI (ORAZIO) OF TIVOLI
-                              XVI Century
-
-Olivieri was employed as an engineer of the waterworks at the Villa
-d’Este at Tivoli and the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati.
-
-
-                           PALLADIO (ANDREA)
-                               1508-1580
-
-Palladio, the great Venetian architect, was born at Vicenza. He turned
-the development of Italian Renaissance architecture in the direction of
-pure classicalism, and was a master of proportion in building. At
-Vicenza he rebuilt the Sala della Ragione, and built the Palazzi Tiene
-and Valmarana and the Teatro Olimpico; while the Villa Capra or Rotonda,
-near Vicenza, is his work, and also the Villa Giacomelli at Maser. In
-Venice he erected the churches of San Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore,
-also the Villa Malcontenta near Fusina on the Brenta. Palladio published
-a “Treatise on Architecture” and “The Antiquities of Rome.”
-
-
-                            PARIGI (GIULIO)
-                             B. ——, d. 1635
-
-Parigi was a Florentine architect, engineer and designer. As far as is
-known, he worked entirely in Florence and its environs. He is the
-architect of the court and arcade of Poggio Imperiale, the cloister of
-S. Agostino, the Palazzo Marucelli (now Fenci), the Palazzo Scarlatti,
-and a part of the Uffizi.
-
-
-                          PERUZZI (BALDASSARE)
-                               1481-1537
-
-Peruzzi, who was both architect and painter, divided his time between
-Rome and Siena, where he was born. He built the Villa Vicobello near
-Siena, as well as that of Belcaro. The well-known Palazzo Massimi alle
-Colonne in Rome is his work, also the Villa Trivulzio near Rome.
-
-
-                      PIRANESI (GIOVANNI BATTISTA)
-                               1720-1778
-
-Piranesi, the famous Venetian etcher and engraver, was specially noted
-for his etchings of famous buildings, and has been called “The Rembrandt
-of Architecture.” He was also an architect, and worked on the church of
-S. Maria del Popolo in Rome. While there he also remodelled the chapel
-of the Priory of the Knights of Malta, and probably laid out the
-grounds. Piranesi published over twenty folio volumes of engravings and
-etchings.
-
-
-                           PONZIO (FLAMINIO)
-                               1575-1620
-
-Ponzio, a Lombard architect, built the loggia of the Villa Mondragone at
-Frascati, and the Palazzo Sciarra, and finished the Borghese Chapel in
-the church of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome.
-
-
-                         PORTA (GIACOMO DELLA)
-                               1541-1604
-
-Della Porta, a Milanese architect, was a pupil of Vignola’s. His great
-work was the finishing of the dome of St. Peter’s in Rome, in doing
-which he followed Michelangelo’s plan, but improved the curve. His other
-works in Rome were: the churches of Il Gesù, S. Luigi de’ Francesi, S.
-Catarina de’ Funari, the Palazzo Paluzzi, the façade of the Palazzo
-Chigi, the famous fountains in the Piazza d’Araceli and the Piazza
-Navona (for which Bernini supplied the sculpture), and the Fontana delle
-Tartarughe. In Genoa he finished the church of the S. S. Annunziata, and
-he was employed on the Villa d’Este at Tivoli and the Villa Aldobrandini
-at Frascati.
-
-
-                                 PRATI
-                             XVIII Century
-
-Prati collaborated with Count Frigimelica in building the Villa Pisani,
-at Strà near Venice, in the eighteenth century.
-
-
-                          RAINALDI (GIROLAMO)
-                               1570-1655
-
-Rainaldi was a Roman and his principal works are in Rome. He planned the
-church of S. Agnese; built the façade of S. Andrea della Valle, the
-façade of S. Maria in Campitelli, and the Palazzo Pamphily on the Piazza
-Navona. He added two pavilions to the Farnesina, and designed the
-grounds of the Villa Borghese and the gardens of the Villa Mondragone at
-Frascati. In Bologna he built the church of S. Lucia.
-
-
-                             RAPHAEL SANZIO
-                               1483-1520
-
-Raphael succeeded Bramante as chief architect of St. Peter’s. His most
-important villa is the famous Villa Madama near Rome. The Farnesina in
-Rome was built by him, and he laid out the gardens of the Vatican. His
-other works in Rome are the Palazzo Caffarelli (now Stoppani) and the
-Capella Chigi. In Florence he designed the façades of the church of San
-Lorenzo and of the Palazzo Pandolfini (now Nencini).
-
-
-                           REPTON (HUMPHREY)
-                               1752-1818
-
-Repton, who was born at Bury St. Edmunds, began life as a merchant, but
-having failed in his business, became a landscape-gardener. He published
-“Observations on Landscape Gardening” (1803), and is the best-known
-successor of “Capability Brown” in the naturalistic style of gardening.
-
-
-         ROMANO (GIULIO DEI GIANNUZZI—ALSO CALLED GIULIO PIPPI)
-                               1492-1546
-
-As Raphael’s pupil, Giulio Romano painted the architectural backgrounds
-of Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican, and this led to his studying
-architecture. His masterpiece is the Palazzo del Tè at Mantua, where he
-also built a part of the Palazzo Ducale. He carried out Raphael’s
-decorations in the Villa Madama.
-
-
-                        RUGGIERI (ANTONIO MARIA)
-                             XVIII Century
-
-Ruggieri built the Villa Alario (now Visconti di Saliceto) on the
-Naviglio near Milan, and the façade of the church of S. Firenze in
-Florence. He also remodelled the interior of Santa Felicità in Florence,
-and in Milan he built the Palazzo Cusani.
-
-
-                    SANGALLO (ANTONIO GIAMBERTI DA)
-                               1455-1534
-
-Antonio da Sangallo was a brother of Giuliano, and famous as a carver of
-crucifixes. He altered Hadrian’s tomb in Rome into the Castle of St.
-Angelo, and laid out a part of the Vatican gardens. The church of the
-Madonna di S. Biagio in Montepulciano and the fortress of Cività
-Castellana were built by him.
-
-
-              SANGALLO, THE YOUNGER (ANTONIO CORDIANI DA)
-                               1483-1546
-
-This Sangallo was a nephew of the other Antonio, and a pupil of
-Bramante’s. After Raphael’s death he became the leading architect of St.
-Peter’s. The fortress at Cività Vecchia is his work. In Rome he planned
-the outer gardens of the Vatican and built the right-hand chapel in S.
-Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, the beautiful Palazzo Marchionne Baldassini,
-the Palazzo Sacchetti, and the greater part of the Palazzo Farnese.
-
-
-                    SANGALLO (GIULIANO GIAMBERTI DA)
-                               1445-1516
-
-Giuliano da Sangallo, the Florentine architect, was also noted as an
-engineer and a carver in wood. His great work is the villa at Poggio a
-Caiano near Florence, with a hall having the widest ceiling then known.
-He also built the Villa Petraia at Castello, near Florence, and in or
-near Florence the sacristy and cloister of San Spirito, the cloister for
-the Frati Eremitani di S. Agostino, and the villa of Poggio Imperiale.
-Among his other works are: the Palazzo Rovere near San Pietro in
-Vincoli, in Rome, and the Palazzo Rovere at Savona. Sangallo also
-constructed many fortresses. After Bramante’s death he worked with
-Raphael on St. Peter’s.
-
-
-                        SANSOVINO (JACOPO TATTI)
-                               1487-1570
-
-Sansovino, though a Florentine by birth, worked principally in Venice.
-He was equally distinguished as sculptor and architect. In the latter
-capacity he built in Venice the Zecca or Mint, the Loggietta, the
-Palazzo Cornaro, the Palazzo Corner della Cá Grande, the Scala d’Oro in
-the Doge’s palace, the churches of San Martino and San Fantino, and his
-masterpiece, the Library of San Marco. In Rome the Palazzo Gaddi (now
-Nicolini) was built by him.
-
-
-                           SAVINO (DOMENICO)
-                             XVIII Century
-
-Savino is mentioned among the landscape-gardeners who remodelled the
-grounds of the Villa Borghese.
-
-
-                      TITO (SANTI DI) OF FLORENCE
-                               1536-1603
-
-Santi di Tito of Florence was known as an historical painter, and also
-as a builder of villas at Casciano and Monte Oliveto. An octagonal villa
-at Peretola was built by him, and he did some decorative work in the
-Villa Pia. In Florence he built the Palazzo Dardinelli.
-
-
-                     IL TRIBOLO (NICCOLÓ PERICOLI)
-                               1485-1550
-
-Il Tribolo, the Florentine sculptor, studied under Sansovino. He became
-known for his beautiful designs in tile-work, of which the Villa
-Castello near Florence shows many examples. He collaborated with
-Ammanati in laying out the Boboli garden, and the great grotto at
-Castello is his work.
-
-
-                          UDINE (GIOVANNI DA)
-                               1487-1564
-
-Giovanni da Udine, born, as his name indicates, in the chief city of the
-province of Friuli, was one of the most celebrated decorative artists of
-his day. He studied under Giorgione and Raphael, and became noted for
-his stained glass and for the invention of a stucco as durable as that
-of the Romans. His stucco-work in the Villa Madama and in the loggias of
-the Vatican is famous, and part of the decoration of the Borgia rooms in
-the Vatican is his work. Michelangelo’s chapel of the Medici in Florence
-was painted and decorated in stucco by Udine, and he carried out, in
-painting, some of Raphael’s designs for the great hall of the Farnesina.
-The Palazzo Grimani in Venice and the Palazzo Massimi alle Colonne in
-Rome were partly decorated by him.
-
-
-                           VAGA (PIERIN DEL)
-                               1500-1547
-
-Del Vaga, whose real name was Pietro Buonaccorsi, was born near
-Florence. He was a pupil of Raphael’s, and after the latter’s death was
-employed in finishing a part of his work in the Vatican. Almost all del
-Vaga’s work was done in Genoa, where he painted the state apartments in
-the Villa Doria. The charming plaster decorations in the Palazzo
-Pallavicini (now Cataldi) are by him, and also the Hercules cycle in the
-Palazzo Odero (now Mari).
-
-
-                          VASANZIO (GIOVANNI)
-                             B. ——, d. 1622
-
-Vasanzio, known also as Il Fiammingo, but whose real name was John of
-Xanten, was a Flemish architect who came to Italy and had considerable
-success in Rome. He built the Villa Borghese in Rome and designed the
-fountains of the inner court of the Villa Pia. He also worked on the
-Villa Mondragone at Frascati and succeeded Flaminio Ponzio as architect
-of the Palazzo Rospigliosi in Rome.
-
-
-                            VASARI (GIORGIO)
-                               1511-1574
-
-Vasari, who was born at Arezzo, was a pupil of Michelangelo and Andrea
-del Sarto. Though he considered himself a better painter than architect,
-it is chiefly as the latter that he interests the modern student. He
-built the court of the Uffizi in Florence and planned the Villa di Papa
-Giulio in Rome; painted the ceiling of the great hall of the Palazzo
-Vecchio in Florence, and carved the figure of Architecture on the tomb
-of Michelangelo in Santa Croce. He is, however, chiefly famous for his
-lives of the Italian painters and architects.
-
-
-                      VIGNOLA (GIACOMO BAROZZI DA)
-                               1507-1573
-
-Vignola, one of the greatest architects of the sixteenth century, born
-at Vignola, in the province of Modena, followed Michelangelo as the
-architect of St. Peter’s. The Villa Lante at Bagnaia, near Viterbo, is
-attributed to him. In Rome he built the celebrated Villa di Papa Giulio,
-though the plan was Vasari’s; also the garden-architecture of the Orti
-Farnesiani on the Palatine. His masterpiece is the palace at Caprarola,
-near Viterbo. He also built the great Palazzo Farnese at Piacenza,
-various buildings at Bologna, and the loggia of the Villa Mondragone at
-Frascati. His church of the Gesù in Rome greatly influenced other
-architects. His text-book on the Orders of Architecture is one of the
-best-known works on the subject.
-
-
-
-
-                                 INDEX
-
-
- Acqua Sola, gardens of, 42, 53
-
- Albani, Cardinal, 113
-
- Albani, Villa, Pietro Nolli’s work on, 110;
-   Antonio Nolli’s work on, 113
-
- d’Albaro, San Francesco, villas at, 188
-
- Alessi, Galeazzo: Strada Nuova, 176;
-   Villa Imperiali (Scassi), 179;
-   Villa Paradiso, 189;
-   Villa Cambiaso, 189
-
- Algardi, Alessandro, 109
-
- Ammanati, Bartolommeo, Boboli garden, 25;
-   Villa di Papa Giulio, 84
-
- Anguissola, Count, 212
-
- Arethusa, grotto of, at Villa d’Este, 147
-
-
- Battaglia, castle of Cattajo at, 233
-
- Bernini, 185
-
- Bisuschio: _see_ Villa Cicogna
-
- Boboli garden, 25;
-   Isola Bella in, 29
-
- Bologna, Giovanni da, 37;
-   figure of the Apennines, 57
-
- Bombicci, Villa, 53
-
- Borghese, Cardinal Scipione, 148
-
- Borghese, Villa, 107
-
- Borromean Islands, 197
-
- Borromeo, Cardinal Charles, 201
-
- Borromeo, Count Vitaliano IV, 198
-
- Borromini, 163
-
- Botanic Garden at Padua, 239
-
- Bramante: Vatican gardens, 81;
-   double staircase in the Vatican, 97
-
- Brenta, the, 233, 243
-
- Brown, “Capability,” 205
-
- Brunswick, Caroline of, 184
-
- Buonaccorsi: _see_ Vaga
-
- Buontalenti, 25
-
- Burnet, Bishop: description of Isola Bella,
-
-
- Cadenabbia, 214
-
- Cafaggiuolo, Villa, 30
-
- _Caffè_ at the Villa Albani, 114
-
- Cagnola, Villa, 219
-
- Cambiaso, Villa, 189
-
- Cambiaso, Villa: _see_ Paradiso
-
- Campi, Villa, 54
-
- Campiobbi, 48
-
- Camporesi, 108
-
- Canopus, Valley of, at Villa of Hadrian, 148
-
- Capra, Villa, at Vicenza, 246
-
- Caprarola, 97;
-   Vignola’s casino, 131;
-   _château d’eau_, 131
-
- Careggi, Villa, 30
-
- Carloni, the: statue of Neptune in Villa Doria, 175
-
- Carlotta, Villa, at Cadenabbia, 214
-
- Casino of the Aurora, 119
-
- Casino del Papa: _see_ Villa Pia
-
- Castelli: terraces on the Isola Bella, 198
-
- Castello, Giovanni Battista, 173
-
- Castello, Villa, 30
-
- Cattajo, castle of, 233
-
- Cecchignola, hunting-lodge of, 119
-
- Celimontana, Villa, 119
-
- Cetinale, Villa, 64;
-   hermitage at, 66
-
- _Châteaux d’eau_ at the Villa Aldobrandini, 152;
-   Villa Borghese, 107;
-   Caprarola, 131;
-   Villa Cicogna, 217;
-   Palazzo Colonna, 119;
-   Villa Conti, 155;
-   Villa d’Este at Tivoli, 144;
-   Villa Lante, 136;
-   Lancellotti, 164;
-   Mondragone, 151;
-   Val San Zibio, 237
-
- Chigi, Flavio, 65
-
- Chigi, Villa, 117
-
- Cicogna, Villa, 214;
-   _château d’eau_, 217
-
- Clement VII: _see_ Medici, Giuliano de’
-
- Colonna, Cardinal, 83
-
- Colonna, Palazzo, 118;
-   _château d’eau_, 119
-
- Como, villa of Bishop of, 213
-
- Conti, Villa: _see_ Torlonia
-
- Cordova, Cardinal Bishop of, 140
-
- Corsini, Villa, 48
-
- Crivelli, Villa, near Inverigo, 218
-
- Crivelli: work on the Isola Bella, 198
-
- Cuzzano, Villa, 250
-
-
- Danti, Villa, 48, 57
-
- De’ Gori, Villa: _see_ Palazzina, La
-
- Durazzo-Grapollo, Villa, 186
-
- Dussieux, 110
-
-
- Este, Cardinal Ippolito d’, 140
-
- Este, Villa d’, at Cernobbio, 208
-
- Este, Villa d’, at Tivoli, 139;
-   grotesque garden-architecture, 29;
-   Ligorio’s work, 140;
-   frescoes of the Zuccheri, 143
-
- Evelyn, description of Villa Medici, 89;
-   of Villa Doria, 175
-
-
- Falconieri, Villa, 160
-
- Farnese, Cardinal Alexander, 127
-
- Farnese gardens, 97
-
- Ferrara, Alfonso I of, 140
-
- Ferri, Antonio, 48
-
- Fontana, Carlo: Cetinale, 65;
-   palace and garden-pavilions on the Isola Bella, 198
-
- Fontana, Giovanni: Villa Borghese, 107;
-   _théâtre d’eau_ at Mondragone, 151;
-   waterworks at the Villa Aldobrandini, 152
-
- Fonte all’ Erta, 51
-
- Frascati, _jeux d’eaux_ in villas, 107;
-   characteristic features of villas, 139
-
-
- Gallio, Cardinal, 184
-
- Gambara, Cardinal, 132
-
- Gamberaia, Villa, 45
-
- Garden, Botanic, at Padua, 239
-
- Garden-house at Caprarola, 131
-
- Garden-house at Strà, 244
-
- Gardens:
-   Acqua Sola, 185
-   Boboli, 25
-   Farnese, 97
-   Florentine, English influence on, 21
-   Genoese, characteristics of, 178
-   Giusti, 250
-   Pigna, 82
-   Vatican, 98
-
- Genoa, villas of, 173
-
- Giacomelli, Villa, 249
-
- Giulio, Villa di Papa, 84
-
- Giusti gardens, 250
-
- Giustiniani, Villa, 174
-
- Grotto at Villa Castello, 34;
-   at Villa d’Este, 147;
-   at Villa Gamberaia, 45
-
-
- Hermitage at Cetinale, 66
-
-
- Imperiali, Villa, at Sampierdarena: _see_ Villa Scassi
-
- Imperiali, Villa, at San Fruttuoso, 190
-
- Isola Bella, Lake of Como, 198;
-   Bishop Burnet’s description of, 201
-
- Isola Bella in Boboli garden, 29
-
- Isola Madre, Lake of Como, 197
-
-
- Julius III, 84
-
- Juvara, 231
-
-
- Lancellotti, Villa, 164
-
- Lante, Villa, 132;
-   _château d’eau_, 136;
-   gardens, 97
-
- Le Nôtre, 110, 139
-
- Ligorio, Pirro, 98;
-   Casino del Papa, 98;
-   Villa d’Este at Tivoli, 140
-
- Lippi, Annibale, 90
-
- Lomellini, Villa, 174
-
- Longhena, 232
-
- Ludovisi, Villa, 119
-
-
- _Maison de plaisance_, the, 22
-
- Malcontenta, Villa della, 245
-
- Malta, Villa of the Knights of, 117
-
- Marchionne, Carlo, 113
-
- Mattei, Villa, 119
-
- Medici, Eleonora de’, 25
-
- Medici, Giuliano de’ (Clement VII), 82
-
- Medici, Villa, 89
-
- Michelangelo: Villa Bombicci, 53;
-   Villa di Papa Giulio, 84
-
- Modena, Villa of Duke of, at Varese, 224
-
- Mondragone, 97;
-   work by Flaminio Ponzio, 148;
-   Vignola’s loggia, 151;
-   Giovanni Fontana’s _théâtre d’eau_, 151
-
- Montaigne: description of Castello, 33
-
- Montalto, Cardinal, 132
-
- Montorsoli, Fra., 174
-
- Moore, Jacob, 108
-
- Mora, 198
-
- Muti, Villa, 159
-
-
- Naples, King of, 83
-
- Negroni, Villa, 119
-
- Nolli, Antonio, 113
-
- Nolli, Pietro, 110
-
-
- Olivieri, Orazio, 147
-
-
- Padua, Botanic Garden, 239;
-   Prato della Valle, 240
-
- Palazzina, La, 71;
-   theatre at, 72
-
- Palladio, 180, 232
-
- Pallavicini, Villa, at Pegli, 185
-
- Pallavicini alle Peschiere, Villa, 185, 180
-
- Palmieri, Villa, 57
-
- Pamphily, Villa, 109; _théâtre d’eau_, 110
-
- Papa, Casino del: _see_ Villa Pia
-
- Papa Giulio, Villa di, 84
-
- Paradisino, Villa, 189
-
- Paradiso, Villa, 189
-
- Parigi, Giulio, 38
-
- Parma, Duchess of, 83
-
- Parodi, Palazzo, 177
-
- Peruzzi, Baldassare, at Belcaro, 63;
-   at Vicobello, 69
-
- Peter Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 38
-
- Petraia, Villa, 30;
-   fountain at, 37
-
- Pia, Villa, 140
-
- Pigna, Giardino della, 82
-
- Piranesi, 117
-
- Pisani, Alvise, 243
-
- Pisani, Villa, at Strà, 244
-
- Pius IV, 98
-
- Pliniana, Villa, 212
-
- Poggio a Caiano, 30
-
- Poggio Imperiale, 38
-
- Ponzio, Flaminio, 148
-
- Porta, Giacomo della, 144;
-   Villa Aldobrandini, 151
-
- Prati, 243
-
- Pratolino, Villa, 30, 57
-
- Priorato, Il: _see_ Villa of the Knights of
- Malta
-
- Pulci, Castel, 57
-
-
- Rainaldi, Girolamo, 107
-
- Raphael, 82
-
- Repton, Humphrey, 205
-
- Riario, Cardinal, 132
-
- Ridolfi, Cardinal, 132
-
- Romano, Giulio, 82
-
- Rotonda Cagnola: _see_ Cagnola
-
- Rotonda Capra: _see_ Capra
-
- Rubens, 176
-
- Ruffini, Cardinal, 163
-
- Ruggieri, 223
-
-
- Sacchetti, Villa, 119
-
- Sampierdarena, 33
-
- Sangallo, Antonio da, 82;
-   A. da Sangallo the Younger, 104
-
- Sangallo, Giuliano da, 38, 82
-
- Sansovino, 232
-
- Savino, 107
-
- Scassi, Villa, 179
-
- Sixtus V, 132
-
- Strà, Villa Pisani at, 244
-
- Strada Nuova in Genoa, 176
-
-
- Tiepolo: Villa Pisani, 244;
-   Villa Valmarana, 249
-
- Tito, Santi di, 53
-
- Torlonia, Villa, 155
-
- Tribolo, Il: Boboli garden, 25;
-   fountain at Castello, 33;
-   at Petraia, 37
-
-
- Udine, Giovanni da, 83
-
-
- Vaga, Pierin del, 173
-
- Valmarana, Villa, 249
-
- Val San Zibio, Villa of, 237
-
- Vasanzio, Giovanni (Il Fiammingo), 107
-
- Vasari, 84
-
- Vatican, gardens of, 81
-
- Venetia, villa-architecture of, 232
-
- Vigna del Papa: _see_ Villa di Papa Giulio
-
- Vignola: Villa di Papa Giulio, 84;
-   Farnese gardens, 97;
-   Caprarola, 131;
-   loggia at Mondragone, 151
-
- Villa:
-   Ai Collazzi: _see_ Bombicci
-   Alario: _see_ Visconti di Saliceto
-   Albani, 110, 113
-   Aldobrandini, 151
-   Belcaro, 63
-   Belrespiro: _see_ Pamphily
-   Bombicci, 53
-   Borghese, 107
-   Cafaggiuolo, 30
-   Cagnola, 219
-   Cambiaso (Paradiso), 189
-   Cambiaso, by Alessi, 189
-   Campi, 54
-   Capponi at Arcetri, 48
-   Capra, 246
-   Caprarola, 97
-   Careggi, 30
-   Carlotta, 214
-   Castel Pulci, 57
-   Celimontana, 119
-   Cetinale, 64
-   Chigi, 117
-   Cicogna, 214
-   Conti: _see_ Torlonia
-   Corsini, 48
-   Crivelli, 218
-   Cuzzano, 250
-   Danti, 48, 57
-   De’ Gori: _see_ Palazzina, La
-   Doria in Genoa, 175
-   Durazzo-Grapollo, 186
-   d’Este at Cernobbio, 184
-   d’Este at Tivoli, 139
-   Falconieri, 160
-   Fonte all’ Erta, 51
-   Gamberaia, 41
-   Giacomelli, 249
-   Giustiniani, 174
-   Imperiali at San Fruttuoso, 190
-   Imperiali: _see_ Scassi
-   Isola Bella, 198
-   Lancellotti, 164
-   Lante, 97
-   Lappeggi, 57
-   Lomellini, 174
-   Ludovisi, 119
-   Madama, 82
-   Malcontenta, 245
-   Malta, of the Knights of, 117
-   Medici, 89
-   Mondragone, 97
-   Muti, 159
-   Negroni, 119
-   Palazzina, La, 71
-   Pallavicini at Pegli, 185
-   Pallavicini alle Peschiere, 185
-   Palmieri, 57
-   Pamphily, 109
-   di Papa Giulio, 84
-   Paradisino, 189
-   Paradiso: _see_ Cambiaso
-   Petraia, 30
-   Pia, 140
-   Pisani, 244
-   Pliniana, 212
-   Poggio a Caiano, 30
-   Poggio Imperiale, 30
-   Pratolino, 57
-   Priorato, del: _see_ Malta
-   Rotonda: _see_ Cagnola and Capra
-   Sacchetti, 119
-   Scassi, 179
-   Torlonia, 155
-   Valmarana, 249
-   Val San Zibio, 237
-   Vicobello, 69
-   Visconti di Saliceto, 220
-
- _Villa suburbana_, the, 22
-
- Villas of the Brenta, 240;
-   of the Brianza, 218;
-   Florentine, 19;
-   Genoese, 173;
-   Milanese, 197;
-   Roman, 81;
-   Sienese, 63;
-   Venetian, 231
-
- Vismara, 198
-
-
- Xanten, John of: _see_ Vasanzio
-
-
- Zocchi, etchings by, 33
-
- Zuccheri, the, 85, 143
-
-
-
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s note:
-
- 1. Silently corrected typographical errors.
-
- 2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
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-<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Italian Villas and Their Gardens, by Edith
-Wharton, Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish</h1>
-<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
-and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
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-<p>Title: Italian Villas and Their Gardens</p>
-<p>Author: Edith Wharton</p>
-<p>Release Date: November 10, 2016  [eBook #53495]</p>
-<p>Language: English</p>
-<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p>
-<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS***</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<h4>E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing<br />
-    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
-    (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br />
-    from page images generously made available by<br />
-    Internet Archive<br />
-    (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10">
-  <tr>
-    <td valign="top">
-      Note:
-    </td>
-    <td>
-      Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive. See
-      <a href="https://archive.org/details/italianvillasthe00whar">
-      https://archive.org/details/italianvillasthe00whar</a>
-    </td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<hr class="full" />
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-
-<div class='ph1'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>ITALIAN VILLAS AND</div>
-    <div>THEIR GARDENS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Campi'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_frontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA CAMPI, NEAR FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div>
-  <h1 class='c002'>ITALIAN VILLAS<br /> <span class='xlarge'>AND THEIR GARDENS</span></h1>
-</div>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c003'>
-    <div>BY</div>
-    <div><span class='large'>EDITH WHARTON</span></div>
-    <div class='c003'><span class='small'>ILLUSTRATED WITH PICTURES BY</span></div>
-    <div>MAXFIELD PARRISH</div>
-    <div><span class='small'>AND BY PHOTOGRAPHS</span></div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_title.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-  <div class='nf-center'>
-    <div>NEW YORK</div>
-    <div><span class='large'>THE CENTURY CO.</span></div>
-    <div>1905</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='pbb'>
- <hr class='pb c003' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>Copyright, 1903, 1904, by</div>
-    <div><span class='sc'>The Century Co.</span></div>
-    <div class='c003'><em>Published November, 1904</em></div>
-    <div class='c004'>THE DE VINNE PRESS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='pbb'>
- <hr class='pb c003' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>TO</div>
-    <div class='c003'>VERNON LEE</div>
-    <div class='c003'>WHO, BETTER THAN ANY ONE ELSE, HAS UNDERSTOOD AND INTERPRETED THE GARDEN-MAGIC OF ITALY</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-
-<table class='table0' summary='CONTENTS'>
-  <tr>
-    <th class='c006'></th>
-    <th class='c006'>&nbsp;</th>
-    <th class='c007'>PAGE</th>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>INTRODUCTION</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_5'>5</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='3'>I</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>FLORENTINE VILLAS</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_19'>19</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='3'>II</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>SIENESE VILLAS</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_63'>63</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='3'>III</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>ROMAN VILLAS</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_81'>81</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='3'>IV</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>VILLAS NEAR ROME</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c009'>I</td>
-    <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Caprarola and Lante</span></td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_127'>127</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c009'>II</td>
-    <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Villa d’Este</span></td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_139'>139</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c009'>III</td>
-    <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Frascati</span></td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_148'>148</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='3'>V</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>GENOESE VILLAS</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_173'>173</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='3'>VI</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>LOMBARD VILLAS</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_197'>197</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='3'>VII</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006' colspan='2'>VILLAS OF VENETIA</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_231'>231</a></td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
-</div>
-
-<table class='table0' summary='LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS'>
-  <tr>
-    <th class='c010'></th>
-    <th class='c007'>PAGE</th>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Campi, near Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><em><a href='#Campi'>Frontispiece</a></em></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>The Reservoir, Villa Falconieri, Frascati</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Reservoir'>4</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>The Cascade, Villa Torlonia, Frascati</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Cascade'>9</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Fountain of Venus, Villa Petraja, Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Venus'>18</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Gamberaia at Settignano, near Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Settignano'>20</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by C. A. Vanderhoof, from a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Boboli Garden, Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Boboli'>24</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Entrance to Upper Garden, Boboli Garden, Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Upper'>27</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Cypress Alley, Boboli Garden, Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Cypress'>31</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Ilex-walk, Boboli Garden, Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Ilex'>36</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Gamberaia, near Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Gamberaia'>39</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>View of Amphitheatre, Boboli Garden, Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Amphitheatre'>44</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Corsini, Florence</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Corsini'>49</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Vicobello, Siena</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Vicobello'>62</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span>La Palazzina (Villa Gori), Siena</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Palazzina'>67</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>The Theatre at La Palazzina, Siena</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Theatre'>73</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>The Dome of St. Peter’s, from the Vatican Gardens</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Peter'>80</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Entrance to Forecourt, Villa Borghese, Rome</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Rome'>87</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Grotto, Villa di Papa Giulio, Rome</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Papa'>91</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Temple of Æsculapius, Villa Borghese, Rome</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Aesculapius'>96</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Medici, Rome</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Medici'>100</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Courtyard Gate of the Villa Pia, Vatican Gardens</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Pia'>102</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Pia—In the Gardens of the Vatican</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Vatican'>105</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Gateway of the Villa Borghese</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Borghese'>108</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Chigi, Rome</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Chigi'>111</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Parterres on Terrace, Villa Belrespiro (Pamphily-Doria), Rome</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Parterres'>116</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>View from Lower Garden, Villa Belrespiro (Pamphily-Doria), Rome</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Belrespiro'>121</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa d’Este, Tivoli</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Este'>126</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Caprarola</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Caprarola'>129</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a retouched Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>The Casino, Villa Farnese, Caprarola</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Farnese'>133</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Lante, Bagnaia</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Lante'>138</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span>The Pool, Villa d’Este, Tivoli</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Tivoli'>141</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Lante, Bagnaia</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Bagnaia'>146</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Cascade and Rotunda, Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Aldobrandini'>149</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Garden of Villa Lancellotti, Frascati</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Garden'>153</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Casino, Villa Falconieri, Frascati</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Casino'>157</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>The Entrance, Villa Falconieri, Frascati</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Frascati'>161</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Lancellotti, Frascati</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Lancellotti'>165</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Scassi, Genoa</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Scassi'>172</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>A Garden-niche, Villa Scassi, Genoa</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Genoa'>181</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Cicogna, Bisuschio</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Bisuschio'>196</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Isola'>203</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>In the Gardens of Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Bella'>210</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Cicogna, from the Terrace above the House</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Cicogna'>216</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>From a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Pliniana, Lake Como</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Pliniana'>221</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Iron Gates of the Villa Alario (now Visconti di Saliceto)</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Alario'>224</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Railing of the Villa Alario</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Railing'>225</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Malcolm Fraser, from a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Gateway of the Botanic Garden, Padua</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Padua'>230</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span>View at Val San Zibio, near Battaglia</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Val'>235</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Plan of the Botanic Garden, Padua</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Plan'>239</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by E. Denison, from Sketch by the Author.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Val San Zibio, near Battaglia</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#San'>241</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Gateway, Villa Pisani, Strà</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Pisani'>244</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by E. Denison, from a Photograph.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Villa Valmarana, Vicenza</td>
-    <td class='c007'><a href='#Valmarana'>247</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Drawn by Maxfield Parrish.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<div class='ph1'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Reservoir'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p004.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE RESERVOIR, VILLA FALCONIERI, FRASCATI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='ph1'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>INTRODUCTION<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>ITALIAN GARDEN-MAGIC</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c011'>Though it is an exaggeration to say that there
-are no flowers in Italian gardens, yet to enjoy and
-appreciate the Italian garden-craft one must
-always bear in mind that it is independent of floriculture.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Italian garden does not exist for its flowers;
-its flowers exist for it: they are a late and infrequent
-adjunct to its beauties, a parenthetical grace counting
-only as one more touch in the general effect of enchantment.
-This is no doubt partly explained by the
-difficulty of cultivating any but spring flowers in so hot
-and dry a climate, and the result has been a wonderful
-development of the more permanent effects to be obtained
-from the three other factors in garden-composition—marble,
-water and perennial verdure—and the
-achievement, by their skilful blending, of a charm independent
-of the seasons.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is hard to explain to the modern garden-lover,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>whose whole conception of the charm of gardens is formed
-of successive pictures of flower-loveliness, how this effect
-of enchantment can be produced by anything so dull
-and monotonous as a mere combination of clipped green
-and stonework.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The traveller returning from Italy, with his eyes and
-imagination full of the ineffable Italian garden-magic,
-knows vaguely that the enchantment exists; that he has
-been under its spell, and that it is more potent, more
-enduring, more intoxicating to every sense than the
-most elaborate and glowing effects of modern horticulture;
-but he may not have found the key to the mystery.
-Is it because the sky is bluer, because the vegetation
-is more luxuriant? Our midsummer skies are
-almost as deep, our foliage is as rich, and perhaps more
-varied; there are, indeed, not a few resemblances between
-the North American summer climate and that of
-Italy in spring and autumn.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Some of those who have fallen under the spell are
-inclined to ascribe the Italian garden-magic to the effect
-of time; but, wonder-working as this undoubtedly is, it
-leaves many beauties unaccounted for. To seek the
-answer one must go deeper: the garden must be studied
-in relation to the house, and both in relation to the landscape.
-The garden of the Middle Ages, the garden one
-sees in old missal illuminations and in early woodcuts,
-was a mere patch of ground within the castle precincts,
-where “simples” were grown around a central wellhead
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>and fruit was espaliered against the walls. But
-in the rapid flowering of Italian civilization the castle
-walls were soon thrown down, and the garden expanded,
-taking in the fish-pond, the bowling-green, the rose-arbour
-and the clipped walk. The Italian country house,
-especially in the centre and the south of Italy, was
-almost always built on a hillside, and one day the
-architect looked forth from the terrace of his villa, and
-saw that, in his survey of the garden, the enclosing
-landscape was naturally included: the two formed a
-part of the same composition.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The recognition of this fact was the first step in the
-development of the great garden-art of the Renaissance:
-the next was the architect’s discovery of the means by
-which nature and art might be fused in his picture. He
-had now three problems to deal with: his garden must be
-adapted to the architectural lines of the house it adjoined;
-it must be adapted to the requirements of the inmates of
-the house, in the sense of providing shady walks, sunny
-bowling-greens, parterres and orchards, all conveniently
-accessible; and lastly it must be adapted to the landscape
-around it. At no time and in no country has this
-triple problem been so successfully dealt with as in the
-treatment of the Italian country house from the beginning
-of the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth century;
-and in the blending of different elements, the
-subtle transition from the fixed and formal lines of art
-to the shifting and irregular lines of nature, and lastly
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>in the essential convenience and livableness of the garden,
-lies the fundamental secret of the old garden-magic.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>However much other factors may contribute to the
-total impression of charm, yet by eliminating them one
-after another, by <em>thinking away</em> the flowers, the sunlight,
-the rich tinting of time, one finds that, underlying all
-these, there is the deeper harmony of design which is
-independent of any adventitious effects. This does not
-imply that a plan of an Italian garden is as beautiful as
-the garden itself. The more permanent materials of
-which the latter is made—the stonework, the evergreen
-foliage, the effects of rushing or motionless water, above
-all the lines of the natural scenery—all form a part of
-the artist’s design. But these things are as beautiful at
-one season as at another; and even these are but the
-accessories of the fundamental plan. The inherent
-beauty of the garden lies in the grouping of its parts—in
-the converging lines of its long ilex-walks, the alternation
-of sunny open spaces with cool woodland shade,
-the proportion between terrace and bowling-green, or
-between the height of a wall and the width of a path.
-None of these details was negligible to the landscape-architect
-of the Renaissance: he considered the distribution
-of shade and sunlight, of straight lines of masonry
-and rippled lines of foliage, as carefully as he weighed
-the relation of his whole composition to the scene
-about it.</p>
-
-<div id='Cascade'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p009.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE CASCADE, VILLA TORLONIA, FRASCATI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>Then, again, any one who studies the old Italian
-gardens will be struck with the way in which the architect
-broadened and simplified his plan if it faced a
-grandiose landscape. Intricacy of detail, complicated
-groupings of terraces, fountains, labyrinths and porticoes,
-are found in sites where there is no great sweep
-of landscape attuning the eye to larger impressions.
-The farther north one goes, the less grand the landscape
-becomes and the more elaborate the garden. The
-great pleasure-grounds overlooking the Roman Campagna
-are laid out on severe and majestic lines: the
-parts are few; the total effect is one of breadth and
-simplicity.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is because, in the modern revival of gardening, so
-little attention has been paid to these first principles of
-the art that the garden-lover should not content himself
-with a vague enjoyment of old Italian gardens, but
-should try to extract from them principles which may
-be applied at home. He should observe, for instance,
-that the old Italian garden was meant to be lived in—a
-use to which, at least in America, the modern garden
-is seldom put. He should note that, to this end, the
-grounds were as carefully and conveniently planned as
-the house, with broad paths (in which two or more
-could go abreast) leading from one division to another;
-with shade easily accessible from the house, as well as
-a sunny sheltered walk for winter; and with effective
-transitions from the dusk of wooded alleys to open
-flowery spaces or to the level sward of the bowling-green.
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>He should remember that the terraces and
-formal gardens adjoined the house, that the ilex or
-laurel walks beyond were clipped into shape to effect a
-transition between the straight lines of masonry and the
-untrimmed growth of the woodland to which they led,
-and that each step away from architecture was a nearer
-approach to nature.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The cult of the Italian garden has spread from England
-to America, and there is a general feeling that, by
-placing a marble bench here and a sun-dial there, Italian
-“effects” may be achieved. The results produced,
-even where much money and thought have been expended,
-are not altogether satisfactory; and some critics
-have thence inferred that the Italian garden is, so to
-speak, <em>untranslatable</em>, that it cannot be adequately rendered
-in another landscape and another age.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Certain effects, those which depend on architectural
-grandeur as well as those due to colouring and age, are
-no doubt unattainable; but there is, none the less, much
-to be learned from the old Italian gardens, and the first
-lesson is that, if they are to be a real inspiration, they
-must be copied, not in the letter but in the spirit. That
-is, a marble sarcophagus and a dozen twisted columns
-will not make an Italian garden; but a piece of ground
-laid out and planted on the principles of the old garden-craft
-will be, not indeed an Italian garden in the literal
-sense, but, what is far better, <em>a garden as well adapted
-to its surroundings as were the models which inspired it</em>.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>This is the secret to be learned from the villas of
-Italy; and no one who has looked at them with this
-object in view will be content to relapse into vague admiration
-of their loveliness. As Browning, in passing
-Cape St. Vincent and Trafalgar Bay, cried out:</p>
-
-<div class='lg-container-b c012'>
-  <div class='linegroup'>
-    <div class='group'>
-      <div class='line'>“Here and here did England help me: how can I help England?”—say,</div>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>so the garden-lover, who longs to transfer something
-of the old garden-magic to his own patch of ground at
-home, will ask himself, in wandering under the umbrella-pines
-of the Villa Borghese, or through the box-parterres
-of the Villa Lante: What can I bring away from
-here? And the more he studies and compares, the
-more inevitably will the answer be: “Not this or that
-amputated statue, or broken bas-relief, or fragmentary
-effect of any sort, but a sense of the informing spirit—an
-understanding of the gardener’s purpose, and of the
-uses to which he meant his garden to be put.”</p>
-
-<div class='ph2'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>FLORENTINE VILLAS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Venus'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p018.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>FOUNTAIN OF VENUS, VILLA PETRAJA, FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>I<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>FLORENTINE VILLAS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c011'>For centuries Florence has been celebrated for
-her villa-clad hills. According to an old chronicler,
-the country houses were more splendid
-than those in the town, and stood so close-set among
-their olive-orchards and vineyards that the traveller
-“thought himself in Florence three leagues before
-reaching the city.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Many of these houses still survive, strongly planted
-on their broad terraces, from the fifteenth-century farmhouse-villa,
-with its projecting eaves and square tower,
-to the many-windowed <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">maison de plaisance</span></i> in which
-the luxurious nobles of the seventeenth century spent
-the gambling and chocolate-drinking weeks of the vintage
-season. It is characteristic of Florentine thrift and
-conservatism that the greater number of these later and
-more pretentious villas are merely additions to the plain
-old buildings, while, even in the rare cases where the
-whole structure is new, the baroque exuberance which
-became fashionable in the seventeenth century is tempered
-by a restraint and severity peculiarly Tuscan.</p>
-
-<div id='Settignano'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>
-<img src='images/i_p020.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA GAMBERAIA, AT SETTIGNANO, NEAR FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>So numerous and well preserved are the buildings
-of this order about Florence that the student who should
-attempt to give an account of them would have before
-him a long and laborious undertaking; but where the
-villa is to be considered in relation to its garden, the
-task is reduced to narrow limits. There is perhaps no
-region of Italy so rich in old villas and so lacking in old
-gardens as the neighbourhood of Florence. Various
-causes have brought about this result. The environs
-of Florence have always been frequented by the wealthy
-classes, not only Italian but foreign. The Tuscan
-nobility have usually been rich enough to alter their
-gardens in accordance with the varying horticultural
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>fashions imported from England and France; and the
-English who have colonized in such numbers the slopes
-above the Arno have contributed not a little to the
-destruction of the old gardens by introducing into their
-horticultural plans two features entirely alien to the
-Tuscan climate and soil, namely, lawns and deciduous
-shade-trees.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Many indeed are the parterres and terraces which
-have disappeared before the Britannic craving for a
-lawn, many the olive-orchards and vineyards which
-must have given way to the thinly dotted “specimen
-trees” so dear to the English landscape-gardener, who
-is still, with rare exceptions, the slave of his famous
-eighteenth-century predecessors, Repton and “Capability
-Brown,” as the English architect is still the descendant
-of Pugin and the Gothic revival. This
-Anglicization of the Tuscan garden did not, of course,
-come only from direct English influence. The <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jardin
-anglais</span></i> was fashionable in France when Marie Antoinette
-laid out the Petit Trianon, and Herr Tuckermann,
-in his book on Italian gardens, propounds a theory, for
-which he gives no very clear reasons, to the effect that
-the naturalistic school of gardening actually originated
-in Italy, in the Borghese gardens in Rome, which he
-supposes to have been laid out more or less in their
-present form by Giovanni Fontana, as early as the first
-quarter of the seventeenth century.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is certain, at any rate, that the Florentines adopted
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>the new fashion early in the nineteenth century, as is
-shown—to give but one instance—in the vast Torrigiani
-gardens, near the Porta Romana, laid out by the
-Marchese Torrigiani about 1830 in the most approved
-“landscape” style, with an almost complete neglect of
-the characteristic Tuscan vegetation and a corresponding
-disregard of Italian climate and habits. The large
-English colony has, however, undoubtedly done much
-to encourage, even in the present day, the alteration of
-the old gardens and the introduction of alien vegetation
-in those which have been partly preserved. It is, for
-instance, typical of the old Tuscan villa that the farm,
-or <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">podere</span></i>, should come up to the edge of the terrace on
-which the house stands; but in most cases where old
-villas have been bought by foreigners, the vineyards
-and olive-orchards near the house have been turned
-into lawns dotted with plantations of exotic trees.
-Under these circumstances it is not surprising that but
-few unaltered gardens are to be found near Florence.
-To learn what the old Tuscan garden was, one must
-search the environs of the smaller towns, and there are
-more interesting examples about Siena than in the whole
-circuit of the Florentine hills.</p>
-
-<div id='Boboli'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p024.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>The old Italian architects distinguished two classes
-of country houses: the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villa suburbana</span></i>, or <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">maison de
-plaisance</span></i> (literally the pleasure-house), standing within
-or just without the city walls, surrounded by pleasure-grounds
-and built for a few weeks’ residence; and the
-country house, which is an expansion of the old farm,
-and stands generally farther out of town, among its
-fields and vineyards—the seat of the country gentleman
-living on his estates. The Italian pleasure-garden did
-not reach its full development till the middle of the sixteenth
-century, and doubtless many of the old Florentine
-villas, the semi-castle and the quasi-farm of the
-fourteenth century, stood as they do now, on a bare
-terrace among the vines, with a small walled enclosure
-for the cultivation of herbs and vegetables. But of the
-period in which the garden began to be a studied architectural
-extension of the house, few examples are to be
-found near Florence.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The most important, if not the most pleasing, of
-Tuscan pleasure-gardens lies, however, within the city
-walls. This is the Boboli garden, laid out on the steep
-hillside behind the Pitti Palace. The plan of the Boboli
-garden is not only magnificent in itself, but interesting
-as one of the rare examples, in Tuscany, of a Renaissance
-garden still undisturbed in its main outlines.
-Eleonora de’ Medici, who purchased the Pitti Palace in
-1549, soon afterward acquired the neighbouring ground,
-and the garden was laid out by Il Tribolo, continued by
-Buontalenti, and completed by Bartolommeo Ammanati,
-to whom is also due the garden <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of the palace.
-The scheme of the garden is worthy of careful study,
-though in many respects the effect it now produces is
-far less impressive than its designers intended. Probably
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>no grounds of equal grandeur and extent have less
-of that peculiar magic which one associates with the old
-Italian garden—a fact doubtless due less to defects of
-composition than to later changes in the details of planting
-and decoration. Still, the main outline remains and
-is full of instruction to the garden-lover.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The palace is built against the steep hillside, which
-is dug out to receive it, a high retaining-wall being built
-far enough back from the central body of the house to
-allow the latter to stand free. The ground floor of the
-palace is so far below ground that its windows look
-across a paved court at the face of the retaining-wall,
-which Ammanati decorated with an architectural composition
-representing a grotto, from which water was
-meant to gush as though issuing from the hillside. This
-grotto he surmounted with a magnificent fountain, standing
-on a level with the first-floor windows of the palace
-and with the surrounding gardens. The arrangement
-shows ingenuity in overcoming a technical difficulty,
-and the effect, from the garden, is very successful,
-though the well-like court makes an unfortunate gap
-between the house and its grounds.</p>
-
-<div id='Upper'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p027.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>ENTRANCE TO UPPER GARDEN, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>Behind the fountain, and in a line with it, a horseshoe-shaped
-amphitheatre has been cut out of the hillside,
-surrounded by tiers of stone seats adorned with statues
-in niches and backed by clipped laurel hedges, behind
-which rise the ilex-clad slopes of the upper gardens.
-This amphitheatre is one of the triumphs of Italian
-garden-architecture. In general design and detail it
-belongs to the pure Renaissance, without trace of the
-heavy and fantastic <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">barocchismo</span></i> which, half a century
-later, began to disfigure such compositions in the villas
-near Rome. Indeed, comparison with the grotesque
-garden-architecture of the Villa d’Este at Tivoli, which
-is but little later in date, shows how long the Tuscan
-sense of proportion and refinement of taste resisted the
-ever-growing desire to astonish instead of charming the
-spectator.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On each side of the amphitheatre, clipped ilex-walks
-climb the hill, coming out some distance above on a
-plateau containing the toy lake with its little island, the
-Isola Bella, which was once the pride of the Boboli
-garden. This portion of the grounds has been so
-stripped of its architectural adornments and of its surrounding
-vegetation that it is now merely forlorn; and
-the same may be said of the little upper garden, reached
-by an imposing flight of steps and commanding a wide
-view over Florence. One must revert to the architect’s
-plan to see how admirably adapted it was to the difficulties
-of the site he had to deal with, and how skilfully he
-harmonized the dense shade of his ilex-groves with the
-great open spaces and pompous architectural effects
-necessary in a garden which was to form a worthy setting
-for the pageants of a Renaissance court. It is
-interesting to note in this connection that the flower-garden,
-or <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">giardino segreto</span></i>, which in Renaissance gardens
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>almost invariably adjoins the house, has here been
-relegated to the hilltop, doubtless because the only level
-space near the palace was required for state ceremonials
-and theatrical entertainments rather than for private
-enjoyment.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is partly because the Boboli is a court-garden, and
-not designed for private use, that it is less interesting
-and instructive than many others of less importance.
-Yet the other Medicean villas near Florence, though
-designed on much simpler lines, have the same lack of
-personal charm. It is perhaps owing to the fact that
-Florence was so long under the dominion of one all-powerful
-family that there is so little variety in her
-pleasure-houses. Pratolino, Poggio a Caiano, Cafaggiuolo,
-Careggi, Castello and Petraia, one and all,
-whatever their origin, soon passed into the possessorship
-of the Medici, and thence into that of the Austrian
-grand dukes who succeeded them; and of the three
-whose gardens have been partly preserved, Castello,
-Petraia and Poggio Imperiale, it may be said that they
-have the same impersonal official look as the Boboli.</p>
-
-<div id='Cypress'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p031.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>CYPRESS ALLEY, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>Castello and Petraia, situated a mile apart beyond the
-village of Quarto, were both built by Buontalenti, that
-brilliant pupil of Ammanati’s who had a share in the
-planning of the gardens behind the Pitti. Castello
-stands on level ground, and its severely plain <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>,
-with windows on consoles and rusticated doorway, faces
-what is now a highway, though, according to the print
-of Zocchi, the eighteenth-century engraver, a semicircular
-space enclosed in a low wall once extended between
-the house and the road, as at the neighbouring
-Villa Corsini and at Poggio Imperiale. It was an admirable
-rule of the old Italian architects, where the
-garden-space was small and where the site permitted,
-to build their villas facing the road, so that the full extent
-of the grounds was secured to the private use of
-the inmates, instead of being laid open by a public approach
-to the house. This rule is still followed by
-French villa-architects, and it is exceptional in France
-to see a villa entered from its grounds when it may be
-approached directly from the highroad.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Behind Castello the ground rises in terraces, enclosed
-in lateral walls, to a high retaining-wall at the back,
-surmounted by a wood of ilexes which contains a pool
-with an island. Montaigne, who describes but few
-gardens in his Italian diary, mentions that the terraces
-of Castello are <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">en pante</span></i> (sic); that is, they incline gradually
-toward the house, with the slope of the ground.
-This bold and unusual adaptation of formal gardening
-to the natural exigencies of the site is also seen in the
-terraced gardens of the beautiful Villa Imperiali (now
-Scassi) at Sampierdarena, near Genoa. The plan of
-the garden at Castello is admirable, but in detail it has
-been modernized at the cost of all its charm. Wide
-steps lead up to the first terrace, where Il Tribolo’s
-stately fountain of bronze and marble stands surrounded
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>by marble benches and statues on fine rusticated pedestals.
-Unhappily, fountain and statues have lately
-been scrubbed to preternatural whiteness, and the same
-spirit of improvement has turned the old parterres into
-sunburnt turf, and dotted it with copper beeches and
-pampas-grass. Montaigne alludes to the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">berceaux</span></i>, or
-pleached walks, and to the close-set cypresses which
-made a delicious coolness in this garden; and as one
-looks across its sun-scorched expanse one perceives that
-its lack of charm is explained by lack of shade.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>As is usual in Italian gardens built against a hillside,
-the retaining-wall at the back serves for the great decorative
-motive at Castello. It is reached by wide
-marble steps, and flanked at the sides by symmetrical
-lemon-houses. On the central axis of the garden, the
-wall has a wide opening between columns, and on each
-side an arched recess, equidistant between the lemon-houses
-and the central opening. Within the latter is
-one of those huge grottoes<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c013'><sup>[1]</sup></a> which for two centuries or
-more were the delight of Italian garden-architects.
-The roof is decorated with masks and arabesques in
-coloured shell-work, and in the niches of the tufa of
-which the background is formed are strange groups of
-life-sized animals, a camel, a monkey, a stag with real
-antlers, a wild boar with real tusks, and various small
-animals and birds, some made of coloured marbles which
-correspond with their natural tints; while beneath these
-groups are basins of pink-and-white marble, carved
-with sea-creatures and resting on dolphins. Humour is
-the quality which soonest loses its savour, and it is often
-difficult to understand the grotesque side of the old garden-architecture;
-but the curious delight in the representations
-of animals, real or fantastic, probably arose
-from the general interest in those strange wild beasts
-of which the travellers of the Renaissance brought home
-such fabulous descriptions. As to the general use of
-the grotto in Italian gardens, it is a natural development
-of the need for shade and coolness, and when the
-long-disused waterworks were playing, and cool streams
-gushed over quivering beds of fern into the marble
-tanks, these retreats must have formed a delicious contrast
-to the outer glare of the garden.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f1'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r1'>1</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>This grotto and its sculptures are the work of Il Tribolo, who also built
-the aqueduct bringing thither the waters of the Arno and the Mugnone.</p>
-</div>
-
-<div id='Ilex'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p036.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>ILEX-WALK, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>At Petraia the gardens are less elaborate in plan than
-at Castello, and are, in fact, noted chiefly for a fountain
-brought from that villa. This fountain, the most beautiful
-of Il Tribolo’s works, is surmounted by the famous
-Venus-like figure of a woman wringing out her hair,
-now generally attributed to Giovanni da Bologna. Like
-the other Florentine villas of this quarter, where water
-is more abundant, Petraia has a great oblong <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">vasca</span></i>, or
-tank, beneath its upper terrace; while the house itself,
-a simple structure of the old-fashioned Tuscan type,
-built about an inner quadrangle, is remarkable for its very
-beautiful tower, which, as Herr Gurlitt<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c013'><sup>[2]</sup></a> suggests, was
-doubtless inspired by the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f2'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r2'>2</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>“Geschichte des Barockstils in Italien.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>According to Zocchi’s charming etching, the ducal
-villa of Poggio Imperiale, on a hillside to the south of
-Florence, still preserved, in the eighteenth century, its
-simple and characteristic Tuscan <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>. This was
-concealed by the Grand Duke Peter Leopold behind a
-heavy pillared front, to which the rusticated porticoes
-were added later; and externally nothing remains as it
-was save the ilex and cypress avenue, now a public
-highway, which ascends to the villa from the Porta
-Romana, and the semicircular entrance-court with its
-guardian statues on mighty pedestals.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Poggio Imperiale was for too long the favourite residence
-of the grand-ducal Medici, and of their successors
-of Lorraine, not to suffer many changes, and to lose,
-one by one, all its most typical features. Within there
-is a fine court surrounded by an open arcade, probably
-due to Giulio Parigi, who, at the end of the sixteenth
-century, completed the alterations of the villa according
-to the plans of Giuliano da Sangallo; and the vast suites
-of rooms are interesting to the student of decoration,
-since they are adorned, probably by French artists, with
-exquisite carvings and <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">stucchi</span></i> of the Louis XV and
-Louis XVI periods. But the grounds have kept little
-besides their general plan. At the back, the villa opens
-directly on a large level pleasure-garden, with enclosing
-walls and a central basin surrounded by statues; but
-the geometrical parterres have been turned into a lawn.
-To the right of this level space, a few steps lead down
-to a long terrace planted with ilexes, whence there is a
-fine view over Florence—an unusual arrangement, as
-the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bosco</span></i> was generally above, not below, the flower-garden.</p>
-
-<div id='Gamberaia'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p039.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA GAMBERAIA, NEAR FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>If, owing to circumstances, the more famous pleasure-grounds
-of Florence have lost much of their antique
-charm, she has happily preserved a garden of another
-sort which possesses to an unusual degree the flavour of
-the past. This is the villa of the Gamberaia at Settignano.
-Till its recent purchase, the Gamberaia had for
-many years been let out in lodgings for the summer,
-and it doubtless owes to this obscure fate the complete
-preservation of its garden-plan. Before the recent alterations
-made in its gardens, it was doubly interesting
-from its unchanged condition, and from the fact that,
-even in Italy, where small and irregular pieces of ground
-were so often utilized with marvellous skill, it was probably
-the most perfect example of the art of producing a
-great effect on a small scale.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The villa stands nobly on a ridge overlooking the
-village of Settignano and the wide-spread valley of the
-Arno. The house is small yet impressive. Though
-presumably built as late as 1610, it shows few concessions
-to the baroque style already prevalent in other
-parts of Italy, and is yet equally removed from the
-classic or Palladian manner which held its own so long
-in the Venetian country. The Gamberaia is distinctly
-Tuscan, and its projecting eaves, heavily coigned angles
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>and windows set far apart on massive consoles, show its
-direct descent from the severe and sober school of sixteenth-century
-architects who produced such noble
-examples of the great Tuscan villa as I Collazzi and
-Fonte all’ Erta. Nevertheless, so well proportioned is
-its elevation that there is no sense of heaviness, and the
-solidity of the main building is relieved by a kind of
-flying arcade at each end, one of which connects the
-house with its chapel, while the other, by means of a
-spiral stairway in a pier of the arcade, leads from the
-first floor to what was once the old fish-pond and herb-garden.
-This garden, an oblong piece of ground, a
-few years ago had in its centre a round fish-pond, surrounded
-by symmetrical plots planted with roses and
-vegetables, and in general design had probably been
-little changed since the construction of the villa. It has
-now been remodelled on an elaborate plan, which has the
-disadvantage of being unrelated in style to its surroundings;
-but fortunately no other change has been made in
-the plan and planting of the grounds.</p>
-
-<div id='Amphitheatre'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p044.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VIEW OF AMPHITHEATRE, BOBOLI GARDEN, FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>Before the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of the house a grassy terrace
-bounded by a low wall, set alternately with stone vases
-and solemn-looking stone dogs, overhangs the vineyards
-and fields, which, as in all unaltered Tuscan
-country places, come up close to the house. Behind
-the villa, and running parallel with it, is a long grass
-alley or bowling-green, flanked for part of its length by
-a lofty retaining-wall set with statues, and for the
-remainder by high hedges which divide it on one side
-from the fish-pond garden and on the other from the
-farm. The green is closed at one end by a grotto of
-coloured pebbles and shells, with nymphs and shepherds
-in niches about a fountain. This grotto is overhung by
-the grove of ancient cypresses for which the Gamberaia
-is noted. At its opposite end the bowling-green terminates
-in a balustrade whence one looks down on the
-Arno and across to the hills on the southern side of the
-valley.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The retaining-wall which runs parallel with the back
-of the house sustains a terrace planted with cypress and
-ilex. This terraced wood above the house is very
-typical of Italian gardens: good examples may be seen
-at Castello and at the Villa Medici in Rome. These
-patches of shade, however small, are planted irregularly,
-like a wild wood, with stone seats under the dense ilex
-boughs, and a statue placed here and there in a deep
-niche of foliage. Just opposite the central doorway of
-the house the retaining-wall is broken, and an iron gate
-leads to a slit of a garden, hardly more than twenty feet
-wide, on a level with the bowling-green. This narrow
-strip ends also in a grotto-like fountain with statues,
-and on each side balustraded flights of steps lead to the
-upper level oh which the ilex-grove is planted. This
-grove, however, occupies only one portion of the terrace.
-On the other side of the cleft formed by the little grotto-garden,
-the corresponding terrace, formerly laid out as
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>a vegetable-garden, is backed by the low <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of the
-lemon-house, or <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">stanzone</span></i>, which is an adjunct of every
-Italian villa. Here the lemon and orange trees, the
-camellias and other semi-tender shrubs, are stored in
-winter, to be set out in May in their red earthen jars on
-the stone slabs which border the walks of all old Italian
-gardens.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The plan of the Gamberaia has been described thus
-in detail because it combines in an astonishingly small
-space, yet without the least sense of overcrowding,
-almost every typical excellence of the old Italian garden:
-free circulation of sunlight and air about the house;
-abundance of water; easy access to dense shade; sheltered
-walks with different points of view; variety of
-effect produced by the skilful use of different levels;
-and, finally, breadth and simplicity of composition.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Here, also, may be noted in its fullest expression that
-principle of old gardening which the modern “landscapist”
-has most completely unlearned, namely, the
-value of subdivision of spaces. Whereas the modern
-gardener’s one idea of producing an effect of space is to
-annihilate his boundaries, and not only to merge into
-one another the necessary divisions of the garden, but
-also to blend this vague whole with the landscape, the
-old garden-architect proceeded on the opposite principle,
-arguing that, as the garden is but the prolongation of
-the house, and as a house containing a single huge
-room would be less interesting and less serviceable than
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>one divided according to the varied requirements of its
-inmates, so a garden which is merely one huge outdoor
-room is also less interesting and less serviceable than
-one which has its logical divisions. Utility was doubtless
-not the only consideration which produced this
-careful portioning off of the garden. Æsthetic impressions
-were considered, and the effect of passing
-from the sunny fruit-garden to the dense grove, thence
-to the wide-reaching view, and again to the sheltered
-privacy of the pleached walk or the mossy coolness of
-the grotto—all this was taken into account by a race of
-artists who studied the contrast of æsthetic emotions as
-keenly as they did the juxtaposition of dark cypress and
-pale lemon-tree, of deep shade and level sunlight. But
-the real value of the old Italian garden-plan is that logic
-and beauty meet in it, as they should in all sound
-architectural work. Each quarter of the garden was
-placed where convenience required, and was made
-accessible from all the others by the most direct and
-rational means; and from this intelligent method of
-planning the most varying effects of unexpectedness
-and beauty were obtained.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It was said above that lawns are unsuited to the
-Italian soil and climate, but it must not be thought that
-the Italian gardeners did not appreciate the value of
-turf. They used it, but sparingly, knowing that it required
-great care and was not a characteristic of the
-soil. The bowling-green of the Gamberaia shows how
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>well the beauty of a long stretch of greensward was
-understood; and at the Villa Capponi, at Arcetri, on
-the other side of Florence, there is a fine oblong of old
-turf adjoining the house, said to be the only surviving
-fragment of the original garden. These bits of sward
-were always used near the house, where their full value
-could be enjoyed, and were set like jewels in clipped
-hedges or statue-crowned walls. Though doubtless
-intended chiefly for games, they were certainly valued
-for their æsthetic effect, for in many Italian gardens
-steep grass alleys flanked by walls of beech or ilex are
-seen ascending a hillside to the temple or statue which
-forms the crowning ornament of the grounds. In
-Florence a good example of this <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i>, of which
-Le Nôtre afterward made such admirable use in the
-moist climate of France, is seen at the Villa Danti, on
-the Arno near Campiobbi.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Close to the ducal villas of Castello lies a country-seat
-possessing much of the intimate charm which they
-lack. This is Prince Corsini’s villa, the finest example
-of a baroque country house near Florence. The old
-villa, of which the typical Tuscan elevation may still be
-seen at the back, was remodelled during the latter half
-of the seventeenth century, probably by Antonio Ferri,
-who built the state saloon and staircase of the Palazzo
-Corsini on the Lungarno. The Villa Corsini lies in the
-plain, like Castello, and has before it the usual walled
-semicircle. The front of the villa is frankly baroque, a
-two-storied elevation with windows divided by a meagre
-order, and a stately central gable flanked by balustrades
-surmounted by vases. The whole treatment is interesting,
-as showing the manner in which the seventeenth-century
-architect overlaid a plain Tuscan structure with
-florid ornament; and the effect, if open to criticism, is
-at once gay and stately.</p>
-
-<div id='Corsini'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p049.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA CORSINI, FLORENCE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>The house is built about a quadrangle enclosed in an
-open arcade on columns. Opposite the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">porte-cochère</span>
-is a doorway opening on a broad space bounded by a
-balustrade with statues. An ilex avenue extends beyond
-this space, on the axis of the doorway. At one
-end of the house is the oblong walled garden, with its
-box-edged flower-beds grouped in an intricate geometrical
-pattern about a central fountain. Corresponding
-with this garden, at the opposite end of the house, is a
-dense ilex-grove with an alley leading down the centre
-to a beautiful fountain, a tank surmounted by a kind of
-voluted pediment, into which the water falls from a
-large ilex-shaded tank on a higher level. Here again
-the vineyards and olive-orchards come up close to the
-formal grounds, the ilex-grove being divided from the
-<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">podere</span></i> by a line of cypresses instead of a wall.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Not far from the Gamberaia, on the hillside of San
-Gervasio, stands another country house which preserves
-only faint traces of its old gardens, but which, architecturally,
-is too interesting to be overlooked. This is the
-villa of Fonte all’ Erta. Originally a long building of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>the villa-farmhouse order, with chapel, offices and outhouses
-connected with the main house, it was transformed
-in the sixteenth century, probably by Ammanati,
-into one of the stateliest country houses near Florence.
-A splendid rusticated loggia, approached by a double
-flight of steps, forms an angle of the main house, and
-either then or later the spacious open court, around
-three sides of which the villa is built, was roofed over
-and turned into a great central saloon like those of the
-Venetian and Milanese villas. This two-storied saloon
-is the finest and most appropriate feature of the interior
-planning of Italian villas, but it seems never to have
-been as popular in Tuscany as it was farther north or
-south. The Tuscan villas, for the most part, are smaller
-and less pretentious in style than those erected in other
-parts of Italy, and only in exceptional instances did the
-architect free himself from the traditional plan of the old
-farmhouse-villa around its open court. A fine example
-of this arcaded court may be seen at Petraia, the Medicean
-villa near Castello. At Fonte all’ Erta the former
-court faced toward what was once an old flower-garden,
-raised a few feet above the grass terrace which runs
-the length of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>. Behind this garden, and
-adjoining the back of the villa, is the old evergreen
-grove; but the formal surroundings of the house have
-disappeared.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The most splendid and stately villa in the neighbourhood
-of Florence stands among the hills a few miles
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>beyond the Certosa of Val d’Ema, and looks from its
-lofty ridge across the plain toward Pistoia and the
-Apennines. This villa, called Ai Collazzi (now Bombicci),
-from the wooded hills which surround it, was
-built for the Dini family in the sixteenth century, and,
-as tradition avers, by no less a hand than Michelangelo’s.
-He is known to have been a close friend of the Dini,
-and is likely to have worked for them; and if, as some
-experts think, certain details of the design, as well as the
-actual construction of the villa, are due to Santi di Tito,
-it is impossible not to feel that its general conception
-must have originated with a greater artist.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Villa Bombicci has in fact the Michelangelesque
-quality: the austerity, the breadth, the peculiar majesty
-which he imparted to his slightest creations. The house
-is built about three sides of a raised stone-flagged terrace,
-the enclosing elevation consisting of a two-storied
-open arcade roofed by widely projecting eaves. The
-wings are solid, with the exception of the sides toward
-the arcade, and the windows, with their heavy pediments
-and consoles, are set far apart in true Tuscan
-fashion. A majestic double flight of steps, flanked by
-shield-bearing lions, leads up to the terrace about which
-the house is built. Within is a high central saloon
-opening at the back on a stone <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">perron</span></i>, with another
-double flight of steps which descend in a curve to the
-garden. On this side of the house there is, on the upper
-floor, an open loggia of great beauty, consisting of three
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>arches divided by slender coupled shafts. Very fine,
-also, is the arched and rusticated doorway surmounted
-by a stone escutcheon.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The villa is approached by a cypress avenue which
-leads straight to the open space before the house. The
-ridge on which the latter is built is so narrow, and the
-land falls away so rapidly, that there could never have
-been much opportunity for the development of garden-architecture;
-but though all is now Anglicized, it is easy
-to trace the original plan: in front, the open space supported
-by a high retaining-wall, on one side of the house
-the grove of cypress and ilex, and at the back, where
-there was complete privacy, the small <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">giardino segreto</span></i>,
-or hedged garden, with its parterres, benches and
-statues.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The purpose of this book is to describe the Italian
-villa in relation to its grounds, and many villas which
-have lost their old surroundings must therefore be
-omitted; but near Florence there is one old garden
-which has always lacked its villa, yet which cannot be
-overlooked in a study of Italian garden-craft. Even
-those most familiar with the fascinations of Italian gardens
-will associate a peculiar thrill with their first sight
-of the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Villa</span><a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c013'><sup>[3]</sup></a> Campi. Laid out by one of the Pucci
-family, probably toward the end of the sixteenth century,
-it lies beyond Lastra-Signa, above the Arno, about
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>ten miles from Florence. It is not easy to reach, for
-so long is it since any one has lived in the melancholy
-<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villino</span></i> of Villa Campi that even in the streets of Lastra,
-the little walled town by the Arno, a guide is hard to
-find. But at last one is told to follow a steep country
-road among vines and olives, past two or three charming
-houses buried in ilex-groves, till the way ends in a
-lane which leads up to a gateway surmounted by statues.
-Ascending thence by a long avenue of cypresses, one
-reaches the level hilltop on which the house should have
-stood. Two pavilions connected by a high wall face
-the broad open terrace, whence there is a far-spreading
-view over the Arno valley: doubtless the main building
-was to have been placed between them. But now the
-place lies enveloped in a mysterious silence. The foot
-falls noiselessly on the grass carpeting of the alleys, the
-water is hushed in pools and fountains, and broken
-statues peer out startlingly from their niches of unclipped
-foliage. From the open space in front of the pavilions,
-long avenues radiate, descending and encircling the
-hillside, walled with cypress and ilex, and leading to
-<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rond-points</span></i> set with groups of statuary, and to balustraded
-terraces overhanging the valley. The plan is
-vast and complicated, and appears to have embraced the
-whole hillside, which, contrary to the usual frugal Tuscan
-plan, was to have been converted into a formal park with
-vistas, quincunxes and fountains.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f3'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r3'>3</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Villa</span></i>, in Italian, signifies not the house alone, but the house and
-pleasure-grounds.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>Entering a gate in the wall between the pavilions,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>one comes on the terraced flower-gardens, and here the
-same grandeur of conception is seen. The upper terrace
-preserves traces of its formal parterres and box-hedges.
-Thence flights of steps lead down to a long
-bowling-green between hedges, like that at the Gamberaia.
-A farther descent reveals another terrace-garden,
-with clipped hedges, statues and fountains; and thence
-sloping alleys radiate down to stone-edged pools with
-reclining river-gods in the mysterious shade of the ilex-groves.
-Statues are everywhere: in the upper gardens,
-nymphs, satyrs, shepherds, and the cheerful fauna of
-the open pleasance; at the end of the shadowy glades,
-solemn figures of Titanic gods, couched above their pools
-or reared aloft on mighty pedestals. Even the opposite
-hillside must have been included in the original scheme
-of this vast garden, for it still shows, on the central axis
-between the pavilions, a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i> between cypresses,
-doubtless intended to lead up to some great stone Hercules
-under a crowning arch.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But it is not the size of the Campi gardens which
-makes them so remarkable; it is the subtle beauty of
-their planning, to which time and neglect have added the
-requisite touch of poetry. Never perhaps have natural
-advantages been utilized with so little perceptible straining
-after effect, yet with so complete a sense of the
-needful adjustment between landscape and architecture.
-One feels that these long avenues and statued terraces
-were meant to lead up to a “stately pleasure-house”;
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>yet so little are they out of harmony with the surrounding
-scene that nature has gradually taken them back to
-herself, has turned them into a haunted grove in which
-the statues seem like sylvan gods fallen asleep in their
-native shade.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>There are other Florentine villas which preserve traces
-of their old gardens. The beautiful Villa Palmieri has
-kept its terrace-architecture, Lappeggi its fine double
-stairway, the Villa Danti its grass-walk leading to a
-giant on the hilltop, and Castel Pulci its stately <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>
-with a sky-line of statues and the long cypress avenue
-shown in Zocchi’s print; even Pratolino, so cruelly
-devastated, still preserves Giovanni da Bologna’s colossal
-figure of the Apennines. But where so much of greater
-value remains to be described, space fails to linger over
-these fragments which, romantic and charming as they
-are, can but faintly suggest, amid their altered surroundings,
-the vanished garden-plans of which they formed a
-part.</p>
-
-<div class='ph2'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>SIENESE VILLAS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Vicobello'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p062.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VICOBELLO, SIENA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>II<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>SIENESE VILLAS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c011'>In the order of age, the first country-seat near Siena
-which claims attention is the fortress-villa of Belcaro.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Frequent mention is made of the castle of Belcaro in
-early chronicles and documents, and it seems to have
-been a place of some importance as far back as the
-eleventh century. It stands on a hilltop clothed with
-oak and ilex in the beautiful wooded country to the
-west of Siena, and from its ancient walls one looks forth
-over the plain to the hill-set city and its distant circle of
-mountains. It was perhaps for the sake of this enchanting
-prospect that Baldassare Peruzzi, to whom the transformation
-of Belcaro is ascribed, left these crenellated
-walls untouched, and contented himself with adorning
-the inner court of the castle with a delicate mask of
-Renaissance architecture. A large bare villa of no
-architectural pretensions was added to the mediæval
-buildings, and Peruzzi worked within the enclosed quadrangle
-thus formed.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>A handsome architectural screen of brick and marble
-with a central gateway leads from a stone-paved court
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>to a garden of about the same dimensions, at the back
-of which is an arcaded loggia, also of brick and marble,
-exquisitely light and graceful in proportion, and frescoed
-in the Raphaelesque manner with medallions and
-arabesques, fruit-garlands and brightly plumed birds.
-Adjoining this loggia is a small brick chapel, simple but
-elegant in design, with a frescoed interior also ascribed
-to Peruzzi, and still beautiful under its crude repainting.
-The garden itself is the real <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">hortus inclusus</span></i> of the
-mediæval chronicler: a small patch of ground enclosed
-in the fortress walls, with box-edged plots, a central
-well and clipped shrubs. It is interesting as a reminder
-of what the mediæval garden within the castle must have
-been, and its setting of Renaissance architecture makes
-it look like one of those little marble-walled pleasances,
-full of fruit and flowers, in the backgrounds of Gozzoli
-or Lorenzo di Credi.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Several miles beyond Belcaro, in a pleasant valley
-among oak-wooded hills, lies the Marchese Chigi’s
-estate of Cetinale. A huge clipped ilex, one of the few
-examples of Dutch topiary work in Italy, stands at the
-angle of the road which leads to the gates. Across the
-highway, facing the courtyard entrance, is another gate,
-guarded by statues and leading to a long <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i>
-which ascends between double rows of square-topped
-ilexes to a statue on the crest of the opposite slope.
-The villa looks out on this perspective, facing it across
-an oblong courtyard flanked by low outbuildings. The
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>main house, said to have been built (or more probably
-rebuilt) in 1680 by Carlo Fontana for Flavio Chigi,
-nephew of Pope Alexander VII, is so small and modest
-of aspect that one is surprised to learn that it was one
-of the celebrated pleasure-houses of its day. It must
-be remembered, however, that with the exception of the
-great houses built near Rome by the Princes of the
-Church, and the country-seats of such reigning families
-as the Medici, the Italian villa was almost invariably a
-small and simple building, the noble proprietor having
-usually preferred to devote his wealth and time to the
-embellishment of his gardens.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The house at Cetinale is so charming, with its stately
-double flight of steps leading up to the first floor, and
-its monumental doorway opening on a central <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">salone</span></i>,
-that it may well be ascribed to the architect of San
-Marcello in Rome, and of Prince Lichtenstein’s “Garden
-Palace” in Vienna. The plan of using the low-studded
-ground floor for offices, wine-cellar and store-rooms,
-while the living-rooms are all above-stairs, shows the
-hand of an architect trained in the Roman school. All
-the Tuscan and mid-Italian villas open on a level with
-their gardens, while about Rome the country houses, at
-least on one side, have beneath the living-rooms a ground
-floor generally used for the storage of wine and oil.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But the glory of Cetinale is its park. Behind the
-villa a long grass-walk as wide as the house extends
-between high walls to a fantastic gateway, with statues
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>in ivy-clad niches, and a curious crowning motive terminating
-in obelisks and balls. Beyond this the turf-walk
-continues again to a raised semicircular terrace,
-surrounded by a wall adorned with busts and enclosed
-in clipped ilexes. This terrace abuts on the ilex-clothed
-hillside which bounds the valley. A gateway leads
-directly into these wild romantic woods, and a steep
-irregular flight of stone steps is seen ascending the
-wooded slope to a tiny building on the crest of the hill.
-This ascent is called the Scala Santa, and the building
-to which it leads is a hermitage adorned with circular
-niches set in the form of a cross, each niche containing
-the bust of a saint. The hermitage being directly on
-the axis of the villa, one looks out from the latter down
-the admirable perspective of the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i> and up the
-Scala Santa to the little house at its summit. It is interesting
-to note that this effect of distance and grandeur
-is produced at small cost and in the simplest manner;
-for the grass-walk with its semicircular end forms the
-whole extent of the Cetinale garden. The olive-orchards
-and corn-fields of the farm come up to the boundary
-walls of the walk, and the wood is left as nature planted
-it. Fontana, if it was indeed he who laid out this simple
-but admirable plan, was wise enough to profit by the
-natural advantage of the great forest of oak and ilex
-which clothes this part of the country, and to realize
-that only the broadest and simplest lines would be in
-harmony with so noble a background.</p>
-
-<div id='Palazzina'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p067.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>LA PALAZZINA (VILLA GORI), SIENA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>As charming in its way, though less romantic and
-original, is the Marchese Chigi’s other seat of Vicobello,
-a mile or two beyond the Porta Ovile, on the other side
-of Siena. Vicobello lies in an open villa-studded
-country in complete contrast to the wooded hills about
-Cetinale. The villa is placed on a long narrow ridge
-of land, falling away abruptly at the back and front. A
-straight entrance avenue runs parallel to the outer walls
-of the outbuildings, which form the boundary of the
-court, the latter being entered through a vaulted <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">porte-cochère</span>.
-Facing this entrance (as at Cetinale) is a
-handsome gateway guarded by statues and set in a
-semicircular wall. Passing through this gate, one descends
-to a series of terraces planted with straight rows
-of the square-topped ilexes so characteristic of the
-Sienese gardens. These densely shaded terraces descend
-to a level stretch of sward (perhaps an old bowling-green)
-bordered by a wall of clipped ilexes, at the
-foot of the hill on which the villa stands.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On entering the forecourt, one faces the villa, a dignified
-oblong building of simple Renaissance architecture,
-ascribed in the local guide-book to Baldassare
-Peruzzi, and certainly of earlier construction than the
-house at Cetinale. On the left, a gate in a high wall
-leads to a walled garden, bounded by a long lemon-house
-which continues the line of the outbuildings on
-the court. Opposite, a corresponding gateway opens
-into the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bosco</span></i> which is the indispensable adjunct of the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>Italian country house. On the other side of the villa
-are two long terraces, one beneath the other, corresponding
-in dimensions with the court, and flanked on
-each hand by walled terrace-gardens, descending on
-one side from the grove, on the other from the upper
-garden adjoining the court. The plan, which is as
-elaborate and minutely divided as that of Cetinale is
-spacious and simple, shows an equally sure appreciation
-of natural conditions, and of the distinction between a
-<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villa suburbana</span></i> and a country estate. The walls of the
-upper garden are espaliered with fruit-trees, and the
-box-edged flower-plots are probably laid out much as
-they were in the eighteenth century. All the architectural
-details are beautiful, especially a well in the court,
-set in the wall between Ionic columns, and a charming
-garden-house at the end of the upper garden, in the
-form of an open archway faced with Doric pilasters,
-before a semicircular recess with a marble seat. The
-descending walled gardens, with their different levels,
-give opportunity for many charming architectural effects—busts
-in niches, curving steps, and well-placed vases
-and statues; and the whole treatment of Vicobello is
-remarkable for the discretion and sureness of taste with
-which these ornamental touches are added. There is
-no excess of decoration, no crowding of effects, and the
-garden-plan is in perfect keeping with the simple stateliness
-of the house.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>About a mile from Vicobello, on an olive-clad hillside
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>near the famous monastery of the Osservanza, lies another
-villa of much more modest dimensions, with
-grounds which, though in some respects typically
-Sienese, are in one way unique in Italy. This is La
-Palazzina, the estate of the De’ Gori family. The small
-seventeenth-century house, with its adjoining chapel
-and outbuildings, lies directly on the public road, and
-forms the boundary of its own grounds. The charming
-garden-<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, with its voluted sky-line, and the
-two-storied open loggia forming the central motive
-of the elevation, faces on a terrace-like open space,
-bounded by a wall, and now irregularly planted <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">à
-l’Anglaise</span></i>, but doubtless once the site of the old
-flower-garden. Before the house stands an old well
-with a beautiful wrought-iron railing, and on the axis
-of the central loggia a gate opens into one of the
-pleached ilex-alleys which are the glory of the Palazzina.
-This ancient tunnel of gnarled and interlocked
-trees, where a green twilight reigns in the hottest summer
-noon, extends for several hundred feet along a
-ridge of ground ending in a sort of circular knoll or
-platform, surrounded by an impenetrable wall of square-clipped
-ilexes. The platform has in its centre a round
-clearing, from which four narrow paths radiate at right
-angles, one abutting on the pleached walk, the others
-on the outer ilex-wall. Between these paths are four
-small circular spaces planted with stunted ilexes and
-cypresses, which are cut down to the height of shrubs.
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>In these dwarf trees blinded thrushes are tied as decoys
-to their wild kin, who are shot at from the circular
-clearing or the side paths. This elaborate plantation is
-a perfectly preserved specimen of a species of bird-trap
-once, alas! very common in this part of Italy, and in
-which one may picture the young gallants of Folgore
-da San Gimignano’s Sienese sonnets “Of the Months”
-taking their cruel pleasure on an autumn day.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Another antique alley of pleached ilexes, as densely
-shaded but not quite as long, runs from the end of the
-terrace to a small open-air theatre which is the greatest
-curiosity of the Villa de’ Gori. The pit of this theatre is
-a semicircular opening, bounded by a low wall or seat,
-which is backed by a high ilex-hedge. The parterre is
-laid out in an elaborate <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">broderie</span></i> of turf and gravel, above
-which the stage is raised about three feet. The pit and
-the stage are enclosed in a double hedge of ilex, so that
-the actors may reach the wings without being seen by
-the audience; but the stage-setting consists of rows of
-clipped cypresses, each advancing a few feet beyond the
-one before it, so that they form a perspective running
-up to the back of the stage, and terminated by the tall
-shaft of a single cypress which towers high into the
-blue in the exact centre of the background. No mere
-description of its plan can convey the charm of this exquisite
-little theatre, approached through the mysterious
-dusk of the long pleached alley, and lying in sunshine
-and silence under its roof of blue sky, in its walls of
-unchanging verdure. Imagination must people the
-stage with the sylvan figures of the <em>Aminta</em> or the
-<em>Pastor Fido</em>, and must place on the encircling seats a
-company of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">nobil donne</span></i> in pearls and satin, with their
-cavaliers in the black Spanish habit and falling lace
-collar which Vandyke has immortalized in his Genoese
-portraits; and the remembrance of this leafy stage will
-lend new life to the reading of the Italian pastorals, and
-throw a brighter sunlight over the woodland comedies
-of Shakspeare.</p>
-
-<div id='Theatre'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p073.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE THEATRE AT LA PALAZZINA, SIENA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='ph2'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>ROMAN VILLAS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Peter'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p080.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE DOME OF ST. PETER’S, FROM THE VATICAN GARDENS</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>III<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>ROMAN VILLAS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c011'>In studying the villas near the smaller Italian towns,
-it is difficult to learn much of their history. Now
-and then some information may be gleaned from
-a local guide-book, but the facts are usually meagre or
-inaccurate, and the name of the architect, the date of the
-building, the original plan of the garden, have often alike
-been forgotten.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>With regard to the villas in and about Rome, the case
-is different. Here the student is overwhelmed by a
-profusion of documents. Illustrious architects dispute
-the honour of having built the famous pleasure-houses
-on the seven hills, and historians of art, from Vasari
-downward, have recorded their annals. Falda engraved
-them in the seventeenth century, and Percier and Fontaine
-at the beginning of the nineteenth; and they have
-been visited and described, at various periods, by countless
-travellers from different countries.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>One of the earliest Roman gardens of which a description
-has been preserved is that which Bramante laid out
-within the Vatican in the last years of the fifteenth
-century. This terraced garden, with its monumental
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>double flight of steps leading up by three levels to the
-Giardino della Pigna, was described in 1523 by the
-Venetian ambassador to Rome, who speaks of its grass
-parterres and fountains, its hedges of laurel and cypress,
-its plantations of mulberries and roses. One half of the
-garden (the court of the Belvedere) had brick-paved
-walks between rows of orange-trees; in its centre were
-statues of the Nile and the Tiber above a fountain; while
-the Apollo, the Laocoon and the Venus of the Vatican
-were placed about it in niches. This garden was long
-since sacrificed to the building of the Braccio Nuovo
-and the Vatican Library; but it is worth mentioning
-that Burckhardt, whose least word on Italian gardens is
-more illuminating than the treatises of other writers,
-thought that Bramante’s terraced stairway first set the
-example of that architectural magnificence which marks
-the great Roman gardens of the Renaissance.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Next in date comes the Villa Madama, Raphael’s unfinished
-masterpiece on the slope of Monte Mario. This
-splendid pleasure-house, which was begun in 1516 for
-Cardinal Giuliano de’ Medici, afterward Pope Clement
-VII, was intended to be the model of the great <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villa
-suburbana</span></i>, and no subsequent building of the sort is
-comparable to what it would have been had the original
-plans been carried out. But the villa was built under
-an evil star. Raphael died before the work was finished,
-and it was carried on with some alterations by Giulio
-Romano and Antonio da Sangallo. In 1527 the troops
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>of Cardinal Colonna nearly destroyed it by fire; and,
-without ever being completed, it passed successively into
-the possession of the Chapter of St. Eustace, of the
-Duchess of Parma (whence its name of <em>Madama</em>), and
-of the King of Naples, who suffered it to fall into complete
-neglect.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The unfinished building, with its mighty loggia stuccoed
-by Giovanni da Udine, and the semicircular arcade
-at the back, is too familiar to need detailed description;
-and the gardens are so dilapidated that they are of interest
-only to an eye experienced enough to reconstruct
-them from their skeleton. They consist of two long
-terraces, one above the other, cut in the side of the
-wooded slope overhanging the villa. The upper terrace
-is on a level with Raphael’s splendid loggia, and seems
-but a roofless continuation of that airy hall. Against
-the hillside and at the end it is bounded by a retaining-wall
-once surmounted by a marble balustrade and set
-with niches for statuary, while on the other side it looks
-forth over the Tiber and the Campagna. Below this
-terrace is another of the same proportions, its retaining-wall
-broken at each end by a stairway descending from
-the upper level, and the greater part of its surface taken
-up by a large rectangular tank, into which water gushes
-from the niches in the lateral wall. It is evident from
-the breadth of treatment of these terraces that they are
-but a fragment of the projected whole. Percier and
-Fontaine, in their “Maisons de Plaisance de Rome”
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>(1809), published an interesting “reconstitution” of the
-Villa Madama and its gardens, as they conceived it
-might have been carried to completion; but their plan is
-merely the brilliant conjecture of two artists penetrated
-with the spirit of the Renaissance, for they had no
-documents to go by. The existing fragment is, however,
-well worthy of study, for the purity of its architecture
-and the broad simplicity of its plan are in marked
-contrast to the complicated design and overcharged
-details of some of the later Roman gardens.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Third in date among the early Renaissance gardens
-comes another, of which few traces are left: that of the
-Vigna del Papa, or Villa di Papa Giulio, just beyond the
-Porta del Popolo. Here, however, the building itself,
-and the architectural composition which once united the
-house and grounds, are fortunately well preserved, and
-so exceptionally interesting that they deserved a careful
-description. The Villa di Papa Giulio was built by Pope
-Julius III, whose pontificate extends from 1550 to 1555.
-The villa therefore dates from the middle of the sixteenth
-century; but so many architects were associated
-with it, and so much confusion exists as to their respective
-contributions, that it can only be said that the Pope
-himself, Michelangelo, Vignola, Vasari and Ammanati
-appear all to have had a hand in the work. The
-exterior elevation, though it has been criticized, is not
-as inharmonious as might have been expected, and on
-the garden side both plan and elevation have a charm
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>and picturesqueness which disarm criticism. Above all,
-it is felt at once that the arrangement is perfectly suited
-to a warm climate. The villa forms a semicircle at the
-back, enclosing a paved court. The ground floor is an
-open vaulted arcade, adorned with Zucchero’s celebrated
-frescoes of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">putti</span></i> peeping through vine-wreathed trellises;
-and the sides of the court, beyond this arcade, are
-bounded by two-storied lateral wings, with blind arcades
-and niches adorned with statues. Facing the villa, a
-colonnaded loggia terminates the court; and thence one
-looks down into the beautiful lower court of the bath,
-which appears to have been designed by Vasari. From
-the loggia, steps descend to a semicircular court enclosed
-in walls, with a balustraded opening in its centre; and
-this balustrade rests on a row of caryatids which encircle
-the lowest court and form a screen before the grotto-like
-bath under the arches of the upper terrace. The plan is
-too complicated, and the architectural motives are too
-varied, to admit of clear description: both must be seen
-to give an idea of the full beauty of the composition.
-Returning to the upper loggia above the bath, one looks
-across the latter to a corresponding loggia of three arches
-on the opposite side, on the axis of which is a gateway
-leading to the actual gardens—gardens which, alas! no
-longer exist. It will thus be seen that the flagged court,
-the two open loggias, and the bath are so many skilfully
-graduated steps in what Percier and Fontaine call the
-“artistic progression” linking the gardens to the house,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>while the whole is so planned that from the central hall
-of the villa (and in fact from its entrance-door) one may
-look across the court and down the long vista of columns,
-into what were once the shady depths of the garden.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In all Italian garden-architecture there is nothing
-quite comparable for charm and delicately reminiscent
-classicalism with this grotto-bath of Pope Julius’s villa.
-Here we find the tradition of the old Roman villa-architecture,
-as it had been lovingly studied in the letters
-of Pliny, transposed into Renaissance forms, with the
-sense of its continued fitness to unchanged conditions
-of climate and a conscious return to the splendour of
-the old patrician life. It is instructive to compare this
-natural reflowering of a national art with the frigid
-archæological classicalism of Winckelmann and Canova.
-Here there is no literal transcription of uncomprehended
-detail: the spirit is preserved, because it is still
-living, but it finds expression in subtly altered forms.
-Above all, the artist has drawn his inspiration from
-Roman art, the true source of modern architecture, and
-not from that of Greece, which, for all its beauty and far-reaching
-æsthetic influences, was <em>not</em> the starting-point
-of modern artistic conceptions, for the plain historical
-reason that it was utterly forgotten and unknown when
-the mediæval world began to wake from its lethargy
-and gather up its scattered heritage of artistic traditions.</p>
-
-<div id='Rome'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p087.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>ENTRANCE TO FORECOURT, VILLA BORGHESE, ROME</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>When John Evelyn came to Rome in 1644 and
-alighted “at Monsieur Petit’s in the Piazza Spagnola,”
-many of the great Roman villas were still in the first
-freshness of their splendour, and the taste which called
-them forth had not yet wearied of them. Later travellers,
-with altered ideas, were not sufficiently interested
-to examine in detail what already seemed antiquated
-and out of fashion; but to Evelyn, a passionate lover
-of architecture and garden-craft, the Italian villas were
-patterns of excellence, to be carefully studied and minutely
-described for the benefit of those who sought
-to imitate them in England. It is doubtful if later
-generations will ever be diverted by the aquatic “surprises”
-and mechanical toys in which Evelyn took such
-simple pleasure; but the real beauties he discerned are
-once more receiving intelligent recognition after two
-centuries of contempt and indifference. It is worth
-noting in this connection that, at the very height of the
-reaction against Italian gardens, they were lovingly
-studied and truly understood by two men great enough
-to rise above the prejudices of their age: the French
-architects Percier and Fontaine, whose volume contains
-some of the most suggestive analyses ever written
-of the purpose and meaning of Renaissance garden-architecture.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Probably one of the least changed among the villas
-visited by Evelyn is “the house of the Duke of Florence
-upon the brow of Mons Pincius.” The Villa
-Medici, on being sold by that family in 1801, had the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>good fortune to pass into the hands of the French government,
-and its “facciata incrusted with antique and
-rare basso-relievos and statues” still looks out over the
-statued arcade, the terrace “balustraded with white
-marble” and planted with “perennial greens,” and the
-“mount planted with cypresses,” which Evelyn so justly
-admired.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The villa, built in the middle of the sixteenth century
-by Annibale Lippi, was begun for one cardinal and
-completed for another. It stands in true Italian fashion
-against the hillside above the Spanish Steps, its airy
-upper stories planted on one of the mighty bastion-like
-basements so characteristic of the Roman villa. A
-villa above, a fortress below, it shows that, even in the
-polished cinque-cento, life in the Papal States needed
-the protection of stout walls and heavily barred windows.
-The garden-<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, raised a story above the
-entrance, has all the smiling openness of the Renaissance
-pleasure-house, and is interesting as being probably the
-earliest example of the systematic use of fragments of
-antique sculpture in an architectural elevation. But this
-<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, with its charming central loggia, is sufficiently
-well known to make a detailed description superfluous,
-and it need be studied here only in relation to its surroundings.</p>
-
-<div id='Papa'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p091.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>GROTTO, VILLA DI PAPA GIULIO, ROME</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>Falda’s plan of the grounds, and that of Percier and
-Fontaine, made over a hundred and fifty years later,
-show how little succeeding fashions have been allowed
-to disturb the original design. The gardens are still
-approached by a long shady alley which ascends from
-the piazza before the entrance; and they are still divided
-into a symmetrically planted grove, a flower-garden
-before the house, and an upper wild-wood with
-a straight path leading to the “mount planted with
-cypresses.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is safe to say that no one enters the grounds of the
-Villa Medici without being soothed and charmed by that
-garden-magic which is the peculiar quality of some of
-the old Italian pleasances. It is not necessary to be a
-student of garden-architecture to feel the spell of quiet
-and serenity which falls on one at the very gateway;
-but it is worth the student’s while to try to analyze the
-elements of which the sensation is composed. Perhaps
-they will be found to resolve themselves into diversity,
-simplicity and fitness. The plan of the garden is simple,
-but its different parts are so contrasted as to produce, by
-the fewest means, a pleasant sense of variety without
-sacrifice of repose. The ilex-grove into which one first
-enters is traversed by hedged alleys which lead to <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rond-points</span></i>
-with stone seats and marble Terms. At one point
-the enclosing wall of ilex is broken to admit a charming
-open loggia, whence one looks into the depths of green
-below. Emerging from the straight shady walks, with
-their effect of uniformity and repose, one comes on the
-flower-garden before the house, spreading to the sunshine
-its box-edged parterres adorned with fountains
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>and statues. Here garden and house-front are harmonized
-by a strong predominance of architectural lines,
-and by the beautiful lateral loggia, with niches for
-statues, above which the upper ilex-wood rises. Tall
-hedges and trees there are none; for from the villa one
-looks across the garden at the wide sweep of the Campagna
-and the mountains; indeed, this is probably one
-of the first of the gardens which Gurlitt defines as “gardens
-to look out from,” in contradistinction to the earlier
-sort, the “gardens to look into.” Mounting to the terrace,
-one comes to the third division of the garden, the
-wild-wood with its irregular levels, through which a
-path leads to the mount, with a little temple on its summit.
-This is a rare feature in Italian grounds: in hilly
-Italy there was small need of creating the artificial hillocks
-so much esteemed in the old English gardens. In
-this case, however, the mount justifies its existence, for
-it affords a wonderful view over the other side of Rome
-and the Campagna.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Finally, the general impression of the Medici garden
-resolves itself into a sense of fitness, of perfect harmony
-between the material at hand and the use made of it.
-The architect has used his opportunities to the utmost;
-but he has adapted nature without distorting it. In
-some of the great French gardens, at Vaux and Versailles
-for example, one is conscious, under all the
-beauty, of the immense effort expended, of the vast upheavals
-of earth, the forced creating of effects; but it
-was the great gift of the Italian gardener to see the natural
-advantages of his incomparable landscape, and to
-fit them into his scheme with an art which concealed
-itself.</p>
-
-<div id='Aesculapius'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p096.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>TEMPLE OF ÆSCULAPIUS, VILLA BORGHESE, ROME</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>While Annibale Lippi, an architect known by only
-two buildings, was laying out the Medici garden, the
-Palatine Hill was being clothed with monumental terraces
-by a master to whom the Italian Renaissance
-owed much of its stateliest architecture. Vignola, who
-transformed the slopes of the Palatine into the sumptuous
-Farnese gardens, was the architect of the mighty
-fortress-villa of Caprarola, and of the garden-portico of
-Mondragone; and tradition ascribes to him also the incomparable
-Lante gardens at Bagnaia.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the Farnese gardens he found full play for his gift
-of grouping masses and for the scenic sense which enabled
-him to create such grandiose backgrounds for the
-magnificence of the great Roman prelates. The Palatine
-gardens have been gradually sacrificed to the excavations
-of the Palace of the Cæsars, but their almost
-theatrical magnificence is shown in the prints of Falda
-and of Percier and Fontaine. In this prodigal development
-of terraces, niches, porticoes and ramps, one perceives
-the outcome of Bramante’s double staircase in
-the inner gardens of the Vatican, and Burckhardt justly
-remarks that in the Farnese gardens “the period of
-unity of composition and effective grouping of masses”
-finally triumphs over the earlier style.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>No villa was ever built on this site, and there is
-consequently an air of heaviness and over-importance
-about the stately ascent which leads merely to two
-domed pavilions; but the composition would have
-regained its true value had it been crowned by such a
-palace as the Roman cardinals were beginning to erect
-for themselves. It is especially interesting to note the
-contrast in style and plan between this garden and that
-of the contemporaneous Villa Medici. One was designed
-for display, the other for privacy, and the success with
-which the purpose of each is fulfilled shows the originality
-and independence of their creators. It is a common
-error to think of the Italian gardens of the Renaissance
-as repeating endlessly the same architectural
-effects: their peculiar charm lies chiefly in the versatility
-with which their designers adapted them to different
-sites and different requirements.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>As an example of this independence of meaningless
-conventions, let the student turn from the Villa Medici
-and the Orti Farnesiani to a third type of villa created
-at the same time—the Casino of Pope Pius IV in the
-Vatican gardens, built in 1560 by the Neapolitan architect
-Pirro Ligorio.</p>
-
-<div id='Medici'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p100.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA MEDICI, ROME</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>This exquisite little garden-house lies in a hollow of
-the outer Vatican gardens near the Via de’ Fondamenti.
-A hillside once clothed with a grove rises abruptly
-behind it, and in this hillside a deep oblong cut has
-been made and faced with a retaining-wall. In the
-space thus cleared the villa is built, some ten or fifteen
-feet away from the wall, so that its ground floor is cool
-and shaded without being damp. The building, which
-is long and narrow, runs lengthwise into the cut, its
-long <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façades</span> being treated as sides, while it presents
-a narrow end as its front elevation. The propriety of
-this plan will be seen when the restricted surroundings
-are noted. In such a small space a larger structure
-would have been disproportionate; and Ligorio hit on
-the only means of giving to a house of considerable size
-the appearance of a mere garden-pavilion.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Percier and Fontaine say that Ligorio built the Villa
-Pia “after the manner of the ancient houses, of which
-he had made a special study.” The influence of the
-Roman fresco-architecture is in fact visible in this delicious
-little building, but so freely modified by the personal
-taste of the architect that it has none of the rigidity
-of the “reconstitution,” but seems rather the day-dream
-of an artist who has saturated his mind with the past.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> is a mere pretext for the display of the
-most exquisite and varied stucco ornamentation, in
-which motives borrowed from the Roman <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">stucchi</span></i> are
-harmonized with endless versatility. In spite of the
-wealth of detail, it is saved from heaviness and confusion
-by its delicacy of treatment and by a certain <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">naïveté</span>
-which makes it more akin (fantastic as the comparison
-may seem) with the stuccoed <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of San Bernardino
-at Perugia than with similar compositions of its own
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>period. The angels or genii in the oblong panels are
-curiously suggestive of Agostino da Duccio, and the
-pale-yellow tarnished surface of the stucco recalls the
-delicate hues of the Perugian chapel.</p>
-
-<div id='Pia'  class='figleft id004'>
-<img src='images/i_p102.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>COURTYARD GATE OF THE VILLA PIA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>The ground floor consists of an open loggia of three
-arches on columns, forming a kind of atrium curiously
-faced with an elaborate
-mosaic-work of tiny
-round pebbles, stained
-in various colours and
-set in arabesques and
-other antique patterns.
-The coigns of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>
-are formed of this same
-mosaic—a last touch of
-fancifulness where all is
-fantastic. The barrel-vault
-of the atrium is a
-marvel of delicate <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">stuccature</span></i>,
-evidently inspired by the work of Giovanni da
-Udine at the Villa Madama; and at each end stands a
-splendid marble basin resting on winged griffins. The
-fragile decorations of this exquisite loggia are open on
-three sides to the weather, and many windows of the
-upper rooms (which are decorated in the same style) are
-unshuttered and have broken panes, so that this unique
-example of cinque-cento decoration is gradually falling
-into ruin from mere exposure. The steps of the atrium,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>flanked by marble Cupids on dolphins, lead to an oval
-paved court with a central fountain in which the Cupid-motive
-is repeated. This court is enclosed by a low wall
-with a seat running around it and surmounted by marble
-vases of a beautiful tazza-like shape. Facing the loggia,
-the wall is broken (as at the Villa di Papa Giulio) by a
-small pavilion resting on an open arcade, with an attic
-adorned with stucco panels; while at the sides, equidistant
-between the villa and the pavilion, are two vaulted
-porticoes, with <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façades</span> like arches of triumph, by means
-of which access is obtained to curving ramps that lead
-to the lower level of the gardens. These porticoes are
-also richly adorned with stucco panels, and lined within
-with a mosaic-work of pebbles, forming niches for a row
-of busts.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From the central pavilion one looks down on a tank
-at its base (the pavilion being a story lower on its outer
-or garden side). This tank is surmounted by a statue
-of Thetis on a rock-work throne, in a niche formed in
-the basement of the pavilion. The tank encloses the
-pavilion on three sides, like a moat, and the water,
-gushing from three niches, overflows the low stone curb
-and drips on a paved walk slightly hollowed to receive
-it—a device producing a wonderful effect of coolness
-and superabundance of water.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The old gardens of the villa were on a level with the
-tank, and Falda’s print shows the ingenuity of their
-planning. These gardens have now been almost entirely
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>destroyed, and the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bosco</span></i> above the villa has been cut
-down and replaced by bare grass-banks dotted with
-shrubs.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Villa Pia has been thus minutely described, first,
-because it is seldom accessible, and consequently little
-known; but chiefly because it is virtually not a dwellinghouse,
-but a garden-house, and thus forms a part of the
-actual composition of the garden. As such it stands
-alone in Italian architecture, and Burckhardt, who notes
-how well its lavish ornament is suited to a little pleasure-pavilion
-in a garden, is right in describing it as the
-“most perfect retreat imaginable for a midsummer afternoon.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The outer gardens of the Vatican, in a corner of which
-the Villa Pia lies, were probably laid out by Antonio da
-Sangallo the Younger, who died in 1546; and though
-much disfigured, they still show traces of their original
-plan. The sunny sheltered terrace, espaliered with
-lemons, is a good example of the “walk for the cold
-season” for which Italian garden-architects always provided;
-and the large sunken flower-garden surrounded
-by hanging woods is one of the earliest instances of this
-effective treatment of the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">giardino segreto</span></i>. In fact, the
-Vatican may have suggested many features of the later
-Renaissance garden, with its wide-spread plan which
-gradually came to include the park.</p>
-
-<div id='Vatican'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p105.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA PIA—IN THE GARDENS OF THE VATICAN</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>The seventeenth century saw the development of this
-extended plan, but saw also the decline of the architectural
-restraint and purity of detail which mark the
-generation of Vignola and Sangallo. The Villa Borghese,
-built in 1618 by the Flemish architect Giovanni
-Vasanzia (John of Xanten), shows a complete departure
-from the old tradition. Its elevation may indeed be
-traced to the influence of the garden-front of the Villa
-Medici, which was probably the prototype of the gay
-pleasure-house in which ornamental detail superseded
-architectural composition; but the garden-architecture
-of the Villa Borghese, and the treatment of its extensive
-grounds, show the complete triumph of the baroque.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The grounds of the Villa Borghese, which include a
-park of several hundred acres, were laid out by Domenico
-Savino and Girolamo Rainaldi, while its waterworks
-are due to Giovanni Fontana, whose name is
-associated with the great <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jeux d’eaux</span></i> of the villas at
-Frascati. Falda’s plan shows that the grounds about
-the house have been little changed. At each end of the
-villa is the oblong secret garden, not sunken but walled;
-in front an entrance-court, at the back an open space
-enclosed in a wall of clipped ilexes against which statues
-were set, and containing a central fountain. Beyond the
-left-hand walled garden are various dependencies, including
-an aviary. These little buildings, boldly baroque
-in style, surcharged with stucco ornament, and not without
-a certain Flemish heaviness of touch, have yet that
-gaiety, that <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">imprévu</span></i>, which was becoming the distinguishing
-note of Roman garden-architecture. On a
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>larger scale they would be oppressive; but as mere
-garden-houses, with their leafy background, and the
-picturesque adjuncts of high walls, wrought-iron gates,
-vases and statues, they have an undeniable charm.</p>
-
-<div id='Borghese'  class='figleft id004'>
-<img src='images/i_p108.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>GATEWAY OF THE VILLA BORGHESE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>The plan of the Borghese park has been the subject
-of much discussion. Falda’s print shows only the
-vicinity of the villa, and
-it has never been decided
-when the outlying
-grounds were laid out
-and how much they have
-been modified. At present
-the park, with its
-romantic groves of umbrella-pine,
-its ilex avenues,
-lake and amphitheatre, its sham ruins and little
-buildings scattered on irregular grassy knolls, has the
-appearance of a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jardin anglais</span></i> laid out at the end of the
-eighteenth century. Herr Tuckermann, persuaded that
-this park is the work of Giovanni Fontana, sees in him
-the originator of the “sentimental” English and German
-landscape-gardens, with their hermitages, mausoleums
-and temples of Friendship; but Percier and Fontaine,
-from whose plan of the park his inference is
-avowedly drawn, state that the grounds were much
-modified in 1789 by Jacob Moore, an English landscape-gardener,
-and by Pietro Camporesi of Rome. Herr
-Gurlitt, who seems to have overlooked this statement,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>declares himself unable to pronounce on the date of this
-“creation already touched with the feeling of sentimentality”;
-but Burckhardt, who is always accurate, says
-that the hippodrome and the temple of Æsculapius are
-of late date, and that the park was remodelled in the
-style of Poussin’s landscapes in 1849.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>About thirty years later than the Villa Borghese there
-arose its rival among the great Roman country-seats, the
-Villa Belrespiro or Pamphily, on the Janiculan. The
-Villa Pamphily, designed by Alessandro Algardi of
-Bologna, is probably the best known and most admired
-of Roman <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">maisons de plaisance</span></i>, and its incomparable
-ilex avenues and pine-woods, its rolling meadows and
-wide views over the Campagna, have enchanted many
-to whom its architectural beauties would not appeal.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The house, with its incrustations of antique bas-reliefs,
-cleverly adapted in the style of the Villa Medici, but
-with far greater richness and license of ornament, is a
-perfect example of the seventeenth-century villa, or
-rather casino; for it was really intended, not for a residence,
-but for a suburban lodge. It is flanked by lateral
-terraces, and the garden-front is a story lower than the
-other, so that the balcony of the first floor looks down
-on a great sunken garden, enclosed in the retaining-walls
-of the terraces, and richly adorned with statues in niches,
-fountains and <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parterres de broderie</span></i>. Thence a double
-stairway descends to what was once the central portion
-of the gardens, a great amphitheatre bounded by ilex-woods,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>with a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">théâtre d’eaux</span></i> and stately flights of
-steps leading up to terraced ilex-groves; but all this
-lower garden was turned into an English park in the
-first half of the nineteenth century. One of the finest
-of Roman gardens fell a sacrifice to this senseless change;
-for in beauty of site, in grandeur of scale, and in the
-wealth of its Roman sculpture, the Villa Pamphily was
-unmatched. Even now it is full of interesting fragments;
-but the juxtaposition of an undulating lawn and dotty
-shrubberies to the stately garden-architecture about the
-villa has utterly destroyed the unity of the composition.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>There is a legend to the effect that Le Nôtre laid out
-the park of the Villa Pamphily when he came to Rome
-in 1678; but Percier and Fontaine, who declare that
-there is nothing to corroborate the story, point out that
-the Villa Pamphily was begun over thirty years before
-Le Nôtre’s visit. Absence of proof, however, means
-little to the average French author, eager to vindicate
-Le Nôtre’s claim to being the father not only of French,
-but of Italian landscape-architecture; and M. Riat, in
-“L’Art des Jardins,” repeats the legend of the Villa
-Pamphily, while Dussieux, in his “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Artists Français à
-l’Etranger</span>,” anxious to heap further honours on his compatriot,
-actually ascribes to him the plan of the Villa
-Albani, which was laid out by Pietro Nolli nearly two
-hundred years after Le Nôtre’s visit to Rome! Apparently
-the whole story of Le Nôtre’s laying out of Italian
-gardens is based on the fact that he remodelled some
-details of the Villa Ludovisi; but one need only compare
-the dates of his gardens with those of the principal
-Roman villas to see that he was the pupil and not the
-master of the great Italian garden-architects.</p>
-
-<div id='Chigi'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p111.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA CHIGI, ROME</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>The last great country house built for a Roman cardinal
-is the villa outside the Porta Salaria which Carlo
-Marchionne built in 1746 for Cardinal Albani. In spite
-of its late date, the house still conforms to the type of
-Roman <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villa suburbana</span></i> which originated with the Villa
-Medici; and it is interesting to observe that the Roman
-architects, having hit on so appropriate and original a
-style, did not fear to continue it in spite of the growing
-tendency toward a lifeless classicalism.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Cardinal Albani was a passionate collector of antique
-sculpture, and the villa, having been built to display his
-treasures, is appropriately planned with an open arcade
-between rusticated pilasters, which runs the whole length
-of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> on the ground floor, and is continued by a
-long portico at each end. The grounds, laid out by
-Antonio Nolli, have been much extolled. Burckhardt
-sees in them traces of the reaction of French eighteenth-century
-gardening on the Italian school; but may it not
-rather be that, the Villa Albani being, by a rare exception,
-built on level ground, the site inevitably suggested
-a treatment similar to the French? It is hard to find
-anything specifically French, any motive which has not
-been seen again and again in Italy, in the plan of the
-Albani gardens; and their most charming feature, the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>long ilex-walk connecting the villa with the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bosco</span></i>,
-exemplifies the Italian habit of providing shady access
-from the house to the wood. Dussieux, at any rate,
-paid Le Nôtre no compliment in attributing to him the
-plan of the Villa Albani; for the great French artist
-contrived to put more poetry into the flat horizons of
-Vaux and Versailles than Nolli has won from the famous
-view of the Campagna which is said to have governed
-the planning of the Villa Albani.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The grounds are laid out in formal quincunxes of
-clipped ilex, but before the house lies a vast sunken
-garden enclosed in terraces. The farther end of the
-garden is terminated by a semicircular portico called the
-<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Caffè</span></i>, built later than the house, under the direction of
-Winckelmann; and in this structure, and in the architecture
-of the terraces, one sees the heavy touch of that
-neo-Grecianism which was to crush the life out of
-eighteenth-century art. The gardens of the Villa Albani
-seem to have been decorated by an archæologist rather
-than an artist. It is interesting to note that antique
-sculpture, when boldly combined with a living art, is
-one of the most valuable adjuncts of the Italian garden;
-whereas, set in an artificial evocation of its own past, it
-loses all its vitality and becomes as lifeless as its background.</p>
-
-<div id='Parterres'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p116.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>PARTERRES ON TERRACE, VILLA BELRESPIRO (PAMPHILY-DORIA), ROME</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>One of the most charming of the smaller Roman villas
-lies outside the Porta Salaria, a mile or two beyond the
-Villa Albani. This is the country-seat of Prince Don
-Lodovico Chigi. In many respects it recalls the Sienese
-type of villa. At the entrance, the highroad is enlarged
-into a semicircle, backed by a wall with busts; and on
-the axis of the iron gates one sees first a court flanked
-by box-gardens, then an open archway running through
-the centre of the house, and beyond that, the vista of a
-long walk enclosed in high box-hedges and terminating
-in another semicircle with statues, backed by an ilex-planted
-mount. The plan has all the compactness and
-charm of the Tuscan and Umbrian villas. The level
-ground about the house is subdivided into eight square
-box-hedged gardens, four on a side, enclosing symmetrical
-box-bordered plots. Beyond these are two little
-groves with statues and benches. The ground falls away
-in farm-land below this level, leaving only the long central
-alley which appears to lead to other gardens, but
-which really ends in the afore-mentioned semicircle,
-behind which is a similar alley, running at right angles,
-and leading directly to the fields.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At the other end of Rome lies the only small Roman
-garden comparable in charm with Prince Chigi’s. This
-is the Priorato, or Villa of the Knights of Malta, near
-Santa Sabina, on the Aventine. Piranesi, in 1765,
-remodelled and decorated the old chapel adjoining the
-house; and it is said that he also laid out the garden.
-If he did so, it shows how late the tradition of the
-Renaissance garden lingered in Italy; for there is no
-trace of romantic influences in the Priorato. The grounds
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>are small, for the house stands on a steep ledge overlooking
-the Tiber, whence there is a glorious view of
-St. Peter’s and the Janiculan. The designer of the
-garden evidently felt that it must be a mere setting to
-this view; and accordingly he laid out a straight walk,
-walled with box and laurel and running from the gate
-to the terrace above the river. The prospect framed in
-this green tunnel is one of the sights of Rome; and, by
-a touch peculiarly Italian, the keyhole of the gate has
-been so placed as to take it in. To the left of the
-pleached walk lies a small flower-garden, planted with
-square-cut box-trees, and enclosed in a high wall with
-niches containing statues: a real “secret garden,” full
-of sunny cloistered stillness, in restful contrast to the
-wide prospect below the terrace.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The grounds behind the Palazzo Colonna belong to
-another type, and are an interesting example of the
-treatment of a city garden, especially valuable now that
-so many of the great gardens within the walls of Rome
-have been destroyed.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Colonna palace stands at the foot of the Quirinal
-Hill, and the gardens are built on the steep slope behind
-it, being entered by a stately gateway from the Via
-Quirinale. On this upper level there is a charming
-rectangular box-garden, with flower-plots about a central
-basin. Thence one descends to two narrow terraces,
-one beneath the other, planted with box and ilex, and
-adorned with ancient marbles. Down the centre, starting
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>from the upper garden, there is an elaborate <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château
-d’eau</span></i> of baroque design, with mossy urns and sea-gods,
-terminating in a basin fringed with ferns; and beneath
-this central composition the garden ends in a third wide
-terrace, planted with square-clipped ilexes, which look
-from above like a level floor of verdure. Graceful stone
-bridges connect this lowest terrace with the first-floor
-windows of the palace, which is divided from its garden
-by a narrow street; and the whole plan is an interesting
-example of the beauty and variety of effect which may
-be produced on a small steep piece of ground.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Of the other numerous gardens which once crowned
-the hills of Rome, but few fragments remain. The Villa
-Celimontana, or Mattei, on the Cælian, still exists, but
-its grounds have been so Anglicized that it is interesting
-chiefly from its site and from its associations with
-St. Philip Neri, whose seat beneath the giant ilexes is
-still preserved. The magnificent Villa Ludovisi has
-vanished, leaving only, amid a network of new streets,
-the Casino of the Aurora and a few beautiful fragments
-of architecture incorporated in the courtyard of the ugly
-Palazzo Margherita; and the equally famous Villa
-Negroni was swept away to make room for the Piazza
-delle Terme and the Grand Hôtel. The Villa Sacchetti,
-on the slope of Monte Mario, is in ruins; in ruins the
-old hunting-lodge of Cecchignola, in the Campagna, on
-the way to the Divino Amore. These and many others
-are gone or going; but at every turn the watchful eye
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>still lights on some lingering fragment of old garden-art—some
-pillared gateway or fluted <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">vasca</span></i> or broken
-statue cowering in its niche—all testifying to what
-Rome’s crown of gardens must have been, and still full
-of suggestion to the student of her past.</p>
-
-<div id='Belrespiro'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p121.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VIEW FROM LOWER GARDEN, VILLA BELRESPIRO (PAMPHILY-DORIA), ROME</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='ph2'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>VILLAS NEAR ROME</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Este'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p126.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA D’ESTE, TIVOLI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>IV<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>VILLAS NEAR ROME</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>I<br /> <br /> CAPRAROLA AND LANTE</h3>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c015'>The great cardinals did not all build their villas
-within sight of St. Peter’s. One of them,
-Alexander Farnese, chose a site above the
-mountain village of Caprarola, which looks forth over
-the Etrurian plain strewn with its ancient cities—Nepi,
-Orte and Cività Castellana—to Soracte, rising solitary
-in the middle distance, and the encircling line of snow-touched
-Apennines.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>There is nothing in all Italy like Caprarola. Burckhardt
-calls it “perhaps the highest example of restrained
-majesty which secular architecture has achieved”; and
-Herr Gurlitt makes the interesting suggestion that
-Vignola, in building it, broke away from the traditional
-palace-architecture of Italy and sought his inspiration in
-France. “Caprarola,” he says, “shows the northern
-castle in the most modern form it had then attained....
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>We have to do here with one of the fortified residences
-rarely seen save in the north, but doubtless necessary
-in a neighbourhood exposed to the ever-increasing
-dangers of brigandage. Italy, indeed, built castles and
-fortified works, but the fortress-palace, equally adapted
-to peace and war, was almost unknown.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The numerous illustrated publications on Caprarola
-make it unnecessary to describe its complex architecture
-in detail. It is sufficient to say that its five bastions are
-surrounded by a deep moat, across which a light bridge
-at the back of the palace leads to the lower garden. To
-pass from the threatening <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> to the wide-spread
-beauty of pleached walks, fountains and grottoes, brings
-vividly before one the curious contrasts of Italian country
-life in the transition period of the sixteenth century.
-Outside, one pictures the cardinal’s soldiers and <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bravi</span></i>
-lounging on the great platform above the village; while
-within, one has a vision of noble ladies and their cavaliers
-sitting under rose-arbours or strolling between
-espaliered lemon-trees, discussing a Greek manuscript
-or a Roman bronze, or listening to the last sonnet of the
-cardinal’s court poet.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The lower garden of Caprarola is a mere wreck of
-overgrown box-parterres and crumbling wall and balustrade.
-Plaster statues in all stages of decay stand in
-the niches or cumber the paths; fruit-trees have been
-planted in the flower-beds, and the maidenhair withers
-in grottoes where the water no longer flows. The architectural
-detail of the fountains and arches is sumptuous
-and beautiful, but the outline of the general plan is not
-easy to trace; and one must pass out of this enclosure
-and climb through hanging oak-woods to a higher level
-to gain an idea of what the gardens once were.</p>
-
-<div id='Caprarola'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p129.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA CAPRAROLA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>Beyond the woods a broad <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i> leads to a level
-space with a circular fountain sunk in turf. Partly surrounding
-this is an architectural composition of rusticated
-arcades, between which a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i> descends
-the hillside from a grotto surmounted by two mighty
-river-gods, and forming the central motive of a majestic
-double stairway of rusticated stonework. This leads up
-to the highest terrace, which is crowned by Vignola’s
-exquisite casino, surely the most beautiful garden-house
-in Italy. The motive of the arcades and stairway,
-though fine in itself, may be criticized as too massive
-and important to be in keeping with the delicate little
-building above; but once on the upper terrace, the lack
-of proportion is no longer seen and all the surroundings
-are harmonious. The composition is simple: around
-the casino, with its light arcades raised on a broad flight
-of steps, stretches a level box-garden with fountains,
-enclosed in a low wall surmounted by the famous Canephoræ
-seen in every picture of Caprarola—huge sylvan
-figures half emerging from their stone sheaths, some
-fierce or solemn, some full of rustic laughter. The
-audacity of placing that row of fantastic terminal divinities
-against reaches of illimitable air girdled in mountains
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>gives an indescribable touch of poetry to the upper garden
-of Caprarola. There is a quality of inevitableness
-about it—one feels of it, as of certain great verse, that
-it could not have been otherwise, that, in Vasari’s happy
-phrase, it was <em>born, not built</em>.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Not more than twelve miles from Caprarola lies the
-other famous villa attributed to Vignola, and which one
-wishes he may indeed have built, if only to show how a
-great artist can vary his resources in adapting himself
-to a new theme. The Villa Lante, at Bagnaia, near
-Viterbo, appears to have been the work not of one cardinal,
-but of four. Raphael Riario, Cardinal Bishop of
-Viterbo, began it toward the end of the fifteenth century,
-and the work, carried on by his successors in the see,
-Cardinals Ridolfi and Gambara, was finally completed
-in 1588 by Cardinal Montalto, nephew of Sixtus V,
-who bought the estate from the bishops of Viterbo and
-bequeathed it to the Holy See. Percier and Fontaine
-believe that several architects collaborated in the work,
-but its unity of composition shows that the general
-scheme must have originated in one mind, and Herr
-Gurlitt thinks there is nothing to disprove that Vignola
-was its author.</p>
-
-<div id='Farnese'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p133.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE CASINO, VILLA FARNESE, CAPRAROLA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>Lante, like Caprarola, has been exhaustively sketched
-and photographed, but so perfect is it, so far does it
-surpass, in beauty, in preservation, and in the quality
-of garden-magic, all the other great pleasure-houses of
-Italy, that the student of garden-craft may always find
-fresh inspiration in its study. If Caprarola is “a garden
-to look out from,” Lante is one “to look into,” not in
-the sense that it is enclosed, for its terraces command a
-wide horizon; but the pleasant landscape surrounding
-it is merely accessory to the gardens, a last touch of
-loveliness where all is lovely.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The designer of Lante understood this, and perceived
-that, the surroundings being unobtrusive, he might
-elaborate the foreground. The flower-garden occupies
-a level space in front of the twin pavilions; for instead
-of one villa there are two at Lante, absolutely identical,
-and connected by a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rampe douce</span></i> which ascends between
-them to an upper terrace. This peculiar arrangement
-is probably due to the fact that Cardinal Montalto, who
-built the second pavilion, found there was no other way
-of providing more house-room without disturbing the
-plan of the grounds. The design of the flower-garden
-is intricate and beautiful, and its box-bordered parterres
-surround one of the most famous and beautiful fountains
-in Italy. The abundance of water at Lante enabled the
-designer to produce a great variety of effects in what
-Germans call the “water-art,” and nowhere was his
-invention happier than in planning this central fountain.
-It stands in a square tank or basin, surrounded by a
-balustrade, and crossed by four little bridges which lead
-to a circular balustraded walk, enclosing an inner basin
-from the centre of which rises the fountain. Bridges
-also cross from the circular walk to the platform on
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>which the fountain is built, so that one may stand under
-the arch of the water-jets, and look across the garden
-through a mist of spray.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Lante, doubly happy in its site, is as rich in shade as
-in water, and the second terrace, behind the pavilions,
-is planted with ancient plane-trees. Above this terrace
-rise three others, all wooded with plane and ilex, and
-down the centre, from the woods above, rushes the cascade
-which feeds the basin in the flower-garden. The
-terraces, with their balustrades and obelisks and double
-flights of steps, form a stately setting to this central
-<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i>, through which the water gushes by
-mossy steps and channels to a splendid central composition
-of superimposed basins flanked by recumbent
-river-gods.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>All the garden-architecture at Lante merits special
-study. The twin pavilions seem plain and insignificant
-after the brilliant elevations of the great Roman villas,
-but regarded as part of the garden-scheme, and not as
-dominating it, they fall into their proper place, and are
-seen to be good examples of the severe but pure style
-of the early cinque-cento. Specially interesting also is
-the treatment of the retaining-wall which faces the entrance
-to the grounds; and the great gates of the flower-gardens,
-and the fountains and garden-houses on the
-upper terraces, are all happy instances of Renaissance
-garden-art untouched by <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">barocchismo</span></i>.</p>
-
-<div id='Lante'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p138.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA LANTE, BAGNAIA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>At Lante, also, one sees one of the earliest examples
-of the inclusion of the woodland in the garden-scheme.
-All the sixteenth-century villas had small groves adjacent
-to the house, and the shade of the natural woodland
-was used, if possible, as a backing to the gardens;
-but at the Villa Lante it is boldly worked into the general
-scheme, the terraces and garden-architecture are
-skilfully blent with it, and its recesses are pierced by
-grass alleys leading to clearings where pools surrounded
-by stone seats slumber under the spreading branches.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The harmonizing of wood and garden is one of the
-characteristic features of the villas at Frascati; but as
-these are mostly later in date than the Lante grounds,
-priority of invention may be claimed for the designer
-of the latter. It was undoubtedly from the Italian park
-of the Renaissance that Le Nôtre learned the use of the
-woodland as an adjunct to the garden; but in France
-these parks had for the most part to be planted, whereas
-in Italy the garden-architect could use the natural
-woodland, which was usually hilly, and the effects thus
-produced were far more varied and interesting than
-those possible in the flat artificial parks of France.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>II<br /> <br /> VILLA D’ESTE</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Of the three great villas built by cardinals beyond the
-immediate outskirts of Rome, the third and the most
-famous is the Villa d’Este at Tivoli.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>Begun before 1540 by the Cardinal Bishop of Cordova,
-the villa became the property of Cardinal Ippolito
-d’Este, son of Alfonso I of Ferrara, who carried on its
-embellishment at the cost of over a million Roman
-scudi. Thence it passed successively to two other
-cardinals of the house of Este, who continued its
-adornment, and finally, in the seventeenth century, was
-inherited by the ducal house of Modena.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The villa, an unfinished barrack-like building, stands
-on a piazza at one end of the town of Tivoli, above
-gardens which descend the steep hillside to the gorge
-of the Anio. These gardens have excited so much
-admiration that little thought has been given to the
-house, though it is sufficiently interesting to merit
-attention. It is said to have been built by Pirro Ligorio,
-and surprising as it seems that this huge featureless
-pile should have been designed by the creator of the
-Casino del Papa, yet one observes that the rooms are
-decorated with the same fantastic pebble-work used in
-such profusion at the Villa Pia. In extenuation of the
-ugliness of the Villa d’Este it should, moreover, be
-remembered that its long <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> is incomplete, save for
-the splendid central portico; and also that, while the
-Villa Pia was intended as shelter for a summer afternoon,
-the great palace at Tivoli was planned to house a
-cardinal and his guests, including, it is said, “a suite of
-two hundred and fifty gentlemen of the noblest blood
-of Italy.” When one pictures such a throng, with their
-innumerable retainers, it is easy to understand why
-the Villa d’Este had to be expanded out of all likeness
-to an ordinary country house.</p>
-
-<div id='Tivoli'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p141.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE POOL, VILLA D’ESTE, TIVOLI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>The plan is ingenious and interesting. From the village
-square only a high blank wall is visible. Through
-a door in this wall one passes into a frescoed corridor
-which leads to a court enclosed in an open arcade, with
-fountains in rusticated niches. From a corner of the
-court a fine intramural stairway descends to what is, on
-the garden side, the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">piano nobile</span></i> of the villa. On this
-side, looking over the gardens, is a long enfilade of
-rooms, gaily frescoed by the Zuccheri and their school;
-and behind the rooms runs a vaulted corridor built
-against the side of the hill, and lighted by bull’s-eyes in
-its roof. This corridor has lost its frescoes, but preserves
-a line of niches decorated in coloured pebbles and stucco-work,
-with gaily painted stucco caryatids supporting the
-arches; and as each niche contains a semicircular fountain,
-the whole length of the corridor must once have
-rippled with running water.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The central room opens on the great two-storied portico
-or loggia, whence one descends by an outer stairway
-to a terrace running the length of the building, and
-terminated at one end by an ornamental wall, at the
-other by an open loggia overlooking the Campagna.
-From this upper terrace, with its dense wall of box and
-laurel, one looks down on the towering cypresses and
-ilexes of the lower gardens. The grounds are not large,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>but the impression produced is full of a tragic grandeur.
-The villa towers above so high and bare, the descent
-from terrace to terrace is so long and steep, there are
-such depths of mystery in the infinite green distances
-and in the cypress-shaded pools of the lower garden,
-that one has a sense of awe rather than of pleasure in
-descending from one level to another of darkly rustling
-green. But it is the omnipresent rush of water which
-gives the Este gardens their peculiar character. From
-the Anio, drawn up the hillside at incalculable cost and
-labour, a thousand rills gush downward, terrace by terrace,
-channelling the stone rails of the balusters, leaping
-from step to step, dripping into mossy conchs, flashing
-in spray from the horns of sea-gods and the jaws of
-mythical monsters, or forcing themselves in irrepressible
-overflow down the ivy-matted banks. The whole length
-of the second terrace is edged by a deep stone channel,
-into which the stream drips by countless outlets over a
-quivering fringe of maidenhair. Every side path or
-flight of steps is accompanied by its sparkling rill, every
-niche in the retaining-walls has its water-pouring nymph
-or gushing urn; the solemn depths of green reverberate
-with the tumult of innumerable streams. “The Anio,”
-as Herr Tuckermann says, “throbs through the whole
-organism of the garden like its inmost vital principle.”</p>
-
-<div id='Bagnaia'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p146.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA LANTE, BAGNAIA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>The gardens of the Villa d’Este were probably begun
-by Pirro Ligorio, and, as Herr Gurlitt thinks, continued
-later by Giacomo della Porta. It will doubtless never
-be known how much Ligorio owed to the taste of Orazio
-Olivieri, the famous hydraulic engineer, who raised the
-Anio to the hilltop and organized its distribution through
-the grounds. But it is apparent that the whole composition
-was planned about the central fact of the rushing
-Anio: that the gardens were to be, as it were, an organ
-on which the water played. The result is extraordinarily
-romantic and beautiful, and the versatility with which
-the stream is used, the varying effects won from it, bear
-witness to the imaginative feeling of the designer.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>When all has been said in praise of the poetry and
-charm of the Este gardens, it must be owned that from
-the architect’s standpoint they are less satisfying than
-those of the other great cinque-cento villas. The plan
-is worthy of all praise, but the details are too complicated,
-and the ornament is either trivial or cumbrous.
-So inferior is the architecture to that of the Lante gardens
-and Caprarola that Burckhardt was probably right
-in attributing much of it to the seventeenth century.
-Here for the first time one feels the heavy touch of the
-baroque. The fantastic mosaic and stucco temple containing
-the water-organ above the great cascade, the
-arches of triumph, the celebrated “grotto of Arethusa,”
-the often-sketched fountain on the second terrace, all
-seem pitiably tawdry when compared with the garden-architecture
-of Raphael or Vignola. Some of the details
-of the composition are absolutely puerile—such as the
-toy model of an ancient city, thought to be old Rome,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>and perhaps suggested by the miniature “Valley of
-Canopus” in the neighbouring Villa of Hadrian; and
-there are endless complications of detail, where the
-earlier masters would have felt the need of breadth and
-simplicity. Above all, there is a want of harmony between
-the landscape and its treatment. The baroque
-garden-architecture of Italy is not without charm, and
-even a touch of the grotesque has its attraction in the
-flat gardens of Lombardy or the sunny Euganeans;
-but the cypress-groves of the Villa d’Este are too
-solemn, and the Roman landscape is too august, to
-suffer the nearness of the trivial.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>III<br /> <br /> FRASCATI</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>The most famous group of villas in the Roman
-country-side lies on the hill above Frascati. Here,
-in the middle of the sixteenth century, Flaminio Ponzio
-built the palace of Mondragone for Cardinal
-Scipione Borghese.<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c013'><sup>[4]</sup></a> Aloft among hanging ilex-woods
-rises the mighty pile on its projecting basement. This
-fortress-like ground floor, with high-placed grated windows,
-is common to all the earlier villas on the brigand-haunted
-slopes of Frascati. An avenue of ancient
-ilexes (now cruelly cut down) leads up through the park
-to the villa, which is preceded by a great walled
-courtyard, with fountains in the usual rusticated niches.
-To the right of this court is another, flanked by the
-splendid loggia of Vignola, with the Borghese eagles
-and dragons alternating in its sculptured spandrels,
-and a vaulted ceiling adorned with <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">stucchi</span></i>—one of the
-most splendid pieces of garden-architecture in Italy.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f4'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r4'>4</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>The villa was begun by Martino Lunghi the Elder, in 1567, for the Cardinal
-Marco d’Altemps, enlarged by Pope Gregory VII, and completed by Paul V and
-his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. See Gustav Ebe, “<span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Die Spätrenaissance</span>.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<div id='Aldobrandini'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p149.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>CASCADE AND ROTUNDA, VILLA ALDOBRANDINI, FRASCATI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>At the other end of this inner court, which was formerly
-a flower-garden, Giovanni Fontana, whose name
-is identified with the fountains of Frascati, constructed a
-<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">théâtre d’eau</span></i>, raised above the court, and approached
-by a double ramp elaborately inlaid in mosaic. This
-ornate composition, with a series of mosaic niches simulating
-arcaded galleries in perspective, is now in ruins,
-and the most impressive thing about Mondragone is the
-naked majesty of its great terrace, unadorned save by a
-central fountain and two tall twisted columns, and looking
-out over the wooded slopes of the park to Frascati,
-the Campagna, and the sea.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On a neighbouring height lies the more famous Villa
-Aldobrandini, built for the cardinal of that name by
-Giacomo della Porta in 1598, and said by Evelyn, who
-saw it fifty years later, “to surpass the most delicious
-places ... for its situation, elegance, plentiful water,
-groves, ascents and prospects.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The house itself does not bear comparison with such
-buildings as the Villa Medici or the Villa Pamphily. In
-style it shows the first stage of the baroque, before that
-school had found its formula. Like all the hill-built
-villas of Frascati, it is a story lower at the back than in
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>front; and the roof of this lower story forms at each end
-a terrace level with the first-floor windows. These
-terraces are adorned with two curious turrets, resting
-on baroque basements and crowned by swallow-tailed
-crenellations—a fantastic reversion to mediævalism,
-more suggestive of “Strawberry Hill Gothic” than of
-the Italian seventeenth century.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Orazio Olivieri and Giovanni Fontana are said to
-have collaborated with Giacomo della Porta in designing
-the princely gardens of the villa. Below the house
-a series of splendid stone terraces lead to a long <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis
-vert</span></i>, with an ilex avenue down its centre, which
-descends to the much-admired grille of stone and
-wrought-iron enclosing the grounds at the foot of the
-hill. Behind the villa, in a semicircle cut out of the
-hillside, is Fontana’s famous water-theatre, of which
-Evelyn gives a picturesque description: “Just behind
-the Palace ... rises a high hill or mountain all overclad
-with tall wood, and so formed by nature as if it had
-been cut out by art, from the summit of which falls a
-cascade ... precipitating into a large theatre of water.
-Under this is an artificial grot wherein are curious
-rocks, hydraulic organs, and all sorts of singing birds,
-moving and chirping by force of the water, with several
-other pageants and surprising inventions. In the centre
-of one of these rooms rises a copper ball that continually
-dances about three feet above the pavement, by virtue
-of a wind conveyed secretly to a hole beneath it; with
-many other devices for wetting the unwary spectators.... In
-one of these theatres of water is an Atlas
-spouting, ... and another monster makes a terrible
-roaring with a horn; but, above all, the representation
-of a storm is most natural, with such fury of rain, wind
-and thunder as one would imagine oneself in some
-extreme tempest.”</p>
-
-<div id='Garden'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p153.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>GARDEN OF VILLA LANCELLOTTI, FRASCATI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>Atlas and the monster are silent, and the tempest has
-ceased to roar; but the architecture of the great water-theatre
-remains intact. It has been much extolled by so
-good a critic as Herr Gurlitt, yet compared with Vignola’s
-loggia at Mondragone or the terrace of the Orti
-Farnesiani, it is a heavy and uninspired production. It
-suffers also from too great proximity to the villa, and
-from being out of scale with the latter’s modest elevation:
-there is a distinct lack of harmony between the
-two <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façades</span>. But even Evelyn could not say too much
-in praise of the glorious descent of the cascade from the
-hilltop. It was in the guidance of rushing water that
-the Roman garden-architects of the seventeenth century
-showed their poetic feeling and endless versatility; and
-the architecture of the upper garden at the Aldobrandini
-merits all the admiration which has been wasted on its
-pompous theatre.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Another example of a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">théâtre d’eau</span></i>, less showy but
-far more beautiful, is to be seen at the neighbouring Villa
-Conti (now Torlonia). Of the formal gardens of this
-villa there remain only the vast terraced stairways which
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>now lead to an ilex-grove level with the first story of
-the villa. This grove is intersected by mossy alleys,
-leading to circular clearings where fountains overflow
-their wide stone basins, and benches are ranged about
-in the deep shade. The central alley, on the axis of the
-villa, leads through the wood to a great grassy semicircle
-at the foot of an ilex-clad hill. The base of the
-hillside is faced with a long arcade of twenty niches,
-divided by pilasters, and each containing a fountain. In
-the centre is a great baroque pile of rock-work, from
-which the spray tosses into a semicircular basin, which
-also receives the cascade descending from the hilltop.
-This cascade is the most beautiful example of fountain-architecture
-in Frascati. It falls by a series of inclined
-stone ledges into four oval basins, each a little wider
-than the one above it. On each side, stone steps which
-follow the curves of the basins lead to a grassy plateau
-above, with a balustraded terrace overhanging the rush
-of the cascade. The upper plateau is enclosed in ilexes,
-and in its centre is one of the most beautiful fountains
-in Italy—a large basin surrounded by a richly sculptured
-balustrade. The plan of this fountain is an interesting
-example of the variety which the Italian garden-architects
-gave to the outline of their basins. Even in
-the smaller gardens the plan of these basins is varied
-with taste and originality; and the small wall-fountains
-are also worthy of careful study.</p>
-
-<div id='Casino'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p157.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>CASINO, VILLA FALCONIERI, FRASCATI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>Among the villas of Frascati there are two, less
-famous than the foregoing, but even more full of a
-romantic charm. One is the Villa Muti, a mile or two
-beyond the town, on the way to Grotta Ferrata. From
-the gate three ancient ilex avenues lead to the villa, the
-central one being on the axis of the lowest garden. The
-ground rises gradually toward the house, and the space
-between the ilex avenues was probably once planted in
-formal <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">boschi</span></i>, as fragments of statuary are still seen
-among the trees. The house, set against the hillside,
-with the usual fortress-like basement, is two stories
-lower toward the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">basse-cour</span></i> than toward the gardens.
-The avenue to the left of the entrance leads to a small
-garden, probably once a court, in front of the villa,
-whence one looks down over a mighty retaining-wall at
-the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">basse-cour</span></i> on the left. On the right, divided from
-the court by a low wall surmounted by vases, lies the
-most beautiful box-garden in Italy, laid out in an elaborate
-geometrical design, and enclosed on three sides by
-high clipped walls of box and laurel, and on the fourth
-by a retaining-wall which sustains an upper garden.
-Nothing can surpass the hushed and tranquil beauty of
-the scene. There are no flowers or bright colours—only
-the contrasted tints of box and ilex and laurel, and the
-vivid green of the moss spreading over damp paths and
-ancient stonework.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the upper garden, which is of the same length but
-narrower, the box-parterres are repeated. This garden,
-at the end nearest the villa, has a narrow raised terrace,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>with an elaborate architectural retaining-wall, containing
-a central fountain in stucco-work. Steps flanked by
-statues lead up to this fountain, and thence one passes
-by another flight of steps to the third, or upper, garden,
-which is level with the back of the villa. This third
-garden, the largest of the three, was once also laid out
-in formal parterres and <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bosquets</span></i> set with statues, and
-though it has now been remodelled in the landscape
-style, its old plan may still be traced. Before it was
-destroyed the three terraces of the Villa Muti must have
-formed the most enchanting garden in Frascati, and
-their plan and architectural details are worthy of careful
-study, for they belong to the rare class of small Italian
-gardens where grandeur was less sought for than charm
-and sylvan seclusion, and where the Latin passion for
-the monumental was subordinated to a desire for moderation
-and simplicity.</p>
-
-<div id='Frascati'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p161.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE ENTRANCE, VILLA FALCONIERI, FRASCATI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>The Villa Falconieri, on the hillside below Mondragone,
-is remarkable for the wealth of its garden-architecture.
-The grounds are entered by two splendid
-stone gateways, the upper one being on an axis with the
-villa. A grass avenue leads from this gate to an arch
-of triumph, a rusticated elevation with niches and
-statues, surmounted by the inscription “Horatius Falconieris,”
-and giving access to the inner grounds.
-Hence a straight avenue runs between formal ilex-groves
-to the court before the house. On the right,
-above the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bosco</span></i>, is a lofty wall of rock, picturesquely
-overgrown by shrubs and creepers, with busts and
-other fragments of antique sculpture set here and there
-on its projecting ledges. This natural cliff sustains an
-upper plateau, where there is an oblong artificial water
-(called “the lake”) enclosed in rock-work and surrounded
-by a grove of mighty cypresses. From this
-shady solitude the wooded slopes of the lower park are
-reached by a double staircase so simple and majestic in
-design that it harmonizes perfectly with the sylvan wildness
-which characterizes the landscape. This staircase
-should be studied as an example of the way in which
-the Italian garden-architects could lay aside exuberance
-and whimsicality when their work was intended to blend
-with some broad or solemn effect of nature.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The grounds of the Villa Falconieri were laid out by
-Cardinal Ruffini in the first half of the sixteenth century,
-but the villa was not built till 1648. It is one of the
-most charming creations of Borromini, that brilliant
-artist in whom baroque architecture found its happiest
-expression; and the Villa Falconieri makes one regret
-that he did not oftener exercise his fancy in the construction
-of such pleasure-houses. The elevation
-follows the tradition of the Roman <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villa suburbana</span></i>.
-The centre of the ground floor is an arcaded loggia,
-the roof of which forms a terrace to the recessed story
-above; while the central motive of this first story is
-another semicircular recess, adorned with stucco ornament
-and surmounted by a broken pediment. The
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>attic story is set still farther back, so that its balustraded
-roof-line forms a background for the richly decorated
-<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, and the building, though large, thus preserves
-the airy look and lightness of proportion which had
-come to be regarded as suited to the suburban pleasure-house.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>To the right of the villa, the composition is prolonged
-by a gateway with coupled columns surmounted by
-stone dogs, and leading from the forecourt to the
-adjoining <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">basse-cour</span></i>. About the latter are grouped a
-number of low farm-buildings, to which a touch of the
-baroque gives picturesqueness. In the charm of its
-elevation, and in the happy juxtaposition of garden-walls
-and outbuildings, the Villa Falconieri forms the
-most harmonious and successful example of garden-architecture
-in Frascati.</p>
-
-<div id='Lancellotti'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p165.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA LANCELLOTTI, FRASCATI</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>The elevation which most resembles it is that of the
-Villa Lancellotti. Here the house, which is probably
-nearly a century earlier, shows the same happy use of
-the open loggia, which in this case forms the central
-feature of the first story, above a stately pedimented
-doorway. The loggia is surmounted by a kind of
-square-headed gable crowned by a balustrade with
-statues, and the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> on each side of this central composition
-is almost Tuscan in its severity. Before the
-house lies a beautiful box-garden of intricate design,
-enclosed in high walls of ilex, with the inevitable <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">théâtre
-d’eau</span></i> at its farther end. This is a semicircular composition,
-with statues in niches between rusticated pilasters,
-and a central grotto whence a fountain pours into a
-wide balustraded basin; the whole being surmounted
-by another balustrade, with a statue set on each pier.
-It is harmonious and dignified in design, but unfortunately
-a fresh coating of brown and yellow paint has
-destroyed that exquisite <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">patina</span></i> by means of which the
-climate of Italy effects the gradual blending of nature
-and architecture.</p>
-
-<div class='ph2'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>GENOESE VILLAS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Scassi'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p172.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA SCASSI, GENOA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>V<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>GENOESE VILLAS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c011'>Genoa, one of the most splendour-loving cities
-in Italy, had almost always to import her
-splendour. In reading Soprani’s “Lives of the
-Genoese Painters, Sculptors and Architects,” one is
-struck by the fact that, with few exceptions, these worthies
-were Genoese only in the sense of having placed
-their talents at the service of the merchant princes who
-reared the marble city above its glorious harbour.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The strength of the race lay in other directions; but,
-as is often the case with what may be called people of
-secondary artistic instincts, the Genoese pined for the
-beauty they could not create, and in the sixteenth century
-they called artists from all parts of Italy to embody
-their conceptions of magnificence. Two of the most
-famous of these, Fra Montorsoli and Pierin del Vaga,
-came from Florence, Galeazzo Alessi from Perugia,
-Giovanni Battista Castello from Bergamo; and it is to
-the genius of these four men, sculptor, painter, architect,
-and <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">stuccatore</span></i> (and each more or less versed in the
-crafts of the others), that Genoa owes the greater part
-of her magnificence.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>Fra Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, the Florentine, must
-here be named first, since his chief work, the Palazzo
-Andrea Doria, built in 1529, is the earliest of the great
-Genoese villas. It is also the most familiar to modern
-travelers, for the other beautiful country houses which
-formerly crowned the heights above Genoa, from Pegli
-to Nervi, have now been buried in the growth of manufacturing
-suburbs, so that only the diligent seeker after
-villa-architecture will be likely to come upon their ruined
-gardens and peeling stucco <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façades</span> among the factory
-chimneys of Sampierdarena or the squalid tenements
-of San Fruttuoso.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The great Andrea Doria, “Admiral of the Navies of
-the Pope, the Emperor, the King of France and the
-Republic of Genoa,” in 1521 bought the villas Lomellini
-and Giustiniani, on the western shore of the port
-of Genoa, and throwing the two estates together, created
-a villa wherein “to enjoy in peace the fruits of an
-honoured life”—so runs the inscription on the outer
-wall of the house.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Fra Montorsoli was first and foremost a sculptor, a
-pupil of Michelangelo’s, a plastic artist to whom architecture
-was probably of secondary interest. Partly perhaps
-for this reason, and also because the Villa Doria
-was in great measure designed to show the frescoes of
-Pierin del Vaga, there is little elaboration in its treatment.
-Yet the continuous open loggia on the ground
-floor, and the projecting side colonnades enclosing the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>upper garden, give an airy elegance to the water-front,
-and make it, in combination with its mural paintings
-and stucco-ornamentation, and the sculpture of the gardens,
-one of the most villa-like of Italian villas. The
-gardens themselves descend in terraces to the shore,
-and contain several imposing marble fountains, among
-them one with a statue of Neptune, executed in 1600 by
-the Carloni, and supposed to be a portrait of the great
-Admiral.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The house stands against a steep terraced hillside,
-formerly a part of the grounds, but now unfortunately
-divided from them by the railway cutting. A wide
-<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i> still ascends the hill to a colossal Jupiter
-(under which the Admiral’s favourite dog is said to be
-buried); and when the villa is seen from the harbour one
-understands how necessary this stately terraced background
-was to the setting of the low-lying building.
-Beautiful indeed must have been the surroundings of
-the villa when Evelyn visited it in 1644, and described
-the marble terraces above the sea, the aviary “wherein
-grew trees of more than two feet in diameter, besides
-cypress, myrtles, lentiscuses and other rare shrubs,” and
-“the other two gardens full of orange-trees, citrons and
-pomegranates, fountains, grots and statues.” All but
-the statues have now disappeared, yet much of the old
-garden-magic lingers in the narrow strip between house
-and sea. It is the glory of the Italian garden-architects
-that neglect and disintegration cannot wholly mar the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>effects they were skilled in creating: effects due to such
-a fine sense of proportion, to so exquisite a perception
-of the relation between architecture and landscape, between
-verdure and marble, that while a trace of their
-plan remains one feels the spell of the whole.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>When Rubens came to Genoa in 1607 he was so
-impressed by the magnificence of its great street of
-palaces—the lately built Strada Nuova—that he recorded
-his admiration in a series of etchings, published
-in Antwerp in 1622 under the title “Palazzi di Genova,”
-a priceless document for the student of Renaissance
-architecture in Italy, since the Flemish master did not content
-himself with mere impressionist sketches, like Canaletto’s
-fanciful Venetian etchings, but made careful architectural
-drawings and bird’s-eye views of all the principal
-Genoese palaces. As many of these buildings have since
-been altered, Rubens’s volume has the additional value
-of preserving a number of interesting details which might
-never have been recovered by subsequent study.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Strada Nuova of Genoa, planned by Galeazzo
-Alessi between 1550 and 1560, is the earliest example
-in Europe of a street laid out by an architect with deliberate
-artistic intent, and designed to display the palaces
-with which he subsequently lined it. Hitherto, streets
-had formed themselves on the natural lines of traffic, and
-individual houses had sprung up along them without
-much regard to the site or style of their nearest neighbors.
-The Strada Nuova, on the contrary, was planned
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>and carried out homogeneously, and was thus the progenitor
-of all the great street plans of modern Europe—of
-the Place Royale and the Place Vendôme in Paris, the
-great Place at Nancy, the grouping of Palladian palaces
-about the Basilica of Vicenza, and all subsequent attempts
-to create an organic whole out of a number of adjacent
-buildings. Even Lenfant’s plan of Washington may be
-said to owe its first impulse to the Perugian architect’s
-conception of a street of palaces.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>When Alessi projected this great work he had open
-ground to build on, though, as Evelyn remarked, the
-rich Genoese merchants had, like the Hollanders, “little
-or no extent of ground to employ their estates in.”
-Still, there was space enough to permit of spreading
-porticoes and forecourts, and to one of the houses in the
-Strada Nuova Alessi gave the ample development and
-airy proportions of a true <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villa suburbana</span></i>. This is the
-Palazzo Parodi, which, like the vanished Sauli palace,
-shows, instead of the block plan of the city dwelling, a
-central <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">corps de bâtiment</span></i> with pavilions crowned by
-open loggias, and a rusticated screen dividing the court
-from the street. It is curious that, save in the case of
-the beautiful Villa Sauli (now completely rebuilt), Alessi
-did not repeat this appropriate design in the country
-houses with which he adorned the suburbs of Genoa—those
-“ravishing retirements of the Genoese nobility”
-which prolonged the splendour of the city for miles along
-the coast. Of his remaining villas, all are built on the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>block plan, or with but slight projections, and rich though
-they are in detail, and stately in general composition,
-they lack that touch of fantasy which the Roman villa-architects
-knew how to impart.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Before pronouncing this a defect, however, one must
-consider the different conditions under which Alessi and
-his fellow-architects in Genoa had to work. Annibale
-Lippi, Pirro Ligorio, Giacomo della Porta and Carlo
-Borromini reared their graceful loggias and stretched
-their airy colonnades against masses of luxuriant foliage
-and above a far-spreading landscape,</p>
-
-<div class='lg-container-b c012'>
-  <div class='linegroup'>
-    <div class='group'>
-      <div class='line in26'>wonderful</div>
-      <div class='line'>To the sea’s edge for gloss and gloom,</div>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>while Alessi and Montorsoli had to place their country
-houses on narrow ledges of waterless rock, with a thin
-coating of soil parched by the wind, and an outlook
-over the serried roofs and crowded shipping of a commercial
-city. The Genoese gardens are mere pockets
-of earth in coigns of masonry, where a few olives and
-bay-trees fight the sun-glare and sea-wind of a harsh
-winter and a burning summer. The beauty of the
-prospect consists in the noble outline of the harbour,
-enclosed in exquisitely modelled but leafless hills, and
-in the great blue stretch of sea on which, now and then,
-the mountains of Corsica float for a moment. It will
-be seen that, amid such surroundings, the architectural
-quality must predominate over the picturesque or naturalistic.
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>Not only the natural restrictions of site and soil,
-but the severity of the landscape and the nearness of a
-great city, made it necessary that the Genoese villa-architects
-should produce their principal effects by means
-of masonry and sculpture, rather than of water and verdure.
-The somewhat heavy silhouette of the Genoese
-country houses is thus perhaps partly explained; for
-where the garden had to be a stone monument, it would
-have been illogical to make the house less massive.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The most famous of Alessi’s villas lies in the once
-fashionable suburb of Sampierdarena, to the west of
-Genoa. Here, along the shore, were clustered the
-most beautiful pleasure-houses of the merchant princes.
-The greater number have now been turned into tenements
-for factory-workers, or into actual factories, while
-the beautiful gardens descending to the sea have been
-cut in half by the railway and planted with cabbages
-and mulberries. Amid this labyrinth of grimy walls,
-crumbling loggias and waste ground heaped with melancholy
-refuse, it is not easy to find one’s way to the
-Villa Imperiali (now Scassi), the masterpiece of Alessi,
-which stands as a solitary witness to the former “ravishments”
-of Sampierdarena. By a happy chance this villa
-has become the property of the municipality, which has
-turned the house into a girls’ school, while the grounds
-are used as a public garden; and so well have house
-and grounds been preserved that the student of architecture
-may here obtain a good idea of the magnificence
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>with which the Genoese nobles surrounded even their
-few weeks of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villeggiatura</span></i>. To match such magnificence,
-one must look to one of the great villas of the
-Roman cardinals; and, with the exception of the Villa
-Doria Pamphily (which is smaller) and of the Villa
-Albani, it would be difficult to cite an elevation where
-palatial size is combined with such lavish richness of
-ornament.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Alessi was once thought to have studied in Rome
-under Michelangelo; but Herr Gurlitt shows that the
-latter was absent from Rome from 1516 to 1535—that
-is, precisely during what must have been the formative
-period of Alessi’s talent. The Perugian architect
-certainly shows little trace of Michelangelesque influences,
-but seems to derive rather from the school of his
-own great contemporary, Palladio.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Villa Scassi, with its Tuscan order below and
-fluted Corinthian pilasters above, its richly carved frieze
-and cornice, and its beautiful roof-balustrade, is perhaps
-more familiar to students than any other example of
-Genoese suburban architecture. Almost alone among
-Genoese villas, it stands at the foot of a hill, with gardens
-rising behind it instead of descending below it to
-the sea. Herr Gurlitt thinks these grounds are among
-the earliest in Italy in which the narrow mediæval <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">hortus
-inclusus</span></i> was blent with the wider lines of the landscape;
-indeed, he makes the somewhat surprising statement that
-“all the later garden-craft has its source in Alessi, who,
-in the Scassi gardens, has shown to the full his characteristic
-gift for preserving unity of conception in multiplicity
-of form.”</p>
-
-<div id='Genoa'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p181.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>A GARDEN-NICHE, VILLA SCASSI, GENOA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>There could be no better definition of the garden-science
-of the Italian Renaissance; and if, as it seems
-probable, the Scassi gardens are earlier in date than the
-Boboli and the Orti Farnesiani, they certainly fill an
-important place in the evolution of the pleasure-ground;
-but the Vatican gardens, if they were really designed by
-Antonio da Sangallo, must still be regarded as the
-source from which the later school of landscape-architects
-drew their first inspiration. It was certainly here,
-and in the unfinished gardens of the Villa Madama,
-that the earliest attempts were made to bring the untamed
-forms of nature into relation with the disciplined
-lines of architecture.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Herr Gurlitt is, however, quite right in calling attention
-to the remarkable manner in which the architectural
-lines of the Scassi gardens have been adapted to their
-site, and also to the skill with which Alessi contrived
-the successive transition from the formal surroundings
-of the house to the sylvan freedom of the wooded hilltop
-beneath which it lies.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>A broad terrace, gently sloping with the natural grade
-of the land, leads up to a long level walk beneath the
-high retaining-wall which sustains the second terrace.
-In the centre of this retaining-wall is a beautifully designed
-triple niche, divided by Atlantides supporting a
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>delicately carved entablature, while a double flight of
-steps encloses this central composition. Niches with
-statues and marble seats also adorn the lateral walls of
-the gardens, and on the upper terrace is a long tank or
-canal, flanked by clipped shrubs and statues. Thence
-an inclined path leads to a rusticated temple with <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">colonnes
-torses</span></i>, and statues in niches above fluted basins
-into which water once flowed; and beyond this there is
-a winding ascent to the grove which crowns the hill.
-All the architectural details of the garden are remarkable
-for a classical purity and refinement, except the
-rusticated temple, of which the fantastic columns are
-carved to resemble tree-trunks. This may be of later
-date; but if contemporary, its baroque style was probably
-intended to mark the transition from the formality
-of the lower gardens to the rustic character of the naturalistic
-landscape above—to form, in fact, a gate from
-the garden to the park.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The end of the sixteenth century saw this gradual
-recognition of nature, and adoption of her forms, in the
-architecture and sculpture of the Italian pleasure-house,
-and more especially in those outlying constructions
-which connected the formal and the sylvan portions of
-the grounds. “In mid-Renaissance garden-architecture,”
-as Herr Tuckermann puts it, “the relation between art
-and landscape is reversed. Previously the garden had
-had to adapt itself to architecture; now architectural
-forms are forced into a resemblance with nature.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>Bernini was the great exponent of this new impulse,
-though it may be traced back as far as Michelangelo.
-It was Bernini who first expressed in his fountains the
-tremulous motion and shifting curves of water, and who
-put into his garden-sculpture that rustle of <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">plein air</span></i>
-which the modern painter seeks to express in his landscapes.
-To trace the gradual development of this <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rapprochement</span></i>
-to nature at a period so highly artificial
-would be beyond the scope of these articles; but in
-judging the baroque garden architecture and sculpture
-of the late Renaissance, it should be remembered that
-they are not the expression of a wilful eccentricity, but
-an attempted link between the highly conventionalized
-forms of urban art and that life of the fields and woods
-which was beginning to charm the imagination of poets
-and painters.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On the height above the Acqua Sola gardens, on the
-eastern side of Genoa, lies Alessi’s other great country
-house, the Villa Pallavicini alle Peschiere—not to be
-confounded with the ridiculous Villa Pallavicini at Pegli,
-a brummagem creation of the early nineteenth century,
-to which the guide-books still send throngs of unsuspecting
-tourists, who come back imagining that this
-tawdry jumble of weeping willows and Chinese pagodas,
-mock Gothic ruins and exotic vegetation, represents the
-typical “Italian garden,” of which so much is said and
-so little really known.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Villa Pallavicini alle Peschiere (a drawing of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>which may be seen in Rubens’s collection) is in site
-and design a typical Genoese suburban house of the
-sixteenth century. The lower story has a series of
-arched windows between Ionic pilasters; above are
-square-headed windows with upper lights, divided by
-fluted Corinthian pilasters and surmounted by a beautiful
-cornice and a roof-balustrade of unusual design,
-in which groups of balusters alternate with oblong
-panels of richly carved openwork. The very slightly
-projecting wings have, on both stories, arched recesses
-in which heroic statues are painted in <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">grisaille</span></i>.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The narrow ledge of ground on which the villa is
-built permits only of a broad terrace in front of the house,
-with a central basin surmounted by a beautiful winged
-figure and enclosed in stone-edged flower-beds. Stately
-flights of steps lead down to a lower terrace, of which
-the mighty retaining-wall is faced by a Doric portico,
-with a recessed loggia behind it. From this level other
-flights of steps, flanked by great balustraded walls nearly
-a hundred feet high, descend to a third terrace, narrower
-than the others, whence one looks down into lower-lying
-gardens, wedged into every projecting shelf of
-ground between palace roofs and towering slopes of
-masonry; while directly beneath this crowded foreground
-sparkles the blue expanse of the Mediterranean.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On a higher ledge, above the Villa Pallavicini, lies the
-Villa Durazzo-Grapollo, perhaps also a work of Alessi’s.
-Here the unusual extent of ground about the house has
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>permitted an interesting development of landscape-architecture.
-A fine pedimented gateway with rusticated piers
-gives admission to a straight avenue of plane-trees leading
-up to the house, which is a dignified building with
-two stories, a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mezzanine</span></i> and an attic. The windows on
-the ground floor are square-headed, with oblong sunk
-panels above; while on the first floor there is a slightly
-baroque movement about the architraves, and every other
-window is surmounted by a curious shell-shaped pediment.
-On the garden side a beautiful marble balcony
-forms the central motive of the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">piano nobile</span></i>, and the
-roof is enclosed in a balustrade with alternate solid
-panels and groups of balusters. The plan is oblong,
-with slightly projecting wings, adorned on both stories
-with coupled pilasters, which on the lower floor are rusticated
-and above are fluted Corinthian, painted on the
-stucco surface of the house. This painting of architectural
-ornament is very characteristic of Genoese
-architecture, and was done with such skill that, at a
-little distance, it is often impossible to distinguish a
-projecting architectural member from its frescoed counterfeit.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In front of the villa is a long narrow formal garden,
-supported on three sides by a lofty retaining-wall. Down
-the middle of this garden, on an axis with the central
-doorway of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, runs a canal terminated by
-reclining figures of river-gods and marble dolphins
-spouting water. An ilex-walk flanks it on each side,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>and at the farther end a balustrade encloses this upper
-garden, and two flights of steps, with the usual central
-niche, lead to the next level. Here there is a much
-greater extent of ground, and the old formal lines have
-been broken up into the winding paths and shrubberies
-of a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jardin anglais</span></i>. Even here, however, traces of the original
-plan may be discovered, and statues and fountains
-are scattered with charming effect among the irregular
-plantations, while paths between clipped walls of green
-lead to beautiful distant views of the sea and mountains.
-Specially interesting is the treatment of the
-lateral retaining-walls of the upper garden. In these
-immense ramparts of masonry have been cut tunnels
-decorated with shell-work and stucco ornament, which
-lead up by a succession of wide steps to the ground on
-a level with the house. One of these tunnels contains a
-series of pools of water, which finally pour into a stream
-winding through a romantic <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">boschetto</span></i> on a lower
-level. Here, as at the Villa Scassi, all the garden-architecture
-is pure and dignified in style, and there is
-great beauty in the broad and simple treatment of the
-upper terrace, with its canal and ilex-walks.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From the terraces of the Villa Durazzo one looks
-forth over the hillside of San Francesco d’Albaro, the
-suburb which balances Sampierdarena on the east.
-Happily this charming district is still a fashionable
-villeggiatura, and the houses which Alessi built on its
-slopes stand above an almost unaltered landscape of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>garden and vineyard. A fine road crosses the Bisagno
-and leads up between high walls and beautiful hanging
-gardens, passing at every turn some charming <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">villa-façade</span>
-in its setting of cypresses and camellias. Among
-these, one should not overlook the exquisite little Paradisino,
-a pale-green toy villa with Ionic pilasters and
-classic pediment, perched above a high terrace on the
-left of the ascent.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Just above stands the Paradiso (or Villa Cambiaso),
-another masterpiece of Alessi’s,<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c013'><sup>[5]</sup></a> to which it is almost
-impossible to obtain admission. Unfortunately, the
-house stands far back from the road, above intervening
-terraces and groves, and one can obtain only an imperfect
-glimpse of its beautiful <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, which is as ornate
-and imposing as that of the Villa Scassi, and of garden-walks
-lined with clipped hedges and statues.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f5'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r5'>5</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>In his “Baukunst der Renaissance in Italien” (Part II, Vol. V) Dr. Josef
-Durm, without citing his authority, says that the Villa Paradiso was built in
-1600 by Andrea Ceresola, called Vanove.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>At Alessi’s other Villa Cambiaso, higher up the hill
-of San Francesco d’Albaro, a more hospitable welcome
-awaits the sight-seer. Here admission is easily obtained,
-and it is possible to study and photograph at leisure.
-This villa is remarkable for the beauty of the central
-loggia on the ground floor of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>: a grand
-Doric arcade, leading into a two-storied atrium designed
-in the severest classical spirit. So suggestive is
-this of the great loggia of the Villa Bombicci, near Florence,
-that one understands why Alessi was called the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>pupil of Michelangelo. At the back of the house
-there is (as at the Villa Bombicci) a fine upper loggia,
-and the wide spacing of the windows on the ground
-floor, and the massiveness and simplicity of all the
-architectural details, inevitably recall the Tuscan style.
-Little is left of the old gardens save a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i> flanked
-by clipped hedges, which descends to an iron grille on
-a lower road; but the broad grassy space about the
-house has a boundary-wall with a continuous marble
-bench, like that at the Villa Pia in the Vatican gardens.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the valley between San Francesco d’Albaro and
-the Bisagno lies the dismal suburb of San Fruttuoso.
-Here one must seek, through a waste of dusty streets
-lined with half-finished tenements, for what must once
-have been the most beautiful of Genoese pleasure-houses—the
-Villa Imperiali, probably built by Fra Montorsoli.
-It stands high above broad terraced grounds
-of unusual extent, backed by a hanging wood; but
-all the old gardens have been destroyed, save the
-beautiful upper terrace, and even the house has suffered
-some injury, though not enough to detract greatly from
-its general effect. Here at last one finds that union
-of lightness and majesty which characterizes the Villa
-Medici and other Roman houses of its kind. The long
-elevation, with wings set back, has a rusticated basement,
-surmounted by two stories and an attic above
-the cornice. There is no order, but the whole <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>
-is richly frescoed in a severe architectural style, with
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>niches, statues in grisaille, and other ornaments, all
-executed by a skilful hand. The windows on the first
-floor have broken pediments with a shell-like movement,
-and those above show the same treatment, alternating
-with the usual triangular pediment. But the
-crowning distinction of the house consists in the two
-exquisite loggias which form the angles of the second
-story. These tall arcades, resting on slender columns,
-give a wonderful effect of spreading lightness to the
-<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, and break up its great bulk without disturbing
-the general impression of strength and dignity. As a
-skilful distribution of masses the elevation of the Villa
-Imperiali deserves the most careful study, and it is to
-be regretted that it can no longer be seen in combination
-with the wide-spread terraces which once formed a
-part of its composition.</p>
-
-<div class='ph2'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>LOMBARD VILLAS</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Bisuschio'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p196.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA CICOGNA, BISUSCHIO</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>VI<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>LOMBARD VILLAS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c011'>On the walls of the muniment-room of the old
-Borromeo palace in Milan, Michelino, a little-known
-painter of the fifteenth century, has
-depicted the sports and diversions of that noble family.
-Here may be seen ladies in peaked hennins and long
-drooping sleeves, with their shock-headed gallants in
-fur-edged tunics and pointed shoes, engaged in curious
-games and dances, against the background of Lake
-Maggiore and the Borromean Islands.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It takes the modern traveller an effort of mental readjustment
-to recognize in this “clump of peakèd isles”—bare
-Leonardesque rocks thrusting themselves splinter-wise
-above the lake—the smiling groves and terraces
-of the Isola Bella and the Isola Madre. For in those
-days the Borromei had not converted their rocky islands
-into the hanging gardens which to later travellers became
-one of the most important sights of the “grand tour”;
-and one may learn from this curious fresco with what
-seemingly hopeless problems the Italian garden-art dealt,
-and how, while audaciously remodelling nature, it contrived
-to keep in harmony with the surroundings amid
-which it worked.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>The Isola Madre, the largest of the Borromean group,
-was the first to be built on and planted. The plain
-Renaissance palace still looks down on a series of walled
-gardens and a grove of cypress, laurel and pine; but
-the greater part of the island has been turned into an
-English park of no special interest save to the horticulturist,
-who may study here the immense variety of exotic
-plants which flourish in the mild climate of the lakes.
-The Isola Bella, that pyramid of flower-laden terraces
-rising opposite Stresa, in a lovely bend of the lake,
-began to take its present shape about 1632, when Count
-Carlo III built a <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">casino di delizie</span></i> on the rocky pinnacle.
-His son, Count Vitaliano IV, continued and completed
-the work. He levelled the pointed rocks, filled their
-interstices with countless loads of soil from the mainland,
-and summoned Carlo Fontana and a group of Milanese
-architects to raise the palace and garden-pavilions above
-terraces created by Castelli and Crivelli, while the waterworks
-were entrusted to Mora of Rome, the statuary
-and other ornamental sculpture to Vismara. The work
-was completed in 1671, and the island, which had been
-created a baronial fief, was renamed Isola Isabella, after
-the count’s mother—a name which euphony, and the
-general admiration the place excited, soon combined to
-contract to Isola Bella.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The island is built up in ten terraces, narrowing successively
-toward the top, the lowest resting on great
-vaulted arcades which project into the lake and are used
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>as a winter shelter for the lemon-trees of the upper gardens.
-Each terrace is enclosed in a marble balustrade,
-richly ornamented with vases, statues and obelisks, and
-planted with a profusion of roses, camellias, jasmine,
-myrtle and pomegranate, among which groups of
-cypresses lift their dark shafts. Against the retaining-walls
-oranges and lemons are espaliered, and flowers
-border every path and wreathe every balustrade and
-stairway. It seems probable, from the old descriptions
-of the Isola Bella, that it was originally planted much as
-it now appears; in fact, the gardens of the Italian lakes
-are probably the only old pleasure-grounds of Italy
-where flowers have always been used in profusion. In
-the equable lake climate, neither cold in winter, like the
-Lombard plains, nor parched in summer, like the South,
-the passion for horticulture seems to have developed
-early, and the landscape-architect was accustomed to
-mingle bright colours with his architectural masses, instead
-of relying on a setting of uniform verdure.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The topmost terrace of the Isola Bella is crowned
-by a mount, against which is built a water-theatre of
-excessively baroque design. This architectural composition
-faces the southern front of the palace, a large and
-not very interesting building standing to the north of
-the gardens; while the southern extremity of the island
-terminates in a beautiful garden-pavilion, hexagonal in
-shape, with rusticated coigns and a crowning balustrade
-beset with statues. Even the narrow reef projecting
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>into the lake below this pavilion has been converted
-into another series of terraces, with connecting flights
-of steps, which carry down to the water’s edge the
-exuberant verdure of the upper gardens.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The palace is more remarkable for what it contains in
-the way of furniture and decoration than for any architectural
-value. Its great bulk and heavy outline are
-quite disproportionate to the airy elegance of the gardens
-it overlooks, and house and grounds seem in
-this case to have been designed without any regard to
-each other. The palace has, however, one feature of
-peculiar interest to the student of villa-architecture,
-namely, the beautiful series of rooms in the south basement,
-opening on the gardens, and decorated with the
-most exquisite ornamentation of pebble-work and seashells,
-mingled with delicately tinted stucco. These
-low vaulted rooms, with marble floors, grotto-like walls,
-and fountains dripping into fluted conchs, are like a
-poet’s notion of some twilight refuge from summer
-heats, where the languid green air has the coolness of
-water; even the fantastic consoles, tables and benches,
-in which cool-glimmering mosaics are combined with
-carved wood and stucco painted in faint greens and
-rose-tints, might have been made of mother-of-pearl,
-coral and seaweed for the adornment of some submarine
-palace. As examples of the decoration of a garden-house
-in a hot climate, these rooms are unmatched in
-Italy, and their treatment offers appropriate suggestions
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>to the modern garden-architect in search of effects of
-coolness.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>To show how little the gardens of the Isola Bella
-have been changed since they were first laid out, it is
-worth while to quote the description of Bishop Burnet,
-that delightful artist in orthography and punctuation,
-who descended into Italy in the year 1685, with his
-“port-mangles” laden upon “mullets.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>“From <em>Lugane</em>,” the bishop’s breathless periods
-begin, “I went to the <em>Lago Maggiore</em>, which is a great
-and noble Lake, it is six and fifty Miles long, and in
-most places six Miles broad, and a hundred Fathoms
-deep about the middle of it, it makes a great Bay to the
-Westward, and there lies here two Islands called the <em>Borromean</em>
-Islands, that are certainly the loveliest spots of
-ground in the World, there is nothing in all Italy that
-can be compared to them, they have the full view of the
-Lake, and the ground rises so sweetly in them that
-nothing can be imagined like the Terraces here, they
-belong to two Counts of the <em>Borromean</em> family. I was
-only in one of them, which belongs to the head of the
-Family, who is Nephew to the famous Cardinal known
-by the name of St <em>Carlo</em>.... The whole Island is a
-garden ... and because the figure of the Island was
-not made regular by Nature, they have built great
-Vaults and Portica’s along the Rock, which are all
-made Grotesque, and so they have brought it into a
-regular form by laying earth over those Vaults. There
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>is first a Garden to the East that rises up from the Lake
-by five rows of Terrasses, on the three sides of the Garden
-that are watered by the Lake, the Stairs are noble,
-the Walls are all covered with Oranges and Citrons, and a
-more beautiful spot of a Garden cannot be seen: There
-are two buildings in the two corners of this Garden, the
-one is only a Mill for fetching up the Water, and the
-other is a noble Summer-House [the hexagonal pavilion]
-all Wainscotted, if I may speak so, with Alabaster
-and Marble of a fine colour inclining to red, from this
-Garden one goes in a level to all the rest of the Alleys
-and Parterres, Herb-Gardens and Flower-Gardens, in
-all which there are Varieties of Fountains and Arbors,
-but the great Parterre is a surprizing thing, for as
-it is well furnished with Statues and Fountains, and is
-of a vast extent, and justly situated to the Palace, so at
-the further-end of it there is a great Mount, that face of
-it that looks to the Parterre is made like a Theatre all
-full of Fountains and Statues, the height rising up in five
-several rows ... and round this Mount, answering to
-the five rows into which the Theatre is divided, there goes
-as Many Terrasses of noble Walks, the Walls are all as
-close covered with Oranges and Citrons as any of our
-Walls in <em>England</em> are with Laurel: the top of the Mount
-is seventy foot long and forty broad, and here is a vast
-Cistern into which the Mill plays up the water that must
-furnish all the Fountains.... The freshness of the Air,
-it being both in a Lake and near the Mountains, the
-fragrant smell, the beautiful Prospect, and the delighting
-Variety that is here makes it such a habitation for Summer
-that perhaps the whole World hath nothing like it.”</p>
-
-<div id='Isola'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p203.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA ISOLA BELLA, LAKE MAGGIORE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>Seventeenth-century travellers were unanimous in
-extolling the Isola Bella, though, as might have been
-expected, their praise was chiefly for those elaborations
-and ingenuities of planning and engineering which give
-least pleasure in the present day. Toward the middle
-of the eighteenth century a critical reaction set in.
-Tourists, enamoured of the new “English garden,” and
-of Rousseau’s descriptions of the “bosquet de Julie,”
-could see nothing to admire in the ordered architecture
-of the Borromean Islands. The sentimental sight-seer,
-sighing for sham Gothic ruins, for glades planted “after
-Poussin,” and for all the laboured naturalism of Repton
-and Capability Brown, shuddered at the frank artifice
-of the old Italian garden-architecture. The quarrel
-then begun still goes on, and sympathies are divided
-between the artificial-natural and the frankly conventional.
-The time has come, however, when it is recognized
-that both these manners <em>are</em> manners, the one as
-artificial as the other, and each to be judged, not by any
-ethical standard of “sincerity,” but on its own æsthetic
-merits. This has enabled modern critics to take a fairer
-view of such avowedly conventional compositions as the
-Isola Bella, a garden in comparison with which the
-grounds of the great Roman villas are as naturalistic as
-the age of Rousseau could have desired.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>Thus impartially judged, the Isola Bella still seems
-to many too complete a negation of nature; nor can it
-appear otherwise to those who judge of it only from
-pictures and photographs, who have not seen it in its
-environment. For the landscape surrounding the Borromean
-Islands has precisely that quality of artificiality,
-of exquisitely skilful arrangement and manipulation,
-which seems to justify, in the garden-architect, almost
-any excesses of the fancy. The Roman landscape,
-grandiose and ample, seems an unaltered part of nature;
-so do the subtly modelled hills and valleys of central
-Italy: all these scenes have the deficiencies, the repetitions,
-the meannesses and profusions, with which nature
-throws her great masses on the canvas of the world;
-but the lake scenery appears to have been designed by
-a lingering and fastidious hand, bent on eliminating
-every crudeness and harshness, and on blending all
-natural forms, from the bare mountain-peak to the
-melting curve of the shore, in one harmony of ever-varying
-and ever-beautiful lines.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The effect produced is undoubtedly one of artificiality,
-of a chosen exclusion of certain natural qualities, such
-as gloom, barrenness, and the frank ugliness into which
-nature sometimes lapses. There is an almost forced
-gaiety about the landscape of the lakes, a fixed smile of
-perennial loveliness. And it is as a complement to this
-attitude that the Borromean gardens justify themselves.
-Are they real? No; but neither is the landscape about
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>them. Are they like any other gardens on earth? No;
-but neither are the mountains and shores about them
-like earthly shores and mountains. They are Armida’s
-gardens anchored in a lake of dreams, and they should
-be compared, not with this or that actual piece of planted
-ground, but with a page of Ariosto or Boiardo.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From the garden-student’s point of view, there is
-nothing in Lombardy as important as the Isola Bella.
-In these rich Northern provinces, as in the environs of
-Florence, the old gardens have suffered from the affluence
-of their owners, and scarcely any have been
-allowed to retain their original outline. The enthusiasm
-for the English garden swept over Lombardy like a
-tidal wave, obliterating terraces and grottoes, substituting
-winding paths for pleached alleys, and transforming
-level box-parterres into rolling lawns which turn as
-brown as door-mats under the scorching Lombard
-sun.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On the lakes, where the garden-architect was often
-restricted to a narrow ledge of ground between mountains
-and water, these transformations were less easy,
-for the new style required a considerable expanse of
-ground for its development. Along the shores of Como
-especially, where the ground rises so abruptly from the
-lake, landscape effects were difficult to produce, nor was
-it easy to discover a naturalistic substitute for the marble
-terraces built above the water. Even here, however,
-the narrow gardens have been as much modified as
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>space permitted, the straight paths have been made to
-wind, and spotty flower-beds in grass have replaced
-the ordered box-gardens with their gravelled walks and
-their lemon-trees in earthen vases.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The only old garden on Como which keeps more
-than a fragment of its original architecture is that of the
-Villa d’Este at Cernobbio, a mile or two from the town
-of Como, at the southern end of the lake. The villa,
-built in 1527 by Cardinal Gallio (who was born a fisher-lad
-of Cernobbio), has passed through numerous transformations.
-In 1816 it was bought by Caroline of
-Brunswick, who gave it the name of Este, and turned
-it into a great structure of the Empire style. Here for
-several years the Princess of Wales held the fantastic
-court of which Bergami, the courier, was High Chamberlain
-if not Prince Consort; and, whatever disadvantages
-may have accrued to herself from this establishment,
-her residence at the Villa d’Este was a benefit to the
-village, for she built the road connecting Cernobbio with
-Moltrasio, which was the first carriage-drive along the
-lake, and spent large sums on improvements in the
-neighbourhood of her estate.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Since then the villa has suffered a farther change into
-a large and fashionable hotel; but though Queen Caroline
-anglicized a part of the grounds, the main lines of
-the old Renaissance garden still exist.</p>
-
-<div id='Bella'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p210.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>IN THE GARDENS OF ISOLA BELLA, LAKE MAGGIORE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>Behind the Villa d’Este the mountains are sufficiently
-withdrawn to leave a gentle acclivity, which was
-once laid out in a series of elaborate gardens. Adjoining
-the villa is a piece of level ground just above the
-lake, which evidently formed the “secret garden” with
-its parterres and fountains. This has been replaced by a
-lawn and flower-beds, but still keeps its boundary-wall
-at the back, with a baroque grotto and fountain of pebbles
-and shell-work. Above this rises a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis vert</span></i> shaded
-by cypresses, and leading to the usual Hercules in a
-temple. The peculiar feature of this ascent is that it is
-bordered on each side with narrow steps of channelled
-stone, down which the water rushes under overlapping
-ferns and roses to the fish-pool below the grotto in the
-lower garden. Beyond the formal gardens is the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bosco</span></i>,
-a bit of fine natural woodland climbing the cliff-side,
-with winding paths which lead to various summer-houses
-and sylvan temples. The rich leafage of walnut,
-acacia and cypress, the glimpses of the blue lake far
-below, the rush of a mountain torrent through a deep
-glen spanned by a romantic ivy-clad bridge, make this
-<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bosco</span></i> of the Villa d’Este one of the most enchanting
-bits of sylvan gardening in Italy. Scarcely less enchanting
-is the grove of old plane-trees by the water-gate
-on the lake, where, in a solemn twilight of over-roofing
-branches, woodland gods keep watch above the
-broad marble steps descending to the water. In the
-gardens of the Villa d’Este there is much of the Roman
-spirit—the breadth of design, the unforced inclusion of
-natural features, and that sensitiveness to the quality
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>of the surrounding landscape which characterizes the
-great gardens of the Campagna.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Just across the lake, in the deep shade of the wooded
-cliffs beneath the Pizzo di Torno, lies another villa still
-more steeped in the Italian garden-magic. This is the
-Villa Pliniana, built in 1570 by the Count Anguissola of
-Piacenza, and now the property of the Trotti family of
-Milan. The place takes its name from an intermittent
-spring in the court, which is supposed to be the one
-described by Pliny in one of his letters; and it is farther
-celebrated as being the coolest villa on Como. It lies
-on a small bay on the east side of the lake, and faces
-due north, so that, while the villas of Cernobbio are
-bathed in sunlight, a deep green shade envelops it.
-The house stands on a narrow ledge, its foundations
-projecting into the lake, and its back built against the
-almost vertical wooded cliff which protects it from the
-southern sun. Down this cliff pours a foaming mountain
-torrent from the Val di Calore, just beneath the
-peak of Torno; and this torrent the architect of the Villa
-Pliniana has captured in its descent to the lake and carried
-through the central apartment of the villa.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The effect produced is unlike anything else, even in
-the wonderland of Italian gardens. The two wings of
-the house, a plain and somewhat melancholy-looking
-structure, are joined by an open arcaded room, against
-the back wall of which the torrent pours down, over
-stonework tremulous with moss and ferns, gushing
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>out again beneath the balustrade of the loggia, where
-it makes a great semicircle of glittering whiteness in
-the dark-green waters of the lake. The old house is
-saturated with the freshness and drenched with the
-flying spray of the caged torrent. The bare vaulted
-rooms reverberate with it, the stone floors are green
-with its dampness, the air quivers with its cool incessant
-rush. The contrast of this dusky dripping loggia, on
-its perpetually shaded bay, with the blazing blue waters
-of the lake and their sun-steeped western shores, is one
-of the most wonderful effects in <em>sensation</em> that the Italian
-villa-art has ever devised.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The architect, not satisfied with diverting a part of
-the torrent to cool his house, has led the rest in a fall
-down the cliff immediately adjoining the villa, and has
-designed winding paths through the woods from which
-one may look down on the bright rush of the waters.
-On the other side of the house lies a long balustraded
-terrace, between the lake and the hanging woods, and
-here, on the only bit of open and level ground near the
-house, are the old formal gardens, now much neglected,
-but still full of a melancholy charm.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>After the Villa Pliniana, the other gardens of Como
-seem almost commonplace. All along both shores are
-villas which, amid many alterations, have preserved
-traces of their old garden-architecture, such as the
-Bishop of Como’s villa, south of Leno, with its baroque
-saints and prophets perched along the garden-balustrade,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>and the more famous Villa Carlotta at Cadenabbia,
-where the fine gateways and the architectural
-treatment of the terraces bear witness to the former
-beauty of the grounds. But almost everywhere the
-old garden-magic has been driven out by a fury of
-modern horticulture. The pleached alleys have made
-way for lawns dotted with palms and bananas, the box-parterres
-have been replaced by star-shaped beds of
-begonias and cinerarias, and the groves of laurel and
-myrtle by thickets of pampas-grass and bamboo. This
-description applies to all the principal gardens between
-Como and Bellagio. Here and there, indeed, in almost
-all of them, some undisturbed corner remains—a flight
-of steps wreathed in Banksian roses and descending to
-a shady water-gate; a fern-lined grotto with a stucco
-Pan or Syrinx; a clipped laurel-walk set with marble
-benches, or a classic summer-house above the lake—but
-these old bits are so scattered and submerged under
-the new order of gardening that it requires an effort of
-the imagination to reconstruct from them an image of
-what the old lake-gardens must have been before every
-rich proprietor tried to convert his marble terraces into
-an English park.</p>
-
-<div id='Cicogna'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p216.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA CICOGNA, FROM THE TERRACE ABOVE THE HOUSE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>Almost to be included among lake-villas is the beautiful
-Villa Cicogna at Bisuschio. This charming old
-place lies in the lovely but little-known hill-country between
-the Lake of Varese and the southern end of
-Lugano. The house, of which the history appears to
-be unknown to the present owners, is an early Renaissance
-building of great beauty, with a touch of Tuscan
-austerity in its design. The plain front, with deep projecting
-eaves and widely spaced windows, might stand
-on some village square above the Arno; and the interior
-court, with its two-storied arcade, recalls, in purity and
-lightness of design, the inheritors of Brunelleschi’s tradition.
-So few country houses of the early sixteenth century
-are to be found in the Milanese that it would be
-instructive to learn whether the Villa Cicogna is in fact
-due to a Tuscan hand, or whether this mid-Italian style
-was at that time also prevalent in Lombardy.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The villa is built against a hillside, and the interior
-court forms an oblong, enclosed on three sides by the
-house, and continued on the fourth by a beautiful
-sunken garden, above which runs a balustraded walk
-on a level with the upper story. On the other side of
-the house is another garden, consisting of a long terrace
-bounded by a high retaining-wall, which is tunnelled
-down its whole length to form a shady arcaded walk
-lined with ferns and dripping with runnels of water. At
-the back of the house the ground continues to rise, and
-a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i> is built against the hillside; while beyond
-the terrace-garden already described, a gate leads
-to a hanging woodland, with shady walks from which,
-at every turn, there are enchanting views across the
-southern bay of Lake Lugano.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The house itself is as interesting as the garden. The
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>walls of the court are frescoed in charming cinque-cento
-designs, and the vaulted ceiling of the loggia is painted
-in delicate trellis-work, somewhat in the manner of the
-semicircular arcade at the Villa di Papa Giulio. Several
-of the rooms also preserve their wall-frescoes and
-much of their Renaissance furniture, while a series of
-smaller apartments on the ground floor are exquisitely
-decorated with stucco ornament in the light style of the
-eighteenth century; so that the Villa Cicogna still gives
-a vivid idea of what an old Italian country house must
-have been in its original state.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From the hill-villas of the lakes to the country places
-of the Milanese rice-fields the descent is somewhat abrupt;
-but the student of garden-architecture may mitigate
-the transition by carrying on his researches from the
-southern end of Como through the smiling landscape of
-the Brianza. Here there are many old villas, in a lovely
-setting of vineyard and woodland, with distant views of
-the Alps and of the sunny Lombard plain; but of old
-gardens few are to be found. There is one of great beauty,
-belonging to the Villa Crivelli, near the village of Inverigo;
-but as it is inaccessible to visitors, only tantalizing
-glimpses may be obtained of its statues and terraces, its
-cypress-walks and towering “Gigante.” Not far from
-Inverigo is the Rotonda Cagnola, now the property of
-the Marchese d’Adda, and built in 1813 by the Marchese
-Luigi Cagnola in imitation of the Propylæa of the
-Acropolis. The house is beautifully placed on a hilltop,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>with glorious views over the Alps and Apennines, and is
-curious to the student as an example of the neo-classicism
-of the Empire; but it has of course no gardens in
-the old sense of the term.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The flat environs of Milan were once dotted with
-country houses, but with the growth of the city and the
-increased facilities of travel, these have been for the most
-part abandoned for villas in the hills or on the lakes,
-and to form an idea of their former splendour one must
-turn to the pages of Alberto del Rè’s rare volumes.
-Here one may see in all its detail that elaborate style of
-gardening which the French landscape-gardeners developed
-from the “grand manner” acquired by Le Nôtre
-in his study of the great Roman country-seats. This
-style, adapted to the flat French landscape, and complicated
-by the mannerisms and elaborations of the
-eighteenth century, came back to Italy with the French
-fashions which Piedmont and Lombardy were so fond
-of importing. The time had passed when Europe modelled
-itself on Italy: France was now the glass of fashion,
-and, in northern Italy especially, French architecture and
-gardening were eagerly reproduced.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In Lombardy the natural conditions were so similar
-that the French geometrical gardens did not seem out
-of place; yet even here a difference is felt, both in the
-architecture and the gardens. Italy, in spite of Palladio
-and the Palladian tradition, never freed herself from the
-baroque. Her artistic tendencies were all toward freedom,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>improvisation, individual expression, while France
-was fundamentally classical and instinctively temperate.
-Just as the French cabinet-makers and bronze-chisellers
-and modellers in stucco produced more delicate and finished,
-but less personal, work than the Italian craftsmen,
-so the French architects designed with greater precision
-and restraint, and less play of personal invention. To
-establish a rough distinction, it might be said that French
-art has always been intellectual and Italian art emotional;
-and this distinction is felt even in the treatment of the
-pleasure-house and its garden. In Italy the architectural
-detail remained baroque till the end of the eighteenth
-century, and the architect permitted himself far greater
-license in the choice of forms and the combination of
-materials. The old villas of the Milanese have a very
-strong individuality, and it is to be regretted that so few
-remain intact to show what a personal style they preserved
-even under the most obvious French influences.</p>
-
-<div id='Pliniana'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p221.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA PLINIANA, LAKE COMO</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>The Naviglio, the canal which flows through Milan
-and sends various branches to the Ticino and the Adda,
-was formerly lined for miles beyond the city with suburban
-villas. Few remain unaltered, and even of these
-few the old gardens have disappeared. One of the most
-interesting houses in Del Rè’s collection, the Villa Alario
-(now Visconti di Saliceto), on the Naviglio near Cernusco,
-is still in perfect preservation without and within; and
-though its old gardens were replaced by an English park
-early in the nineteenth century, their general outline is
-still discoverable. The villa, a stately pile built by
-Ruggieri in 1736, looks on a court divided from the
-highway by a fine wall and beautiful iron gates. Low
-wings containing the chapel and offices, and running at
-right angles to the main building, connect the latter with
-the courtyard walls; and arched passages through the
-centre of the wings lead to outlying courts surrounded
-by stables and other dependencies. The house, toward
-the forecourt, has a central open loggia or atrium, and
-the upper windows are framed in baroque architraves
-and surmounted by square attic lights. The garden elevation
-is more elaborate. Here there is a central projection,
-three windows wide, flanked by two-storied
-open loggias, and crowned by an attic with ornamental
-pilasters and urns. This central bay is adorned with
-beautiful wrought-iron balconies, which are repeated
-in the wings at each end of the building. All the
-wrought-iron of the Villa Visconti is remarkable for
-its elegance and originality, and as used on the terraces,
-and in the balustrade of the state staircase, in
-combination with heavy baroque stone balusters, it is an
-interesting example of a peculiarly Lombard style of
-decoration.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Between the house and the Naviglio there once lay
-an elaborate <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parterre de broderie</span></i>, terminated above the
-canal by a balustraded retaining-wall adorned with statues,
-and flanked on each side by pleached walks, arbours,
-trellis-work and fish-ponds. Of this complicated pleasance
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>little remains save the long terraces extending from
-each end of the house, the old flower-garden below one
-of these, and some bits of decorative sculpture incorporated
-in the boundary-walls.
-The long tank or
-canal shown in Del Rè’s
-print has been turned
-into an irregular pond
-with grass-banks, and
-the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parterre de broderie</span></i>
-is now a lawn; even the
-balustrade has been removed
-from the wall along the Naviglio. Still, the architectural
-details of the forecourt and the terraces are
-worthy of careful study, and the unusual beauty of the
-old villa, with its undisturbed group of dependencies,
-partly atones for the loss of its original surroundings.</p>
-
-<div id='Alario'  class='figleft id004'>
-<img src='images/i_p224.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>IRON GATES OF THE VILLA ALARIO| (NOW VISCONTI DI SALICETO)</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>Many eighteenth-century country houses in the style
-of the Villa Visconti are scattered through the Milanese,
-though few have retained so unaltered an outline, or
-even such faint traces of their formal gardens. The
-huge villa of the Duke of Modena at Varese—now the
-Municipio—is a good example of the same architecture,
-and has a beautiful stone-and-iron balustrade and many
-wrought-iron balconies in the same style as those at
-Cernusco; and its gardens, ascending the hillside behind
-the house, and now used as a public park, must once
-have been very fine. The Grand Hôtel of Varese is
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>also an old villa, and its architectural screen and projecting
-wings form an unusually characteristic <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of
-the same period. Here, again, little remains of the old
-garden but a charming upper terrace; but the interior
-decorations of many of the rooms are undisturbed, and
-are exceptionally interesting examples of the more delicate
-Italian baroque.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Another famous country house, Castellazzo d’Arconate,
-at Bollate, is even more palatial than the Duke of Modena’s
-villa at Varese, and, while rather heavy in general
-outline, has an interesting interior <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, with a long
-arcade resting on coupled columns, and looking out over
-a stately courtyard with statues. This villa is said to
-have preserved a part of its old gardens, but it is difficult
-of access, and could not be visited at the time when the
-material for these chapters was collected.</p>
-
-<div id='Railing'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p225.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>RAILING OF THE VILLA ALARIO</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='ph2'>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c001'>
-    <div>VILLAS OF VENETIA</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div id='Padua'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p230.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>GATEWAY OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN, PADUA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>VII<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>VILLAS OF VENETIA</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='drop-capa0_0 c011'>Writers on Italian architecture have hitherto
-paid little attention to the villa-architecture
-of Venetia. It is only within the last few
-years that English and American critics have deigned
-to recognize any architectural school in Italy later than
-that of Vignola and Palladio, and even these two great
-masters of the sixteenth century have been held up as
-examples of degeneracy to a generation bred in the
-Ruskinian code of art ethics. In France, though the
-influence of Viollet-le-Duc was nearly as hostile as
-Ruskin’s to any true understanding of Italian art, the
-Latin instinct for form has asserted itself in a revived
-study of the classic tradition; but French writers on
-architecture have hitherto confined themselves chiefly to
-the investigation of their national styles.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is only in Germany that Italian architecture from
-Palladio to Juvara has received careful and sympathetic
-study. Burckhardt pointed the way in his “Cicerone”
-and in “The Architecture of the Renaissance in Italy”;
-Herr Gustav Ebe followed with an interesting book on
-the late Renaissance throughout Europe; and Herr
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>Gurlitt has produced the most masterly work yet written
-on the subject, his “History of the Baroque Style
-in Italy.” These authors, however, having to work in
-a new and extensive field, have necessarily been obliged
-to restrict themselves to its most important divisions.
-Burckhardt’s invaluable “Renaissance Architecture,”
-though full of critical insight, is rather a collection of
-memoranda than a history of the subject; and even
-Herr Gurlitt, though he goes into much greater detail,
-cannot forsake the highroad for the by-paths, and has
-consequently had to pass by many minor ramifications
-of his subject. This is especially to be regretted in regard
-to the villa-architecture of Venetia, the interest and
-individuality of which he fully appreciates. He points
-out that the later Venetian styles spring from two
-sources, the schools of Palladio and of Sansovino. The
-former, greatly as his work was extolled, never had the
-full sympathy of the Venetians. His art was too pure
-and severe for a race whose taste had been formed on
-the fantastic mingling of Gothic and Byzantine and on
-the glowing decorations of the greatest school of colourists
-the world has known. It was from the warm and
-picturesque art of Sansovino and Longhena that the
-Italian baroque naturally developed; and though the
-authority of Palladio made itself felt in the official architecture
-of Venetia, its minor constructions, especially
-the villas and small private houses, seldom show any
-trace of his influence save in the grouping of their windows.
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>So little is known of the Venetian villa-builders
-that this word as to their general tendencies must replace
-the exact information which still remains to be gathered.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Many delightful examples of the Venetian <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">maison de
-plaisance</span></i> are still to be found in the neighbourhood of
-Padua and Treviso, along the Brenta, and in the country
-between the Euganeans and the Monti Berici. Unfortunately,
-in not more than one or two instances have
-the old gardens of these houses been preserved in their
-characteristic form; and, by a singular perversity of fate,
-it happens that the villas which have kept their gardens
-are not typical of the Venetian style. One of them, the
-castle of Cattajo, at Battaglia in the Euganean Hills,
-stands in fact quite apart from any contemporary style.
-This extraordinary edifice, built for the Obizzi of Venice
-about 1550, is said to have been copied from the plans
-of a castle in Tartary brought home by Marco Polo.
-It shows, at any rate, a deliberate reversion, in mid-cinque-cento,
-to a kind of Gothicism which had become
-obsolete in northern Italy three hundred years earlier;
-and the mingling of this rude style with classic detail
-and Renaissance sculpture has produced an effect picturesque
-enough to justify so quaint a tradition.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Cattajo stands on the edge of the smiling Euganean
-country, its great fortress-like bulk built up against a
-wooded knoll with a little river at its base. Crossing
-the river by a bridge flanked by huge piers surmounted
-with statues, one reaches a portcullis in a massive gatehouse,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>also adorned with statues. The portcullis opens
-on a long narrow court planted with a hedge of clipped
-euonymus; and at one end a splendid balustraded stairway
-<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">à cordon</span></i> leads up to a flagged terrace with yew-trees
-growing between the flags. To the left of this
-terrace is a huge artificial grotto, with a stucco Silenus
-lolling on an elephant, and other life-size animals and
-figures, a composition recalling the zoölogical wonders
-of the grotto at Castello. This Italian reversion to the
-grotesque, at a time when it was losing its fascination for
-the Northern races, might form the subject of an interesting
-study of race æsthetics. When the coarse and
-sombre fancy of mediæval Europe found expression in
-grinning gargoyles and baleful or buffoonish images, Italian
-art held serenely to the beautiful, and wove the most
-tragic themes into a labyrinth of lovely lines; but in the
-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when the classical
-graces had taken possession of northern Europe, the
-chimerical animals, the gnomes and goblins, the gargoyles
-and broomstick-riders, fled south of the Alps, and
-reappeared in the queer fauna of Italian grottoes and in
-the leering dwarfs and satyrs of the garden-walk.</p>
-
-<div id='Val'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p235.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VIEW AT VAL SAN ZIBIO, NEAR BATTAGLIA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>From the yew-tree terrace at Cattajo an arcaded
-loggia gives access to the interior of the castle, which is
-a bewilderment of low-storied passageways and long
-flights of steps hewn in the rock against which the
-castle is built. From a vaulted tunnel of stone one
-passes abruptly into a suite of lofty apartments decorated
-with seventeenth-century frescoes and opening on a
-balustraded terrace guarded by marble divinities; or,
-taking another turn, one finds one’s self in a sham
-Gothic chapel or in a mediæval <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chemin de ronde</span></i> on the
-crenelated walls. This fantastic medley of styles, in
-conjunction with the unusual site of the castle, has
-produced several picturesque bits of garden, wedged
-between the walls and the hillside, or on the terraces
-overhanging the river; but from the architectural point
-of view, the most interesting thing about Cattajo is the
-original treatment of the great stairway in the court.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Six or seven miles from Battaglia, in a narrow and
-fertile valley of the Euganeans, lies one of the most
-beautiful pleasure-grounds in Italy. This is the garden
-of the villa at Val San Zibio. On approaching it, one
-sees, across a grassy common, a stately and ornate
-arch of triumph with a rusticated <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> and a broken
-pediment enriched with statues. This arch, which looks
-as though it were the principal entrance-gate, appears
-to have been placed in the high boundary-wall merely
-in order to afford from the highway a vista of the
-<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i> which is the chief feature of the gardens.
-The practice of breaking the wall to give a view of
-some special point in the park or garden was very common
-in France, but is seldom seen in Italy, though
-there is a fine instance of it in the open grille below the
-Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The house at Val San Zibio is built with its back to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>the highroad, and is an unpretentious structure of the
-seventeenth century, not unlike the Villa de’ Gori at
-Siena, though the Palladian grouping of its central windows
-shows the nearness of Venice. It looks on a terrace
-enclosed by a balustrade, whence a broad flight of
-steps descends to the gently sloping gardens. They
-are remarkable for their long pleached alleys of beech,
-their wide <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tapis verts</span></i>, fountains, marble benches and
-statues charmingly placed in niches of clipped verdure.
-In one direction is a little lake, in another a “mount”
-crowned by a statue, while a long alley leads to a well-preserved
-maze with a raised platform in its centre.
-These labyrinths are now rarely found in Italian gardens,
-and were probably never as popular south of the
-Alps as in Holland and England. The long <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château
-d’eau</span></i>, with its couchant Nereids and conch-blowing
-Tritons, descends a gentle slope instead of a steep hill,
-and on each side high beech-hedges enclose tall groves
-of deciduous trees. These hedges are characteristic of
-the north Italian gardens, where the plane, beech and
-elm replace the “perennial greens” of the south; and
-there is one specially charming point at Val San Zibio,
-where four grass-alleys walled with clipped beeches
-converge on a stone basin sunk in the turf, with four
-marble putti seated on the curb, dangling their feet in
-the water. An added touch of quaintness is given to
-the gardens by the fact that the old waterworks are
-still in action, so that the unwary visitor, assailed by
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>fierce jets of spray darting up at him from the terrace
-steps, the cracks in the flagstones, and all manner of
-unexpected ambushes, may form some idea of the
-aquatic surprises which afforded his ancestors such
-inexhaustible amusement.</p>
-
-<div id='Plan'  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_p239.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>THE BOTANIC GARDEN OF PADUA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>There are few gardens in Italy comparable with
-Val San Zibio; but in Padua there is one of another
-sort which has kept something of the same ancient
-savor. This is the famous Botanic Garden, founded in
-1545, and said to be the oldest in Italy. The accompanying
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>plan, though roughly sketched from memory,
-will give some idea of its arrangement. Outside is a
-grove of exotic trees, which surrounds a large circular
-space enclosed in a beautiful old brick wall surmounted
-by a marble balustrade and adorned alternately with
-busts and statues. The wall is broken by four gateways,
-one forming the principal entrance from the
-grove, the other three opening on semicircles in which
-statues are set against a background of foliage. In the
-garden itself the beds for “simples” are enclosed in low
-iron railings, within which they are again subdivided by
-stone edgings, each subdivision containing a different
-species of plant.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Padua, in spite of its flat surroundings, is one of the
-most picturesque cities of upper Italy; and the seeker
-after gardens will find many charming bits along the
-narrow canals, or by the sluggish river skirting the city
-walls. Indeed, one might almost include in a study of
-gardens the beautiful Prato della Valle, the public
-square before the church of Santa Giustina, with its encircling
-canal crossed by marble bridges, its range of
-baroque statues of “worthies,” and its central expanse
-of turf and trees. There is no other example in Italy
-of a square laid out in this park-like way, and the Prato
-della Valle would form an admirable model for the treatment
-of open spaces in a modern city.</p>
-
-<div id='San'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p241.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VAL SAN ZIBIO, NEAR BATTAGLIA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>A few miles from Padua, at Ponte di Brenta, begins
-the long line of villas which follows the course of the
-river to its outlet at Fusina. Dante speaks in the “Inferno”
-of the villas and castles on the Brenta, and it
-continued the favourite villeggiatura of the Venetian
-nobility till the middle of the nineteenth century. There
-dwelt the Signor Pococurante, whom Candide visited on
-his travels; and of flesh-and-blood celebrities many
-might be cited, from the famous Procuratore Pisani to
-Byron, who in 1819 carried off the Guiccioli to his
-villa at La Mira on the Brenta.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The houses still remain almost line for line as they
-were drawn in Gianfrancesco Costa’s admirable etchings,
-“Le Delizie del Fiume Brenta,” published in 1750;
-but unfortunately almost all the old gardens have disappeared.
-One, however, has been preserved, and as
-it is the one most often celebrated by travellers and
-poets of the eighteenth century, it may be regarded as
-a good example of a stately Venetian garden. This is
-the great villa built at Strà, in 1736, for Alvise Pisani,
-procurator of St. Mark’s, by the architects Prati and
-Frigimelica. In size and elegance it far surpasses any
-other house on the Brenta. The prevailing note of the
-other villas is one of simplicity and amenity. They
-stand near each other, either on the roadside or divided
-from it by a low wall bordered with statues and a
-short strip of garden, also thickly peopled with nymphs,
-satyrs, shepherdesses, and the grotesque and comic
-figures of the Commedia dell’ Arte; unassuming <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">villini</span></i>
-for the most part, suggesting a life of suburban
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>neighbourliness and sociability. But the Villa Pisani is
-a palace. Its majestic <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>, with pillared central <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">corps
-de bâtiment</span></i> and far-reaching wings, stands on the highway
-bordering the Brenta; behind are the remains of
-the old formal gardens, and on each side, the park
-extends along the road, from which it is divided by a
-high wall and several imposing
-gateways. The
-palace is built about two
-inner courts, and its innumerable
-rooms are frescoed
-by the principal
-Italian decorative painters
-of the day, while the great
-central saloon has one
-of Tiepolo’s most riotously splendid ceilings. Fortunately
-for the preservation of these treasures, Strà, after
-being the property of Eugène Beauharnais, was acquired
-by the Italian government, and is now a “villa
-nazionale,” well kept up and open to the public.</p>
-
-<div id='Pisani'  class='figleft id004'>
-<img src='images/i_p244.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>GATEWAY—VILLA PISANI, STRÀ</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the etching of Costa, an elaborate formal garden
-with <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parterres de broderie</span></i> is seen to extend from the
-back of the villa to the beautifully composed stables
-which face it. This garden has unfortunately been replaced
-by a level meadow, flanked on both sides by
-<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">boschi</span></i>, with long straight walks piercing the dense green
-leafage of elm, beech and lime. Here and there fragments
-of garden-architecture have survived the evident
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>attempt to convert the grounds into a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jardin anglais</span></i> of
-the sentimental type. There is still a maze, with a fanciful
-little central tower ascended by winding stairs;
-there is a little wooded “mount,” with a moat about it,
-and a crowning temple; and there are various charming
-garden-pavilions, orangeries, gardeners’ houses, and
-similar small constructions, all built in the airy and romantic
-style of which the Italian villa-architect had not
-yet lost the secret. Architecturally, however, the stables
-are perhaps the most interesting buildings at Strà. Their
-classical central <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> is flanked by two curving wings,
-forming charmingly proportioned lemon-houses, and in
-the stables themselves the stalls are sumptuously divided
-by columns of red marble, each surmounted by
-the gilded effigy of a horse.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From Strà to Fusina the shores of the Brenta are
-lined with charming pleasure-houses, varying in size
-from the dignified villa to the little garden-pavilion, and
-all full of interest and instruction to the student of villa-architecture;
-but unhappily no traces of their old gardens
-remain, save the statues which once peopled the
-parterres and surmounted the walls. Several of the
-villas are attributed to Palladio, but only one is really
-typical of his style: the melancholy Malcontenta, built
-by the Foscari, and now standing ruinous and deserted
-in a marshy field beside the river.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Malcontenta has all the chief characteristics of
-Palladio’s manner: the high basement, the projecting
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>pillared portico, the general air of classical correctness,
-which seems a little cold beside the bright and graceful
-villa-architecture of Venetia. Burckhardt, with his usual
-discernment, remarks in this connection that it was a
-fault of Palladio’s to substitute for the recessed loggia
-of the Roman villa a projecting portico, thus sacrificing
-one of the most characteristic and original features of
-the Italian country house to a not particularly appropriate
-adaptation of the Greek temple porch.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But Palladio was a great artist, and if he was great
-in his civic architecture rather than in his country
-houses, if his stately genius lent itself rather to the
-grouping of large masses than to the construction of
-pretty toys, yet his most famous villa is a distinct and
-original contribution to the chief examples of the Italian
-pleasure-house. The Villa Capra, better known as the
-Rotonda, which stands on a hill above Vicenza, has
-been criticized for having four fronts instead of one front,
-two sides and a back. It is, in fact, a square building
-with a projecting Ionic portico on each face—a plan
-open to the charge of monotony, but partly justified in
-this case by the fact that the house is built on the summit
-of a knoll from which there are four views, all
-equally pleasing, and each as it were entitled to the
-distinction of having a loggia to itself. Still, it is certain
-that neither in the Rotonda nor in his other villas
-did Palladio hit on a style half as appropriate or pleasing
-as the typical manner of the Roman villa-architects,
-with its happy mingling of freedom and classicalism, its
-wonderful adaptation to climate and habits of life, its
-capricious grace of detail, and its harmony with the
-garden-architecture which was designed to surround it.</p>
-
-<div id='Valmarana'  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_p247.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>VILLA VALMARANA, VICENZA</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>The Villa Capra has not preserved its old gardens,
-and at the Villa Giacomelli, at Maser, Palladio’s other
-famous country house, the grounds have been so modernized
-and stripped of all their characteristic features
-that it is difficult to judge of their original design; but
-one feels that all Palladio’s rural architecture lacked
-that touch of fancy and freedom which, in the Roman
-school, facilitated the transition of manner from the
-house to the garden-pavilion, and from the pavilion to
-the half-rustic grotto and the woodland temple.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Villa Valmarana, also at Vicenza, on the Monte
-Berico, not far from the Rotonda, has something of the
-intimate charm lacking in the latter. The low and
-simply designed house is notable only for the charming
-frescoes with which Tiepolo adorned its rooms; but the
-beautiful loggia in the garden is attributed to Palladio,
-and this, together with the old beech-alleys, the charming
-frescoed fountain, the garden-wall crowned by
-Venetian grotesques, forms a composition of exceptional
-picturesqueness.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The beautiful country-side between Vicenza and Verona
-is strewn with old villas, many of which would
-doubtless repay study; but there are no gardens of
-note in this part of Veneto, except the famous Giusti
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>gardens at Verona, probably better known to sightseers
-than any others in northern Italy. In spite of all
-their charm, however, the dusky massing of their old
-cypresses, and their winding walks along the cliff-side,
-the Giusti gardens preserve few traces of their original
-design, and are therefore not especially important to
-the student of Italian garden-architecture. More interesting
-in this connection is the Villa Cuzzano, about seven
-miles from Verona, a beautiful old house standing above
-a terrace-garden planted with an elaborate <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parterre de
-broderie</span></i>. Behind the villa is a spacious court bounded
-by a line of low buildings with a central chapel. The
-interior of the house has been little changed, and is an
-interesting example of north Italian villa planning and
-decoration. The passion of the Italian architects for
-composition and continuity of design is seen in the
-careful placing of the chapel, which is exactly on an
-axis with the central saloon of the villa, so that, standing
-in the chapel, one looks across the court, through
-this lofty saloon, and out on the beautiful hilly landscape
-beyond. It was by such means that the villa-architects
-obtained, with simple materials and in a limited space,
-impressions of distance, and sensations of the unexpected,
-for which one looks in vain in the haphazard
-and slipshod designs of the present day.</p>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>LIST OF BOOKS MENTIONED</h2>
-</div>
-
-<table class='table1' summary='LIST OF BOOKS MENTIONED'>
-<colgroup>
-<col width='32%' />
-<col width='67%' />
-</colgroup>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='2'>ITALIAN</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Gianfrancesco Costa</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Le Delizie del Fiume Brenta.</span></cite> 1750.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Giovanni Falda</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Giardini di Roma.</span></cite> N. d.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Peter Paul Rubens</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Palazzi di Genova.</span></cite> 1622.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Rafaello Soprani</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Vite de’ Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Genovesi.</span></cite> (Second edition, revised, enlarged and supplied with notes by C. G. Ratti. 1768.)</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Giuseppe Zocchi</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Vedute delle Ville e d’altri luoghi della Toscana.</span></cite> 1744.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='2'>FRENCH</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Le Président de Brosses</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Lettres Familières écrites d’Italie en 1739 et 1740.</span></cite></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>L. Dussieux</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Artistes Français a l’Etranger.</span></cite></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Michel de Montaigne</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal du Voyage en Italie par la Suisse et l’Allemagne en 1580 et 1581.</span></cite></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Percier et Fontaine</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Choix des plus célèbres Maisons de Plaisance de Rome et de ses Environs.</span></cite> 1809.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Marc Antonio del Rè</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Maisons de Plaisance de l’Etat de Milan. Milan.</span></cite> 1743.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Georges Riat</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">L’Art des Jardins.</span></cite> N. d.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Dictionnaire Raisonné de l’Architecture Française.</span></cite> 1858.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>GERMAN</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Jacob Burckhardt</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Der Cicerone.</span></cite> 1901.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Jacob Burckhardt</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Geschichte der Renaissance in Italien.</span></cite> 1891.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Josef Durm</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Die Baustile: Die Baukunst der Renaissance in Italien.</span></cite> 1903.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Gustav Ebe</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Die Spätrenaissance.</span></cite> 1886.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Cornelius Gurlitt</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Geschichte des Barockstils in Italien.</span></cite> 1887.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>W. C. Tuckermann</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Die Gartenkunst der Italienischen Renaissance-Zeit.</span></cite> 1884.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr><td class='c008' colspan='2'>ENGLISH</td></tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>Michael Bryan</td>
-    <td class='c016'><cite>Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, biographical and critical.</cite> Revised and enlarged by Robert Edmund Graves, B.A., 1886.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>G. Burnet, D.D., Bishop of Salisbury.</td>
-    <td class='c016'>Some Letters, containing an Account of what seemed most remarkable in Switzerland, Italy, etc. 1686.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c010'>John Evelyn</td>
-    <td class='c016'>Diary, 1644.</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>ARCHITECTS AND LANDSCAPE-GARDENERS MENTIONED</h2>
-</div>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>ALESSI (GALEAZZO)<br /> 1512-1572</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Though Alessi was a native of Perugia his best-known buildings
-were erected in Genoa. Among them are the Villa Pallavicini alle
-Peschiere, the Villa Imperiali (now Scassi), the Villa Giustiniani (now
-Cambiaso), the Palazzo Parodi, the public granaries, and the church
-of the Madonna di Carignano. He also laid out the Strada Nuova
-in Genoa. His chief works in other places are: the Palazzo Marin
-(now the Municipio) in Milan; the Palazzo Antinori, and the front of
-the church of S. Maria del Popolo at Perugia; and the church of the
-Madonna degli Angeli near Assisi.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>ALGARDI (ALESSANDRO)<br /> 1602-1654</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Algardi, a Bolognese architect, was also distinguished as an engraver
-and sculptor, and was noted for his figures of children. He built the
-Villa Belrespiro or Pamphily on the Janiculan, and the Villa Sauli,
-both in Rome.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>AMMANATI (BARTOLOMMEO)<br /> 1511-1592</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Ammanati, the pupil of Bandinelli and Sansovino, was one of the
-most distinguished Florentine architects of the sixteenth century, and
-was also noted for his garden-sculpture. In Florence some of his
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>best work is seen in the Boboli garden and in the court of the Palazzo
-Pitti, while the bridge of the S. Trinità is considered his masterpiece.
-In Rome he built the fine <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façades</span> of the Palazzo Ruspoli
-and of the Collegio Romano. The rusticated loggia of the Villa Fonte
-all’ Erta is ascribed to him.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>BERNINI (GIOVANNI LORENZO)<br /> 1598-1680</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Bernini, a Neapolitan by birth, was the greatest Italian architect and
-sculptor of the seventeenth century. One of his masterpieces in architecture
-is the church of S. Andrea al Noviziato on the Quirinal, and
-among his other works in Rome are: the piazza and colonnade of St.
-Peter’s, the Scala Regia in the Vatican, the Palazzo di Monte Citorio,
-and the fountains of Trevi and the Tritone; at Pistoja the Villa Rospigliosi,
-at Terni the cathedral, and at Ravenna the Porta Nuova.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>BORROMINI (FRANCESCO)<br /> 1599-1667</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Borromini, a pupil of Maderna, was, next to Bernini, the most original
-and brilliant exponent of <em>baroque</em> architecture in Italy. He was born
-in Lombardy, but worked principally in Rome. Among his best-known
-buildings are the church of St. Agnes on the Piazza Navona,
-that of San Carlo alle quattro fontane, and the College of the Propaganda
-Fide. In conjunction with Bernini and Maderna, he built the
-Palazzo Barberini in Rome. Some of his best work is seen in the
-Villa Falconieri at Frascati.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>BRAMANTE (DONATO)<br /> 1444-1514</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Bramante was born at Urbino, but executed all his early work in
-Milan, producing the church of S. Maria delle Grazie, the Ospedale
-Maggiore, and the sacristy of San Satiro, which he not only built, but
-decorated internally. In Lombardy the early Renaissance of building
-is called the Bramantesque style. Bramante’s works in Rome are: the
-Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio, the palace of the Cancelleria, a
-part of the Vatican, and a part of the Palazzo di San Biagio.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>BROWN (LANCELOT)<br /> 1715-1783</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Lancelot Brown, known as “Capability Brown,” a native of Northumberland,
-began his career in a kitchen-garden, but, though without
-artistic training and unable to draw, he became for a time a popular
-designer of landscape-gardens. He was appointed Royal Gardener at
-Hampton Court, and laid out the lake at Blenheim. He was considered
-to excel in water-gardens.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>BUONTALENTI (BERNARDO TIMANTE)<br /> 1536-1608</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Buontalenti, one of the leading Florentine architects of the sixteenth
-century, was also distinguished as a sculptor and painter. He built
-the villa of Pratolino and carried on the planning of the Boboli garden.
-His other works in Florence are: the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façades</span> of the Palazzi
-Strozzi and Riccardi, the Palazzo Acciajuoli (now Corsini), the corridor
-leading from the Uffizi to the Pitti Palace, and the casino behind
-San Marco. At Siena, Buontalenti built the Palazzo Reale, and
-at Pisa, the Loggia de’ Banchi.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>CAMPORESI (PIETRO)<br /> B. ——, d. 1781</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Camporesi, a Roman architect, is mentioned as working with “Moore
-of Rome” on the grounds of the Villa Borghese.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>CARLONE</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Several brothers of this name lived in Genoa between 1550 and 1650.
-They were known as sculptors, painters and gilders, and workers in
-stucco. The beautiful ceiling of the church of the Santissima Annunziata
-in Genoa is known to be by one of the Carloni.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>CASTELLI (CARLO)<br /> XVII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Castelli, who completed the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of Santa Maria alla Porta, in
-Milan, was an architect of the school of Maderna. With Crivelli he
-laid out the gardens of the Isola Bella, near Como.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>CASTELLO (GIOVANNI BATTISTA)<br /> CALLED IL BERGAMASCO<br /> 1509-1579</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Giovanni Castello of Bergamo was a pupil of Alessi’s and distinguished
-himself in fresco-painting and sculpture. In Genoa he remodelled
-the Palazzo Pallavicini (now Cataldi) and built the Palazzo
-Imperiali. Soprani (“Vite de’ Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Genovesi”)
-says that Il Bergamasco was court-architect to Philip II of
-Spain and worked on the Escorial. Bryan, in his Dictionary of
-Painters and Engravers, states that Il Bergamasco was employed on
-the Prado by Charles V, while his son worked for Philip II.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>CRIVELLI<br /> XVII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>This landscape-gardener worked with Carlo Castelli on the grounds
-of the Isola Bella, near Como.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>FERRI (ANTONIO)<br /> XVII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Ferri, a Florentine architect, built the Villa Corsini near Florence, and
-remodelled the Palazzo Corsini on the Lungarno.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>FONTANA (CARLO)<br /> 1634-1714</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Fontana, one of the most versatile and accomplished architects of his
-day, was born at Bruciato, near Milan. He was called to Rome as
-architect of St. Peter’s, and collaborated with Bernini on several
-occasions. In Rome he built the palace of Monte Citorio, the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span>
-of San Marcello, and the Palazzo Torlonia. As a villa-architect his
-most famous creation is the Garden Palace of Prince Liechtenstein in
-Vienna. He built the palace on the Isola Bella, and the Villa Chigi,
-at Cetinale, near Siena, is also attributed to him. He was the author
-of works on the Vatican and on the antiquities of Rome.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>FONTANA (GIOVANNI)<br /> 1546-1614</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Giovanni Fontana, of Melide, near Lugano, excelled in everything
-relating to hydraulic work. At the Villa Borghese in Rome, and
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>in the principal villas at Frascati (Aldobrandini, Taverna, Mondragone),
-he introduced original designs for the waterworks. In Rome he built
-the Palazzi Giustiniani and de’ Gori, and made the design for the
-Fontana dell’ Acqua Paola, though he did not live to carry it out.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>FRIGIMELICA (COUNT GIROLAMO)<br /> XVIII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Count Frigimelica, an accomplished Venetian nobleman, built the
-church of S. Gaetano at Vicenza, and collaborated with Prati in the
-construction of the Villa Pisani at Strà.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>JUVARA (FILIPPO)<br /> 1685-1735</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Juvara, the most original and interesting Italian architect of the eighteenth
-century, was a pupil of Carlo Fontana’s. His most important
-work is the church of the Superga near Turin, and his principal buildings
-are found in or near Turin: among them being the hunting-lodge
-of Stupinigi and the churches of Santa Cristina and Santa Maria in
-Carmine. The church of San Filippo in Turin was rebuilt by Juvara,
-and the royal villa at Rivoli, as well as other villas in the environs
-of Turin, show his hand. He remodelled the Palazzo Madama in
-Rome; at Lucca he finished the Palazzo Reale; at Mantua the dome
-on the church of S. Andrea is by him, and in Lisbon and Madrid,
-respectively, he built the royal palaces.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>LE NÔTRE (ANDRÉ)<br /> 1613-1700</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Le Nôtre, the greatest of French landscape-gardeners, first studied
-painting under Simon Vouet, together with Mignard, Lebrun and
-Lesueur, then succeeded his father as superintendent of the royal
-gardens. Among his great works are the gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte,
-at Sceaux, at Chantilly, and the cascades and park at Saint-Cloud.
-The park of Versailles, the gardens of the Trianon, of Clagny and
-of Marly, are considered his masterpieces. When he visited Italy
-he remodelled the grounds of the Villa Ludovisi. He was frequently
-consulted by the Elector of Brandenburg and other notable
-foreigners.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>LIGORIO (PIRRO)<br /> 1493-1580</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Ligorio, the Neapolitan architect, was also distinguished as antiquary,
-sculptor and engineer; he worked much in <em>sgraffiti</em>. He built the
-beautiful Villa Pia in the Vatican gardens, and the Villa d’Este at
-Tivoli, and made additions to the Vatican. The Library in Turin
-possesses his numerous manuscripts, some of which have been published.
-His best-known works are “An Attempt to Restore Ancient
-Rome” and “The Restoration of Hadrian’s Villa,” the plates for which
-were engraved on copper by Francesco Contini in 1751.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>LIPPI (ANNIBALE)<br /> B. ——, d. 1581</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Lippi is generally said to have been the son of Nanni di Baccio Bigio,
-the architect and sculptor, though some biographers declare them to
-have been the same person. Assuming Lippi to have had a separate
-identity, only two of his works are known: the church of S. Maria di
-Loreto, near Spoleto, and the Villa Medici in Rome. His fame rests
-on the latter, which became the model of the Roman <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">maison de
-plaisance</span></i>.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>LONGHENA (BALDASSARE)<br /> 1604-1682</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Longhena, the most distinguished architect of the late Renaissance in
-Venetia, gave all his time and work to his native city. Among the
-buildings he erected there are: S. Maria della Salute, S. Maria al Scalzi,
-the Ospedaletto, the cloister and staircase in San Giorgio Maggiore,
-the Palazzo Pesaro, and the Palazzo Rezzonico (now Zelinsky).</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>LUNGHI OR LONGHI (MARTINO) THE ELDER<br /> XVI Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Lunghi, born at Viggiù in the Milanese, in the second half of
-the sixteenth century, built the Villa Mondragone at Frascati, in
-1567, for Cardinal Marco d’Altemps. The villa was enlarged by
-Gregory VII, and later by Paul V and his nephew, Cardinal Scipione
-Borghese.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>MARCHIONNE (CARLO)<br /> 1704-1780</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Marchionne was the architect of the Villa Albani near Rome, built
-in 1746.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>MICHELANGELO (SIMONE BUONARROTI)<br /> 1475-1564</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>The great architect, sculptor and painter, was born in Florence, where
-he built the Laurentian Library and the chapel of S. Lorenzo, with
-the cupola of the sacristy. In Rome he built the Palazzo de’ Conservatorii
-on the Capitoline hill, the cornice of the Palazzo Farnese,
-the Porta del Popolo and the Porta Pia. His model for the dome of
-St. Peter’s was carried out except as to the lantern. Tradition assigns
-to him the Villa ai Collazzi (now Bombicci) near Florence.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>MONTORSOLI (FRA GIOVANNI ANGELO)<br /> 1507-1563</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Fra Giovanni Montorsoli, a Florentine monk of the Servite Order, was
-a sculptor, and studied under Michelangelo. He was early called to
-Genoa, where he decorated the church of San Matteo (the church of
-the Doria family) and built the famous villa in the harbour for the
-Admiral Andrea Doria. The Villa Imperiali, at San Fruttuoso, near
-Genoa, is also attributed to Montorsoli. One of his best works is the
-high altar in the church of the Servi at Bologna.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>MOORE (JACOB)<br /> 1740-1793</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Moore, a Scotch landscape-painter—known as “Moore of Rome”—was
-patronized by Prince Borghese, and remodelled the grounds of
-the Villa Borghese in the style of the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jardin anglais</span></i>.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>MORA<br /> XVII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>A Roman engineer of the name built some of the waterworks on the
-Isola Bella, near Como, in the seventeenth century.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>NOLLI (ANTONIO)<br /> XVIII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Nolli laid out the grounds of the Villa Albani near Rome, in 1746.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>NOLLI (PIETRO)<br /> XVIII Century</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Pietro Nolli is also mentioned as one of the landscape-gardeners who
-laid out the Villa Albani.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>OLIVIERI (ORAZIO) OF TIVOLI<br /> XVI Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Olivieri was employed as an engineer of the waterworks at the Villa
-d’Este at Tivoli and the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>PALLADIO (ANDREA)<br /> 1508-1580</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Palladio, the great Venetian architect, was born at Vicenza. He
-turned the development of Italian Renaissance architecture in the
-direction of pure classicalism, and was a master of proportion in building.
-At Vicenza he rebuilt the Sala della Ragione, and built the
-Palazzi Tiene and Valmarana and the Teatro Olimpico; while the
-Villa Capra or Rotonda, near Vicenza, is his work, and also the Villa
-Giacomelli at Maser. In Venice he erected the churches of San
-Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore, also the Villa Malcontenta near
-Fusina on the Brenta. Palladio published a “Treatise on Architecture”
-and “The Antiquities of Rome.”</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>PARIGI (GIULIO)<br /> B. ——, d. 1635</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Parigi was a Florentine architect, engineer and designer. As far as is
-known, he worked entirely in Florence and its environs. He is the
-architect of the court and arcade of Poggio Imperiale, the cloister of
-S. Agostino, the Palazzo Marucelli (now Fenci), the Palazzo Scarlatti,
-and a part of the Uffizi.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>PERUZZI (BALDASSARE)<br /> 1481-1537</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Peruzzi, who was both architect and painter, divided his time between
-Rome and Siena, where he was born. He built the Villa Vicobello
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>near Siena, as well as that of Belcaro. The well-known Palazzo
-Massimi alle Colonne in Rome is his work, also the Villa Trivulzio
-near Rome.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>PIRANESI (GIOVANNI BATTISTA)<br /> 1720-1778</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Piranesi, the famous Venetian etcher and engraver, was specially
-noted for his etchings of famous buildings, and has been called “The
-Rembrandt of Architecture.” He was also an architect, and worked
-on the church of S. Maria del Popolo in Rome. While there he
-also remodelled the chapel of the Priory of the Knights of Malta, and
-probably laid out the grounds. Piranesi published over twenty folio
-volumes of engravings and etchings.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>PONZIO (FLAMINIO)<br /> 1575-1620</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Ponzio, a Lombard architect, built the loggia of the Villa Mondragone
-at Frascati, and the Palazzo Sciarra, and finished the Borghese Chapel
-in the church of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>PORTA (GIACOMO DELLA)<br /> 1541-1604</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Della Porta, a Milanese architect, was a pupil of Vignola’s. His great
-work was the finishing of the dome of St. Peter’s in Rome, in doing
-which he followed Michelangelo’s plan, but improved the curve. His
-other works in Rome were: the churches of Il Gesù, S. Luigi de’
-Francesi, S. Catarina de’ Funari, the Palazzo Paluzzi, the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of
-the Palazzo Chigi, the famous fountains in the Piazza d’Araceli and
-the Piazza Navona (for which Bernini supplied the sculpture), and the
-Fontana delle Tartarughe. In Genoa he finished the church of the
-S. S. Annunziata, and he was employed on the Villa d’Este at Tivoli
-and the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>PRATI<br /> XVIII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Prati collaborated with Count Frigimelica in building the Villa Pisani,
-at Strà near Venice, in the eighteenth century.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>RAINALDI (GIROLAMO)<br /> 1570-1655</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Rainaldi was a Roman and his principal works are in Rome. He
-planned the church of S. Agnese; built the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of S. Andrea della
-Valle, the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of S. Maria in Campitelli, and the Palazzo Pamphily
-on the Piazza Navona. He added two pavilions to the Farnesina,
-and designed the grounds of the Villa Borghese and the gardens of
-the Villa Mondragone at Frascati. In Bologna he built the church of
-S. Lucia.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>RAPHAEL SANZIO<br /> 1483-1520</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Raphael succeeded Bramante as chief architect of St. Peter’s. His
-most important villa is the famous Villa Madama near Rome. The
-Farnesina in Rome was built by him, and he laid out the gardens
-of the Vatican. His other works in Rome are the Palazzo Caffarelli
-(now Stoppani) and the Capella Chigi. In Florence he designed the
-<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façades</span> of the church of San Lorenzo and of the Palazzo Pandolfini
-(now Nencini).</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>REPTON (HUMPHREY)<br /> 1752-1818</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Repton, who was born at Bury St. Edmunds, began life as a merchant,
-but having failed in his business, became a landscape-gardener.
-He published “Observations on Landscape Gardening” (1803), and is
-the best-known successor of “Capability Brown” in the naturalistic
-style of gardening.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>ROMANO (GIULIO DEI GIANNUZZI—ALSO CALLED GIULIO PIPPI)<br /> 1492-1546</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>As Raphael’s pupil, Giulio Romano painted the architectural backgrounds
-of Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican, and this led to his
-studying architecture. His masterpiece is the Palazzo del Tè at
-Mantua, where he also built a part of the Palazzo Ducale. He carried
-out Raphael’s decorations in the Villa Madama.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>RUGGIERI (ANTONIO MARIA)<br /> XVIII Century</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Ruggieri built the Villa Alario (now Visconti di Saliceto) on the Naviglio
-near Milan, and the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">façade</span> of the church of S. Firenze in Florence.
-He also remodelled the interior of Santa Felicità in Florence,
-and in Milan he built the Palazzo Cusani.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>SANGALLO (ANTONIO GIAMBERTI DA)<br /> 1455-1534</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Antonio da Sangallo was a brother of Giuliano, and famous as a
-carver of crucifixes. He altered Hadrian’s tomb in Rome into the
-Castle of St. Angelo, and laid out a part of the Vatican gardens.
-The church of the Madonna di S. Biagio in Montepulciano and the
-fortress of Cività Castellana were built by him.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>SANGALLO, THE YOUNGER (ANTONIO CORDIANI DA)<br /> 1483-1546</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>This Sangallo was a nephew of the other Antonio, and a pupil of
-Bramante’s. After Raphael’s death he became the leading architect
-of St. Peter’s. The fortress at Cività Vecchia is his work. In Rome
-he planned the outer gardens of the Vatican and built the right-hand
-chapel in S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, the beautiful Palazzo Marchionne
-Baldassini, the Palazzo Sacchetti, and the greater part of the
-Palazzo Farnese.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>SANGALLO (GIULIANO GIAMBERTI DA)<br /> 1445-1516</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Giuliano da Sangallo, the Florentine architect, was also noted as an
-engineer and a carver in wood. His great work is the villa at Poggio
-a Caiano near Florence, with a hall having the widest ceiling then
-known. He also built the Villa Petraia at Castello, near Florence,
-and in or near Florence the sacristy and cloister of San Spirito, the
-cloister for the Frati Eremitani di S. Agostino, and the villa of
-Poggio Imperiale. Among his other works are: the Palazzo Rovere
-near San Pietro in Vincoli, in Rome, and the Palazzo Rovere at
-Savona. Sangallo also constructed many fortresses. After Bramante’s
-death he worked with Raphael on St. Peter’s.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>SANSOVINO (JACOPO TATTI)<br /> 1487-1570</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Sansovino, though a Florentine by birth, worked principally in Venice.
-He was equally distinguished as sculptor and architect. In the latter
-capacity he built in Venice the Zecca or Mint, the Loggietta, the Palazzo
-Cornaro, the Palazzo Corner della Cá Grande, the Scala d’Oro
-in the Doge’s palace, the churches of San Martino and San Fantino,
-and his masterpiece, the Library of San Marco. In Rome the Palazzo
-Gaddi (now Nicolini) was built by him.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>SAVINO (DOMENICO)<br /> XVIII Century</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Savino is mentioned among the landscape-gardeners who remodelled
-the grounds of the Villa Borghese.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>TITO (SANTI DI) OF FLORENCE<br /> 1536-1603</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Santi di Tito of Florence was known as an historical painter, and also
-as a builder of villas at Casciano and Monte Oliveto. An octagonal
-villa at Peretola was built by him, and he did some decorative work in
-the Villa Pia. In Florence he built the Palazzo Dardinelli.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>IL TRIBOLO (NICCOLÓ PERICOLI)<br /> 1485-1550</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Il Tribolo, the Florentine sculptor, studied under Sansovino. He became
-known for his beautiful designs in tile-work, of which the Villa
-Castello near Florence shows many examples. He collaborated with
-Ammanati in laying out the Boboli garden, and the great grotto at
-Castello is his work.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>UDINE (GIOVANNI DA)<br /> 1487-1564</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Giovanni da Udine, born, as his name indicates, in the chief city of
-the province of Friuli, was one of the most celebrated decorative
-artists of his day. He studied under Giorgione and Raphael, and
-became noted for his stained glass and for the invention of a stucco
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>as durable as that of the Romans. His stucco-work in the Villa Madama
-and in the loggias of the Vatican is famous, and part of the decoration
-of the Borgia rooms in the Vatican is his work. Michelangelo’s
-chapel of the Medici in Florence was painted and decorated
-in stucco by Udine, and he carried out, in painting, some of Raphael’s
-designs for the great hall of the Farnesina. The Palazzo
-Grimani in Venice and the Palazzo Massimi alle Colonne in Rome
-were partly decorated by him.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>VAGA (PIERIN DEL)<br /> 1500-1547</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Del Vaga, whose real name was Pietro Buonaccorsi, was born near
-Florence. He was a pupil of Raphael’s, and after the latter’s death
-was employed in finishing a part of his work in the Vatican. Almost
-all del Vaga’s work was done in Genoa, where he painted the state
-apartments in the Villa Doria. The charming plaster decorations
-in the Palazzo Pallavicini (now Cataldi) are by him, and also the
-Hercules cycle in the Palazzo Odero (now Mari).</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>VASANZIO (GIOVANNI)<br /> B. ——, d. 1622</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Vasanzio, known also as Il Fiammingo, but whose real name was John
-of Xanten, was a Flemish architect who came to Italy and had considerable
-success in Rome. He built the Villa Borghese in Rome
-and designed the fountains of the inner court of the Villa Pia. He
-also worked on the Villa Mondragone at Frascati and succeeded Flaminio
-Ponzio as architect of the Palazzo Rospigliosi in Rome.</p>
-
-<h3 class='c014'>VASARI (GIORGIO)<br /> 1511-1574</h3>
-
-<p class='c015'>Vasari, who was born at Arezzo, was a pupil of Michelangelo and
-Andrea del Sarto. Though he considered himself a better painter
-than architect, it is chiefly as the latter that he interests the modern
-student. He built the court of the Uffizi in Florence and planned the
-Villa di Papa Giulio in Rome; painted the ceiling of the great hall of
-the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and carved the figure of Architecture
-on the tomb of Michelangelo in Santa Croce. He is, however, chiefly
-famous for his lives of the Italian painters and architects.</p>
-
-<div>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>
-  <h3 class='c014'>VIGNOLA (GIACOMO BAROZZI DA)<br /> 1507-1573</h3>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c015'>Vignola, one of the greatest architects of the sixteenth century, born
-at Vignola, in the province of Modena, followed Michelangelo as the
-architect of St. Peter’s. The Villa Lante at Bagnaia, near Viterbo,
-is attributed to him. In Rome he built the celebrated Villa di Papa
-Giulio, though the plan was Vasari’s; also the garden-architecture of
-the Orti Farnesiani on the Palatine. His masterpiece is the palace
-at Caprarola, near Viterbo. He also built the great Palazzo Farnese
-at Piacenza, various buildings at Bologna, and the loggia of the Villa
-Mondragone at Frascati. His church of the Gesù in Rome greatly
-influenced other architects. His text-book on the Orders of Architecture
-is one of the best-known works on the subject.</p>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>
-  <h2 class='c005'>INDEX</h2>
-</div>
-
-<ul class='index c004'>
-  <li class='c017'>Acqua Sola, gardens of, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Albani, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Albani, Villa, Pietro Nolli’s work on, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Antonio Nolli’s work on, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>d’Albaro, San Francesco, villas at, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Alessi, Galeazzo: Strada Nuova, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Villa Imperiali (Scassi), <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>;</li>
-      <li>Villa Paradiso, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>;</li>
-      <li>Villa Cambiaso, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Algardi, Alessandro, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ammanati, Bartolommeo, Boboli garden, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Villa di Papa Giulio, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Anguissola, Count, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Arethusa, grotto of, at Villa d’Este, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Battaglia, castle of Cattajo at, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Bernini, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Bisuschio: <em>see</em> Villa Cicogna</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Boboli garden, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Isola Bella in, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Bologna, Giovanni da, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>figure of the Apennines, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Bombicci, Villa, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Borghese, Cardinal Scipione, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Borghese, Villa, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Borromean Islands, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Borromeo, Cardinal Charles, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Borromeo, Count Vitaliano IV, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Borromini, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Botanic Garden at Padua, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Bramante: Vatican gardens, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>double staircase in the Vatican, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Brenta, the, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Brown, “Capability,” <a href='#Page_205'>205</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Brunswick, Caroline of, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Buonaccorsi: <em>see</em> Vaga</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Buontalenti, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Burnet, Bishop: description of Isola Bella,</li>
-  <li class='c004'>Cadenabbia, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cafaggiuolo, Villa, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'><i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Caffè</span></i> at the Villa Albani, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cagnola, Villa, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cambiaso, Villa, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cambiaso, Villa: <em>see</em> Paradiso</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Campi, Villa, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Campiobbi, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Camporesi, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Canopus, Valley of, at Villa of Hadrian, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Capra, Villa, at Vicenza, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Caprarola, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Vignola’s casino, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li>
-      <li><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Careggi, Villa, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Carloni, the: statue of Neptune in Villa Doria, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Carlotta, Villa, at Cadenabbia, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Casino of the Aurora, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Casino del Papa: <em>see</em> Villa Pia</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Castelli: terraces on the Isola Bella, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Castello, Giovanni Battista, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Castello, Villa, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cattajo, castle of, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cecchignola, hunting-lodge of, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Celimontana, Villa, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cetinale, Villa, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>hermitage at, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Châteaux d’eau</span></i> at the Villa Aldobrandini, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Villa Borghese, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li>
-      <li>Caprarola, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li>
-      <li>Villa Cicogna, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li>
-      <li>Palazzo Colonna, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>;</li>
-      <li>Villa Conti, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>;</li>
-      <li>Villa d’Este at Tivoli, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>;</li>
-      <li>Villa Lante, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>;</li>
-      <li>Lancellotti, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>;</li>
-      <li>Mondragone, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>;</li>
-      <li>Val San Zibio, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Chigi, Flavio, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Chigi, Villa, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cicogna, Villa, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i>, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Clement VII: <em>see</em> Medici, Giuliano de’</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Colonna, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>Colonna, Palazzo, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i>, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Como, villa of Bishop of, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Conti, Villa: <em>see</em> Torlonia</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cordova, Cardinal Bishop of, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Corsini, Villa, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Crivelli, Villa, near Inverigo, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Crivelli: work on the Isola Bella, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Cuzzano, Villa, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Danti, Villa, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>De’ Gori, Villa: <em>see</em> Palazzina, La</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Durazzo-Grapollo, Villa, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Dussieux, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Este, Cardinal Ippolito d’, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Este, Villa d’, at Cernobbio, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Este, Villa d’, at Tivoli, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>grotesque garden-architecture, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>;</li>
-      <li>Ligorio’s work, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>;</li>
-      <li>frescoes of the Zuccheri, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Evelyn, description of Villa Medici, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>of Villa Doria, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c004'>Falconieri, Villa, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Farnese, Cardinal Alexander, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Farnese gardens, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ferrara, Alfonso I of, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ferri, Antonio, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Fontana, Carlo: Cetinale, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>palace and garden-pavilions on the Isola Bella, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Fontana, Giovanni: Villa Borghese, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">théâtre d’eau</span></i> at Mondragone, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>;</li>
-      <li>waterworks at the Villa Aldobrandini, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Fonte all’ Erta, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Frascati, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jeux d’eaux</span></i> in villas, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>characteristic features of villas, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c004'>Gallio, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Gambara, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Gamberaia, Villa, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Garden, Botanic, at Padua, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Garden-house at Caprarola, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Garden-house at Strà, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Gardens:
-    <ul>
-      <li>Acqua Sola, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li>
-      <li>Boboli, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li>
-      <li>Farnese, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li>
-      <li>Florentine, English influence on, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a></li>
-      <li>Genoese, characteristics of, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li>
-      <li>Giusti, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a></li>
-      <li>Pigna, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li>
-      <li>Vatican, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Genoa, villas of, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Giacomelli, Villa, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Giulio, Villa di Papa, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Giusti gardens, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Giustiniani, Villa, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Grotto at Villa Castello, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>at Villa d’Este, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>;</li>
-      <li>at Villa Gamberaia, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c004'>Hermitage at Cetinale, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Imperiali, Villa, at Sampierdarena: <em>see</em> Villa Scassi</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Imperiali, Villa, at San Fruttuoso, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Isola Bella, Lake of Como, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Bishop Burnet’s description of, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Isola Bella in Boboli garden, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Isola Madre, Lake of Como, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Julius III, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Juvara, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Lancellotti, Villa, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Lante, Villa, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">château d’eau</span></i>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>;</li>
-      <li>gardens, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Le Nôtre, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ligorio, Pirro, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Casino del Papa, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li>
-      <li>Villa d’Este at Tivoli, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Lippi, Annibale, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Lomellini, Villa, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Longhena, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ludovisi, Villa, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Maison de plaisance</span></i>, the, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Malcontenta, Villa della, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Malta, Villa of the Knights of, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Marchionne, Carlo, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Mattei, Villa, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Medici, Eleonora de’, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Medici, Giuliano de’ (Clement VII), <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Medici, Villa, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Michelangelo: Villa Bombicci, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Villa di Papa Giulio, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Modena, Villa of Duke of, at Varese, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Mondragone, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>work by Flaminio Ponzio, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li>
-      <li>Vignola’s loggia, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>;</li>
-      <li>Giovanni Fontana’s <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">théâtre d’eau</span></i>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Montaigne: description of Castello, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Montalto, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Montorsoli, Fra., <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Moore, Jacob, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Mora, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Muti, Villa, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>Naples, King of, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Negroni, Villa, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Nolli, Antonio, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Nolli, Pietro, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Olivieri, Orazio, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Padua, Botanic Garden, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Prato della Valle, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Palazzina, La, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>theatre at, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Palladio, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pallavicini, Villa, at Pegli, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pallavicini alle Peschiere, Villa, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Palmieri, Villa, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pamphily, Villa, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>; <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">théâtre d’eau</span></i>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Papa, Casino del: <em>see</em> Villa Pia</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Papa Giulio, Villa di, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Paradisino, Villa, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Paradiso, Villa, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Parigi, Giulio, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Parma, Duchess of, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Parodi, Palazzo, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Peruzzi, Baldassare, at Belcaro, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>at Vicobello, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Peter Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Petraia, Villa, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>fountain at, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pia, Villa, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pigna, Giardino della, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Piranesi, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pisani, Alvise, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pisani, Villa, at Strà, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pius IV, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pliniana, Villa, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Poggio a Caiano, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Poggio Imperiale, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ponzio, Flaminio, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Porta, Giacomo della, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Villa Aldobrandini, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Prati, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pratolino, Villa, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Priorato, Il: <em>see</em> Villa of the Knights of</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Malta</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Pulci, Castel, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Rainaldi, Girolamo, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Raphael, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Repton, Humphrey, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Riario, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ridolfi, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Romano, Giulio, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Rotonda Cagnola: <em>see</em> Cagnola</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Rotonda Capra: <em>see</em> Capra</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Rubens, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ruffini, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Ruggieri, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Sacchetti, Villa, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Sampierdarena, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Sangallo, Antonio da, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>A. da Sangallo the Younger, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Sangallo, Giuliano da, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Sansovino, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Savino, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Scassi, Villa, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Sixtus V, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Strà, Villa Pisani at, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Strada Nuova in Genoa, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Tiepolo: Villa Pisani, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Villa Valmarana, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Tito, Santi di, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Torlonia, Villa, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Tribolo, Il: Boboli garden, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>fountain at Castello, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>;</li>
-      <li>at Petraia, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c004'>Udine, Giovanni da, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Vaga, Pierin del, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Valmarana, Villa, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Val San Zibio, Villa of, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Vasanzio, Giovanni (Il Fiammingo), <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Vasari, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Vatican, gardens of, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Venetia, villa-architecture of, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Vigna del Papa: <em>see</em> Villa di Papa Giulio</li>
-  <li class='c017'>Vignola: Villa di Papa Giulio, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>Farnese gardens, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;</li>
-      <li>Caprarola, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li>
-      <li>loggia at Mondragone, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Villa:
-    <ul>
-      <li>Ai Collazzi: <em>see</em> Bombicci</li>
-      <li>Alario: <em>see</em> Visconti di Saliceto</li>
-      <li>Albani, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li>
-      <li>Aldobrandini, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li>
-      <li>Belcaro, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li>
-      <li>Belrespiro: <em>see</em> Pamphily</li>
-      <li>Bombicci, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li>
-      <li>Borghese, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li>
-      <li>Cafaggiuolo, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-      <li>Cagnola, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li>
-      <li>Cambiaso (Paradiso), <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li>
-      <li>Cambiaso, by Alessi, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li>
-      <li>Campi, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li>
-      <li>Capponi at Arcetri, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li>
-      <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>Capra, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a></li>
-      <li>Caprarola, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li>
-      <li>Careggi, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-      <li>Carlotta, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li>
-      <li>Castel Pulci, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-      <li>Celimontana, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-      <li>Cetinale, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li>
-      <li>Chigi, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li>
-      <li>Cicogna, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li>
-      <li>Conti: <em>see</em> Torlonia</li>
-      <li>Corsini, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li>
-      <li>Crivelli, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li>
-      <li>Cuzzano, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a></li>
-      <li>Danti, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-      <li>De’ Gori: <em>see</em> Palazzina, La</li>
-      <li>Doria in Genoa, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li>
-      <li>Durazzo-Grapollo, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li>
-      <li>d’Este at Cernobbio, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li>
-      <li>d’Este at Tivoli, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li>
-      <li>Falconieri, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li>
-      <li>Fonte all’ Erta, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li>
-      <li>Gamberaia, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a></li>
-      <li>Giacomelli, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li>
-      <li>Giustiniani, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li>
-      <li>Imperiali at San Fruttuoso, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a></li>
-      <li>Imperiali: <em>see</em> Scassi</li>
-      <li>Isola Bella, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li>
-      <li>Lancellotti, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a></li>
-      <li>Lante, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li>
-      <li>Lappeggi, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-      <li>Lomellini, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li>
-      <li>Ludovisi, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-      <li>Madama, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li>
-      <li>Malcontenta, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li>
-      <li>Malta, of the Knights of, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li>
-      <li>Medici, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li>
-      <li>Mondragone, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li>
-      <li>Muti, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a></li>
-      <li>Negroni, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-      <li>Palazzina, La, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li>
-      <li>Pallavicini at Pegli, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li>
-      <li>Pallavicini alle Peschiere, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li>
-      <li>Palmieri, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-      <li>Pamphily, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li>
-      <li>di Papa Giulio, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li>
-      <li>Paradisino, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li>
-      <li>Paradiso: <em>see</em> Cambiaso</li>
-      <li>Petraia, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-      <li>Pia, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li>
-      <li>Pisani, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li>
-      <li>Pliniana, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li>
-      <li>Poggio a Caiano, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-      <li>Poggio Imperiale, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li>
-      <li>Pratolino, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li>
-      <li>Priorato, del: <em>see</em> Malta</li>
-      <li>Rotonda: <em>see</em> Cagnola and Capra</li>
-      <li>Sacchetti, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li>
-      <li>Scassi, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li>
-      <li>Torlonia, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li>
-      <li>Valmarana, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li>
-      <li>Val San Zibio, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li>
-      <li>Vicobello, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li>
-      <li>Visconti di Saliceto, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'><i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Villa suburbana</span></i>, the, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Villas of the Brenta, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>;
-    <ul>
-      <li>of the Brianza, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>;</li>
-      <li>Florentine, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li>
-      <li>Genoese, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>;</li>
-      <li>Milanese, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>;</li>
-      <li>Roman, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li>
-      <li>Sienese, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li>
-      <li>Venetian, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li>
-    </ul>
-  </li>
-  <li class='c017'>Vismara, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li>
-  <li class='c004'>Xanten, John of: <em>see</em> Vasanzio</li>
-  <li class='c004'>Zocchi, etchings by, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li>
-  <li class='c017'>Zuccheri, the, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<div class='pbb'>
- <hr class='pb c003' />
-</div>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<div class='tnotes'>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE</h2>
-</div>
- <ol class='ol_1 c004'>
-    <li>Silently corrected typographical errors.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Some of the Maxfield Parrish illustrations were not printed in color in the original.
-    </li>
-  </ol>
-
-<div class='tnotes covernote'>
-<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<hr class="full" />
-<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS***</p>
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deleted file mode 100644
index 6ef53fc..0000000
--- a/old/53495-h/images/i_title.jpg
+++ /dev/null