'Al IAN

GARDEN S

CHARL ES-A-FLAT

•NEW- YORK • HARPER 6 BROTHERS'
FRANKLIN -SQVARE •• MDCCCXC1V-

1VH3NS3

Copyright, 1893, by HARPER & BROTHERS.

All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

PAGE

VILLA LANTE ....

13

VILLA BORGHESE .

25

VILLA PAMFILI . . • • •

31

39

45

r.OI.ONNA GARDENS .

• 51

1 1 7490

VILLA MEDICI

VILLA MATTEI 65

VILLA D'ESTE 71

VILLA ALDOBRANDINI 83

VILLA CONTI 91

VILLA FALCONIERI (FRASCATl) 97

VILLA MUTI 103

VILLA FALCONIERI . . Ill

VILLA PORTICI 119

CAPRAROLA 125

BOBOLI GARDENS 131

VILLA CASTELLO 137

GUISTI GARDENS . 147

CONCLUSION 153

SKX*.

• 1 Ymtfi itt-Act»,A _ _.

""^ J

ILLUSTRATIONS

HERMES i

HEDGE WALK, QUIRINAL GARDENS .... Frontispiece iv

HEAD-PIECE vii

PLAN OF VILLA MATTEI ix

'*•

PAVILION, VILLA LANTE xi

TAIL-PIECE xiv

SEAT IN A BOX WALK xv

PAGE

OVERGROWN STATUARY . 2

A TYPICAL VILLA PAVILION 5

TERRACE CASINO OF AN ITALIAN GARDEN 7

TAIL-PIECE—OLD PRINT OF AN ITALIAN GARDEN ... 9

FOUNTAIN AND FLOWER GARDEN, VILLA LANTE .... 12

CENTRAL FOUNTAIN, VILLA LANTE 15

IN THE GARDEN, VILLA LANTE 17

CASINO STAIRWAY, VILLA LANTE 18

SWAN FOUNTAIN, VILLA LANTE 21

PIAZZA DI SIENA, VILLA BORGHESE 27

FLOWER GARDEN, VILLA PAMFILI 33

TAIL-PIECE—BIRD'S-EYE VIEW, VILLA PAMFILI .... 35

CYPRESS HEDGE, VILLA ALBANI . . . . . . .38

GENERAL VIEW OF GARDENS, VILLA ALBANI ". * . . .41

AN OVERGROWN CORNER . .47

THE COLONNA FLOWER GARDENS 53

CYPRESSES, COLONNA GARDENS . . . . . . . 54

THE VILLA MEDICI 58

xii

THE BOX WALK, VILLA MEDICI .61

AN OLD ALLEY, VILLA MATTEI 67

PONDS ON THE LOWER TERRACE, VILLA D'ESTE . . 70

VIEW FROM TOP OF PORCH, VILLA D'ESTE 73

STAIRWAY AND FOUNTAIN, VILLA D'ESTE 75

IN THE GARDENS, VILLA D'ESTE 77

TAIL-PIECE 79

A WOOD PATH 85

TAIL-PIECE—OLD PRINT OF A GARDEN 87

STEPS TO THE TERRACE, VILLA CONTI 93

IN THE GARDENS, VILLA FALCONIERI 96

ASCENT TO THE RESERVOIR, VILLA FALCONIERI .... 99

GATEWAY, VILLA MUTI i°2

A FRASCATI RESERVOIR ... 105

OLD GATE, VILLA MUTI 107

THE ENTRANCE, VILLA FALCONIERI ... . . 113

VILLA AND GARDEN, VILLA FALCONIERI H4

THE BOSQUET, VILLA PORTICl . ... . . . 118

xiii

GARDEN GATE, VILLA PORTICI
GARDEN WALL, VILLA CAPRAROLA

IN THE BOBOLI GARDENS . ...

GATEWAY, BOBOLI GARDENS .

IN THE FLOWER-GARDEN, VILLA CASTELLO

CENTRAL FOUNTAIN, VILLA CASTELLO .

TERRACE WALL, VILLA CASTELLO .

THE GUISTI GARDEN . . ,.

TAIL-PIECE .

PAGE
. 121

. 127

. 130

• 133

• 139
. 141

143

• 149

• 154

,.,,-( A
v OF T-HE

UNIVERSITY

OF

INTRODUC TORY

'HE first steps of one interested in the formal
style of landscape architecture should be
directed to Italy, where at the time of the
Renaissance the great gardens which have ever since
served as models of this method of design came into
existence, the form they took being the natural out-
growth of the architecture and art of the period.
While the other arts of the Italian Renaissance have
been exhaustively treated in various forms and lan-
guages, there is no existing work of any great latitude
treating the subject of gardens, the only one of impor-
tance being that of Percier and Fontaine. This is
an elaborate book by two Frenchmen who studied the
subject, and published, in the early part of this cen-
tury, a series of plates representing the ground-plans
and several views of each of the important Italian

3

villas. Their work was one largely of research and
restoration, the result of studying the history of the
gardens and the existing designs of their various ar-
chitects. The outcome of such treatment is that their
work fails to give a fair idea of the existing state of
the villas. The views from different points of the gar-
dens are so freely treated as to leave one familiar with
them in much doubt as to their ever having looked
as they are represented, and they are misleading, to
say the least, to one who has never seen the gardens.
The art of photography has been perfected since their
treatment of the subject, and the object of the present
writer has been by its means to illustrate, as far as
possible, the existing state of the more important gar-
dens in Italy, leaving out the matter of research alto-
gether, since a more profitable study of the subject
can be made as the result of these reproductions of
nature, and it is quite possible (by making a careful
study of all the gardens as a whole) to come to cer-
tain conclusions as to the fundamental principles which
guided the original designers.

The gardens existing to-day have all passed through
a variety of changes. Some of them have gone almost
to ruin through neglect or difference of taste in their
owners, and, with one or two exceptions, those which

4

A TYPICAL VILLA PAVILION

are at present the most carefully kept up have suffered
the most severely from the changing fashion of the
time. However, in almost all of them there is some-
thing of their best time which, either by reason of the
great difficulty of alteration or from some other cause,
has been allowed to remain. It has been attempted
in the illustrations here given to reproduce these traits
and such others as seem good in themselves.

It should be said here that the word " villa " is used
in the Italian sense, implying all the formal parts of
the grounds arranged in direct relation to the house,
the house itself being as much a part of it as the gar-
den or the grove.

The evident harmony of arrangement between the
house and surrounding landscape is what first strikes
one in Italian landscape architecture — the design as a
whole, including gardens, terraces, groves, and their
necessary surroundings and embellishments, it being
clear that no one of these component parts was ever
considered independently, the architect of the house
being also the architect of the garden and the rest of
the villa. The problem being to take a piece of land
and make it habitable, the architect proceeded with
the idea that not only was the house to be lived in,

but that one still wished to be at home while out-of-

6

doors ; so the garden was designed as another apart-
ment, the terraces and groves still others, where one
might walk about and find a place suitable to the hour
of the day and feeling of the moment, and still be
in that sacred portion of the globe dedicated to one's
self.

' LANTE:

.v. D

[HE most complete example of the Italian
villa — that is, the one best preserving its
original form — is the Villa Lante, at Bag-
nia, not far from Viterbo. This, like all the great vil-
las, was the work of several designers carried through
the lives of several owners, but the most important
part was from the designs of Vignola, and sufficient-
ly completed in his lifetime to give his stamp to
the whole. While a considerable part of the park has
been allowed to go to decay, the house and gardens
and all that part of the design known as the " villa "
have been kept up, and probably to-day present a bet-
ter idea of the Renaissance garden than does any
other in Italy.

The flower-garden of the Villa Lante is southwest
from the house, or rather houses, there being two, one
for domestic purposes and the other for entertain-
ments. These are at eithef end of the terrace which
overlooks the garden. The principal street of the

13

town leads directly up to the gate, upon entering
which one finds one's self in the midst of a profusion
of flowers, and facing a fountain which makes the
central feature of the garden. The fountain consists
of a group of bronze figures on a circular base sur-
rounded by four large basins, which receive the falling
water. Looking beyond the fountain, the eye is led,
by means of a series of terraces and fountains between
the two houses, to the highest part of the land; this is
thickly covered with trees, which form a background
for the architectural features. The garden proper cov-
ers about an acre of ground, but so large a space
is taken up by the fountain and its surrounding em-
bellishments that the actual space for planting is much
less than one would imagine. A magnificent box^
hedge, very dense and high, protects the garden on
the north and west, the south being open and over-
looking the extensive campagna. Making a part of
the eastern wall is the orangery — a building which
forms a very necessary part of every garden in Italy —
wherein the orange-trees and the tender plants grown
in pots are stored in winter. The important paths of
the " parterre " are marked by small box hedges, ac-
cented at the corners by large orange-trees in pots.
The main features of the garden are so admirably

14

^

CENTRAL FOUNTAIN, VILLA LANTE

UHlV.r-

Cr

arranged that there is no point of view from which the
effect is not good. The problem of treating so large
a space was rendered difficult from the fact that the
chief point of view is from the house terrace, necessi-
tating a large scale in the architectural details and in
the cut forms in green. The large lines of ponds sur-
rounding the fountain form the basis of the scale, the
large stone vases at the corners being balanced by
forms of corresponding size on the surrounding paths.
These large forms are filled in on the architectural
part with balustrades and small carving, and among
the growing things the flowers and small plants. Thus
from above the four sheets of water reflecting the sky
form the necessary contrast to the various characters
of the planting and the formal details.

Two stone staircases lead to the terrace which con-
nects the houses. Another fountain marks the centre
of this terrace, and the whole is shaded by large syc-
j.more-trees ; and here, between the garden and the
wood, the family live. If they wish sunshine, they
turn one way ; and if cool and shade and the sound of
running water, the other; though, for that matter-
there is no place in the villa where the trickling of a
fountain may not be heard. Another series of stair-
cases, combined with fountains, leads up from this

1*6

CASINO STAIRWAY, VILLA LANTE

terrace to a walk on either side of the water-course,
conducting the water from the upper fountains to
those we have just passed. At the top is the "bos-
quet " or grove, and in its centre, flanked by two most
beautiful pavilions, is the reservoir. This is, in its
turn, enclosed in a kind of court of Doric columns,
supported o.n pedestals and connected by .balustrades.

The sylvan court thus composed makes the bos-
quet of the Villa Lante one of unusual beauty. The
trees behind the columns form a dense glade. The
branches of the trees are allowed to grow in and out,
making the effect that of being surrounded by a
forest. The two pavilions which mark the corners of
this enclosure deserve special attention ; there is noth-
ing of the kind in any other villa, and they form the
key-note of an exceedingly well-conceived place.

It will be seen that in the Villa Lante the main
features of the Italian villa are found in much of their
original perfection — namely the house, the flower-
garden, the terrace, the grove, the fountains, and the
water system ; and a general study of other villas will
show that their different dispositions are the result of
harmoniously combining these different parts with the
natural formation of the land. If any prominence is
given to one or the other of these features, it is sug-

19

gested by some natural cause. The Villa Lante is
built on gently rising ground, and there is less terrac-
ing here than in the sites usually selected for Italian
villas. In no other, however, are there so many im-
portant characteristics still to be found. Moreover,
the arrangement is so compact, and the relation of
one part to another is so obvious, that they seem to
justify its selection as the starting-point in the study
of Italian gardening; not because it is the most im-
portant or the most beautiful, but because it serves
best as a key by the aid of which one can go to the
less perfect villas and better understand their prob-
able arrangement.

VI jVBORGHKSE

|N Rome the most important villa, on ac-
count of its size, is the Borghese ; but
here very little now remains beyond the
main forms of the original plan. Especially that in-
time portion of the gardens immediately surrounding
the house has been allowed to go to decay. There
is no large flower-garden making a feature in itself,
though at the time the villa was kept up a great
many flowers were grown throughout the place, and
there were several small flower-gardens of minor im-
portance. There were two of these of especial in-
terest, one at either end of the casino ; but nothing
now remains of them but the high walls by which
they were enclosed, and some traces of the fountains.
Beyond the fine avenue and walks, the one feature
of interest in the Borghese at present is the Piazza
di Siena — the old race-course — and how much of
this may be the result of change it is difficult to
know, it is, however, so delightful now that one
does not care to be too curious about its past. Its

25

shape is oblong, the sides gently terraced by stone
steps (now greatly overgrown with grass), and at the
end are a fountain and a magnificent walk of old ilex-
trees. On the two long sides, behind the steps, are
rows of very fine stone-pines. In early summer this
is a favorite resort of the people, who come to sit on
these grassy steps and to walk about on the lawn.
Although there are no races, I have seen quite enough
of a gathering here to give an idea of its ancient look
on 'a gala-day. No more charming theatre for an out-
door entertainment, either equestrian or athletic, could
possibly be imagined.

There are many architectural details of interest in
the Villa Borghese, some fine gates and fountains and
stone benches. These are most all seemingly de-
tached now, but once formed a part of the elaborate
plan of the villa. One of the most interesting features
is the wall enclosing the open space in front of the
casino. This is most skilfully designed for the gentle
slope of the land, stone benches alternating with balus-
trades. It is very suggestive as an admirable enclosure
for a terraced garden. There is much that is sug-
gestive in the detached garden architecture of the
Italian villas, their surroundings are so often in bad
taste and their original meaning quite lost sight of.

26

PIAZZA DI SIENA, VILLA BORGHESE

V1LLA--PAMFIL1

;F the Villa Pamfili the flower-garden is all
that has kept its original form, and here
the details of the arrangement of the " par-
terre " have been quite changed, and are now very
much too hard and cut up. The disposition of the
house in relation to the garden is somewhat similar
to that at Lante, the house making a part of the
terrace which overlooks it, the difference being that
there is here but one house facing the centre of the
garden, instead of one at either end. The garden oc-
cupies an enormous space at the south of the house,
its west end being cut out of the side of a hill and
walled in, and its east end forming a terrace. To see
this garden to advantage one should be either in it
or in the house, as from a distance the boxlike form
of the building offends one's sense of proportion. The
original scheme of the architect was never carried
out, if we are to believe an old print, which adds two
long wings to the house, and gives, in connection with

31

it, an admirable arrangement of trees, which would
have vastly improved the general effect. What re-
main of the old garden are its fine proportions, the
walls and gates at the west, and the beautiful stair-
cases and balustrades at the south and east. The
central fountain has been removed, and the only water
there now is in the basin at the enclosed end. The
arrangement of the flower-beds is made up of scroll-
work in box or gravel, but there are no fine large
forms, such as should surround this smaller work.
The result is that the paths are everywhere too ob-
vious, and the hardness of the design offends one at
every turn.

This lack of harmony is made particularly manifest
by a very beautiful circular form given to the western
terrace. There is no approach to this from below,
and its position in a mass of irregularly placed trees
with grass growing about its base is particularly un-
fortunate, and gives it a very detached look. There is
a large plantation of stone-pines in the more remote
parts of the villa. These were placed there by the
great French landscape architect, Le Notre. They
give a certain dignity to the drives and from a dis-
tance suggest a more interesting place than one finds
upon closer examination.

32

There is a fine avenue of ilexes at the west end of
. the garden ; and there was once, at the south, an
elaborate system of hedges, plantations, and architec-
ture leading the eye off into the distance. This has
now all been done over in the English manner, with
irregular clumps of trees, and wide stretches of lawn,
quite out of harmony with the formal plan of the villa.
^ The south wall is typical of what a garden wall should
( be — covered as it is with vines of every sort. These
( make masses of varied greens, which, with the bloom
N of the flowers, is very telling against the white wall.

VILLA DEL.ECC

VILLA ALBAN1

|HE Villa Albani was made at the end of
the eighteenth century, and consequently
the architecture is very florid in charac-
ter. Though the general plan is a good one, the
prominence given to the architecture makes the
effect of the whole hard, and particularly so on ac-
count of the paucity of the planting. The flower-
garden has no flowers in it! or such, at least, is its
effect. The garden is so placed — being sunk between
the house and a pavilion which encloses its end — that
it is impossible not to look down upon it. This is the
usual placing of Italian flower-gardens ; but to look
well under these conditions very full planting is abso-
lutely necessary. Here one looks down and sees
nothing but scroll-work in box, and great varieties of
colors in gravel and sand occupying spaces that should
be filled with flowers, all the efforts of the gardener
going to make a permanent effect and to preserve his
design at any cost, the result being the reverse of that

39

looked for in a flower-garden, the design, indeed,
being made altogether unpleasant by its hardness.
The other features of the Villa Albani have not suf-
fered as the garden has, and the ilex walk leading from
the south wing of the house is unusually fine, being
slightly elevated above the house, and approached by
a handsome flight of steps. In this walk there are
some very interesting statuary and old Roman tables.
The cypress hedges at the south of the garden are as
fine as anything in Italy. They are admirably arranged
with columns at intervals ; these, with statuary, make
a fine contrast by means of their deep green back-
ground. The entrance to the villa is somewhat weak,
but it leads to an interesting circle, of stone-pines sur-
rounding a high column. The weakness lies in the
fact that one's eye is not led beyond this, and that there
is no evident avenue of approach to the house.

The interest in the plan of the Villa Albani lies in
the fact that the ground it covers is very nearly flat,
the garden alone being lower than the rest of the villa.
The architect had none of the advantages of a site
naturally interesting in itself, and no natural formation
in the landscape to suggest treatment, so that the de-
sign is specially worthy of study as a pure creation.

40

o~
UNIVERSITY

OF

QUIRINAL GARDENS

[HE royal gardens are an interesting study
on account of the great height of the
hedge growth. Judging from an old print
of the plan of this garden, it was originally laid
out in a very open manner as an enormous "par-
terre." There is but one level throughout the planta-
tion, and this was cut up into large squares surround-
ed by low hedges enclosing flowers. The fountains
and statuary were very frequent, and at the sides the
walks were shaded by ilex-trees. The great height of
the hedges which once marked the borders of the beds
have now turned these enclosures into most charming
apartments, the passages from one to another being
arches cut through the dense growth. In some places
the hedges of laurel, box, and ilex reach a height of
thirty feet, and as a growth in itself is remarkable?
but when one finds it formed into courts connected by
long alleys, and with the doorways and arches appar-
ently carved in the dense green, the effect is quite

45

wonderful. There is nothing at all like it in any of
the other gardens; it is quite unique. To one who
doubts the advantage of straight lines in gardening,
the extreme beauty of the perspective in the Quirinal
would teach much. The principal hedge walk nearest
the palace shows this at its best. At the right of the
path is the great ridge leading in a perfectly straight
line to the limit of the garden ; on the left are formal
beds filled with flowers, allowed to grow much as they
will, and the formality of the mass cut up by trees and
flowering shrubs. Pots of azalias and orange -trees
are placed here and there to make the opening of the
smaller paths, near to sides of the walk, form a con-
trast one to another, and make of the whole a most
complete and satisfying garden effect. There are
other parts of the garden that have not been so skil-
fully treated, and where the admirable opportunities,
the result of time and overgrowth, have been neglected.
An attempt to produce an English lawn is misplaced
here, and the disposition of the statuary and the sur-
roundings of the fountains are unfortunate. These
things are lost sight of, however, in the beauty of the
greater part of the garden, the charm of the old walks,
and the delightful seclusion of the green walled courts.

46

COLONNA GARDENS

)OR a flower-garden, pure and simple, there
is none more charming in Italy than the
Colonna. In the very heart of Rome, it
is so concealed that one might pass it a hundred
times without suspecting its existence. The palace
is at the foot of a hill, and is separated from the
garden by a sunken street and terraces. The street
is crossed by several bridges, and in looking from
the palace to the terraces is entirely invisible.

The hill is very abrupt, and one is led through ilex
walks and up stairways, along terraces, to the flower
garden at its very top. The garden, however, is not
in so unsheltered a position as this might seem to in-
dicate, being protected at the south by a high hedge.
An iron gateway at an opening in this hedge forms the
entrance to the garden, and on passing through this,
one is immediately in the midst of a most beautiful
mass of bloom, where all growing things seem at their
best. The arrangement of the garden is very simple,

51

the paths all radiating, like the spokes of a wheel, from
a central basin. The beds are slightly elevated above
the walks, and their borders of box form the borders
of the paths ; the area covered is about half an acre,
but so admirable is the plan and so compact the
planting that it seems much larger, one sees no paths
except that upon which he is standing, seeming always
to be surrounded by a great profusion of flowers, with
just enough of formality to give them their value-
There is no architectural feature in this garden be-
yond the basin in its centre, which is sufficiently low
to receive the reflection of the growth about it. The
garden owes its charm — which is very great — to its
very simple design and the admirable planting. It is
enclosed on the east and west by high walls covered
with vines ; at their basis are several tiers of steps
with flower-pots.

The Colonna, for its size, is by no means important
in comparison with others of the well-known gardens,
but it is most instructive in its simplicity and charm
when contrasted with such gardens as Albani and
Pamfili, where everything has been lost sight of but
the preservation of an elaborate " parterre." The
flower-garden of this villa is so distinctively itself an
interesting feature that it is unnecessary to dwell much

52

CYPRESSES, COLONNA GARDENS

upon the rest ; though the lower terrace, on a level
with the first floor of the palace, is also something
of a garden, and interesting in itself. It is planted
in long tiers, with flowering shrubs bordered by tree-
roses, and terminating at the west in a grotto with
columns and tall cypresses, and at the east in old
statuary half covered with vines and undergrowth.

The side- hill between this and the upper garden
was originally occupied by old Roman baths, and the
architect has, wherever possible, allowed the mason-
work to remain, sometimes forming the old arches
into stairways or terraces, and leaving the old brick
walls to be covered with vines.

[•HE

UN1V-I.T31TY

OF

VILLA MEDICI

|HE Villa Medici, now the property of the
French Government, has the most delight-
ful situation in Rome — east of the gardens
of Pincio and slightly elevated above them. The
entrance to the garden is by a roadway at the left of
the villa, and leads immediately into a beautiful grove
with straight paths and fountains. Considering its
position, this seems really a forest, and one has some-
thing of a stroll before reaching the old flower-garden
behind the villa. Here most of the traces of the
flowers and their original arrangement have disap-
peared, and little is done to keep the place up in its
old glory; even the main features of the "parterre"
have been changed with a view to economy, and only
the general effects produced by the situation and its
relations to the other parts of the villa are left.

There is, however, a great charm in the sharp-cut
box hedges which surround the flower-beds, in contrast
with the varied outlines of the grove through which

59

we have just passed. These hedges are so high that
one misses the flowers as little as possible, although
of course they lead one to pass through the garden,
rather than to treat it as a place in which to loiter.

Above the flower garden, to the east, is an archi-
tectural terrace leading to an ilex bosquet. This is
really the charming feature of the Villa Medici to-day,
and there is nothing more delightful in Rome. The
trees are very old, and although the place is not large,
there is such a complete tangled growth that it is im-
possible to believe that one is within a stone's-throw
of a very busy part of the city. At the end of the
central paths is an elevated temple, reached by a flight
of steps, and the trees surrounding it are so cut as to
give a complete view of the city. There are some de-
lightful old seats in the grove, which one abandons
with regret when the custodian arrives to close the
gates and turn the visitor away.

VILLA MATTEI

LTHOUGH this was once one of the most
magnificent gardens of Rome, there is
very little there at present to suggest this.
The interest that one finds is rather in the study of
the ancient place than in the beauty of the existing
landscape architecture.

The villa has been through a period of great ruin,
and the style of gardening in vogue at the time of
its partial restoration was quite the opposite of that
upon which it was originally designed. The result
has been to give its general appearance one without
character as a complete work of art, the contrast be-
tween the formal and the so-called neutral methods
filling one with a sense of lost opportunity. The
main features of the old work were of such magnitude
as to be ever before the eye, showing what might have
been or what has been. The more recent work has
been chiefly an attempt to conceal this, or to cover
the evidences of its ruin. Although the effect of

65

the villa is thus as a whole so unsatisfactory, there
are parts, taken by themselves, full of charm, and
among these are a series of alleys leading from a small
central fountain. High hedges border the paths, and
behind them are tall stone-pines, giving shade and
marking the perspective of each of these walks as the
eye follows them to the end. The flower-garden,
though not intended as a show feature, is very inter-
esting in its simplicity. It is intended simply as a
place to grow flowers for cutting, and an absence of
any design not necessary for the convenience of the
gardener has given the place a quaint character which
one rarely finds as a result of design. In the centre
is a basin from which the flowers are watered, and the
beds are. in long lines, with a wide path only in the
middle of the garden, the lateral ones being lost by
the growth of the plants. There are many bits of
statuary and architectural details of the Roman time,
once used to decorate the gardens of the Villa
Mattei. These are now placed often where they do
not add to the general effect, but at least where
they may be studied by the archaeological student.

AN OLD ALLEY, VILLA MATTEI

"£\ U R A Rp

O^ TME

UNIVERSITY

OF
CAi /irn(

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JN turning from the gardens of Rome and
its immediate environs, the Villa d'Este,
at Tivoli, is the most important, and, in
fact, if one could study but a single villa in Italy, this
should be the chosen one.

In its day it was undoubtedly the finest villa in
Italy, and although it is now in a state of great dilapi-
dation and decay, its natural advantages and the great
beauty of its situation are such, and the construction
of its main features so admirable, that it still remains
a noble example of landscape architecture of the Re-
naissance. Not nearly so large as the Borghese or
the Pamfili Villa, every inch of its ground has been
utilized to the utmost, and the whole arrangement is
compact and complete.

The site of the palace is at the top of an abrupt
hill-side, overlooking the Campagna, and the archi-
tect's problem lay in the treatment of the extremely
abrupt slope, there being no natural flat ^pace except

71

at the bottom of the enclosure, which is still high
above the surrounding country.

The palace itself is built on terraces, the court and
entrance being three stories higher than the first open
terrace in front of the house. Beyond these a most
elaborate system of terraces, connected by stairways
and fountains, brings one down to the large terrace
below. Beyond the magnificent site, the greatest nat-
ural advantage of the place is a practically unlimited
supply of water. This the architect has used in every
conceivable way, and in addition to the great variety
of fountains and grottos there is hardly an architect-
ural feature in the villa in which a play of water is not
made to form a part. It might be added that they are
now to be found in almost every imaginable state of
decay. Most of the fountains and other architectural-
features have long since been stripped of their finest
pieces of statuary, and in being thus stripped many of
them have lost their raison d'etre.

The excavations of Hadrian's villa are the mine
from which they were originally taken, and they have
now, most of them, found their places in museums,
being too valuable to be left in a spot so long unin-
habited.

The palace is an enormous structure of perfect sim-

72

plicity of design, its long lines contrasting with the
elaborate terraces which support it. The only deco-
ration of its exterior is the doorway and staircases lead-
ing to it. This is connected with the rest of the garden
by the chief system of fountains and staircases, which
lead the eye from the lower terrace to the house. To
one looking up from below, the intricate design of this
doorway appears like most delicate lace-work in com-
parison with the extreme simplicity of the otherwise
unbroken fa9ade of the house, and in contrast with
the deep green of the terrace plantation. Looking
down from the upper terrace, one sees through a deep
cut in the foliage, over a series of fountains and stair-
ways, the large circular fountain on the lower terrace,
surrounded by gigantic cypresses, and beyond this the
immense expanse of the Campagna.

There are many cypresses throughout the planting
which have now grown to an enormous size. These,
with their hard-cut edges and sculpturesque forms and
great depth of color, make a wonderful foreground for
the infinitely increasing delicacy of the Campagna as
it loses itself in the sky at the horizon.

There is no flower-garden now at the Villa d'Este,
and such is the overgrowth of hedge plants and
shrubs on the lower terrace that one would hardly

74

suspect that here was once an elaborate " parterre."
At present one finds no flowers at all, except those
which have grown wild, and these are frequently to be
found where there should be none. In an arrange-
ment so varied as that at D'Este any opportunity for
simplicity was valuable, and one was found in the
ponds or canals at the foot of the first line of terraces.
The form here is perfectly simple, in long straight
lines surrounded by high hedges, now overgrown al-
most into small forests. These ponds are now com-
paratively stagnant; but they were originally filled by
many jets of water flowing from the vases which
marked their borders. At present, of course, only the
general form is left, and though that is still fine, the
great overgrowth of the surrounding hedges naturally
dwarfs their effect, and the stairs above them are
quite concealed. The old stairway of the Condonata,
which was bordered by fountains from top to bottom,
is now too overgrown to be seen, and this is the case
with many beautiful parts of the villa. While this
wildness has given a certain charm of its own to the
place, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to trace
much of the original design of the architect.

Many of the architectural features have been re-
stored at unfortunate periods or by unskilful hands,

76

IN THE GARDENS, VILLA D ESTE

and are now far from being in harmony with the sim-
plicity of the earliest work of the villa. It is where
the overgrowth has concealed this sort of thing that
time has done so much in making the present charm
of the villa.

VILLAALDOBRANDINI:

about the same distance from Rome as
Tivoli, and with very much the same sit-
uation and character of country (except
that it is less abrupt), is Frascati, which contains
a very remarkable collection of villas. Though none
of them were so elaborately conceived or so per-
fectly carried out as the Villa d'Este, and though
in their present condition there is no individual villa
of any striking importance, yet, taking the place
as a whole, there is none where one finds so many
villas so closely interwoven with one another, and
where the Italian villa can be studied to greater
advantage.

The villas Aldobrandini and Conti are the most im-
portant.

The former has to some extent been kept up, and
is now in a comparative state of completeness, but, un-
fortunately, where the earlier architectural work has
given out, it has been replaced by something that

83

has been considered florid and in bad taste, the result
being far from harmonious. The arrangement of
the terraces at the back and front of the house is
very remarkable, and admirably adapted to the forma-
tion of the land. There are some interesting fount-
ains, and the arrangement of the water-works in this
villa is very elaborately carried out. The villa garden
is quite shaded by enormous sycamores, and thus has
of course lost its character as a flower-garden, though
it has gained a certain picturesqueness and charm.

The most interesting feature of this villa is the
manner in which the hill at the back of the house has
been cut out and formed into an architectural semi-
circle with fountains. The actual architecture of the
moment is very bad, the niche's and grottos being
filled with colossal and grotesque figures; but if one
can imagine something simpler in its place, preserving
the same general outlines, the scheme has very much
to commend it. It is particularly fine when viewed
from the doorway of the house. The eye is led to fol-
low the line of the fountains, through a deep cut in the
trees which supplant the circular terrace, over the hill
to two tall columns which mark the position of the
reservoir.

The straight walk leading from the public road to

84

the villa is charming in its perspective, but the ascent
is too abrupt ever to make it of practical use, and it is
good now only as an addition to the composition of
the villa.

NF MI-/.H COHORT, t ,,:,,K U,r — M,. «, v,u -, Wtl , •. « -M M ,

;VILLA CONTI'

[HE great feature of this villa is the elab-
orate system of staircases leading from
the entrance - road to the grove. These
stairways line the terrace literally from one end to
the other, each one approaching at a slightly dif-
ferent angle. The intervening spaces are packed
with shrubs and flowers. The reason for making the

p

approach to the " bosquet " so important is not quite
explained. Though the effect is extremely fine of
these broad stairways, their perfection of detail is not
quite in harmony with the house itself, which is ex-
tremely simple, with no architectural pretensions what-
ever; and judging from the elaborate details of the
rest of the villa, it has either replaced something more
important that was destroyed, or it was put there as
something temporary, and never replaced.

At the back of the grove which stretches at the
back of the house is a formal and elaborate terrace
with fountains, fed from the top by a series of formal

91

waterfalls. This arrangement, though too artificial in
itself, is extremely interesting and effective when seen
with the morning light coming through the trees,
touching the sparkling water as it comes over the
falls. There is a pathway at either side of this singu-
lar series of waterfalls, and the reservoir is reached by
ascending it. This reservoir is circular in form, sur-
rounded by a beautiful balustrade, and seems to be in
the midst of a wood, so dense is the plantation all
about. One of the chief peculiarities of the villas at
Frascati is the importance given to such reservoirs.
Frequently the water has to be brought from a long
distance, and before it is distributed through the
fountains and watercourses it is concentrated in a
large reservoir at the highest point of the villa, and of
this a feature of unusual interest is made.

VI .A FALCON I ;R|

|HE most elaborate and interesting one is
at the Villa Falconieri, where the basin is
formed on the side of a hill, one half being
cut in, and the other side being supported by mason-
work in the form of an architectural wall, the pilas-
ters capped by large balls. There is a wide walk
surrounding the reservoir, and the whole is enclosed
by a line of cypresses, now grown very large, their
great depth of color contrasting beautifully with the
white walls and the mason-work. Another interest-
ing feature of the Villa Falconieri is the elaborate
system of walls which surrounds it. These are now
very much in ruin, and in many cases quite con-
cealed by the large growth of trees and shrubs.
What remains of permanent interest are the sculp-
tured gates of great variety of forms. Tall columns
of different-colored marbles are surmounted either
by the family escutcheons or by lions or some other
emblems.

97

The chief entrance to the villa is under a great
arch, and through a straight avenue of ilex-trees,
direct to the arched portico of the house. The rest
of the villa is, unfortunately, quite in ruins, which is
the more to be regretted, as the fine site evidently
once contained one of the most beautiful of the gar-
dens of Frascati. The view of the campagna from
the house is one of the most perfect. Surrounded as
the villa is by walls, almost fortified, one might say,
it is quite concealed from the outside, except from
a great distance. This makes the surprise much
greater, on entering, to find such a magnificent view
of the surrounding country.

ASCENT TO THE RESERVOIR, VILLA FALCONIERI

VILLA MUTI'

[HE Villa Muti had once the most varied
system of flower-gardens of any villa in
Italy. The house is literally surrounded
by them, all at different levels, and one might walk
out of any story of the house and find one's self
in a charming garden. The villa has now gone to
almost absolute decay, and only the vaguest out-
lines of the arrangements of these gardens can be
discovered. There is therefore very little there which
could be so reproduced as to convey any idea of what
they had been. The " bosquet " is on a terrace rest-
ing above the upper garden, and is reached by a fine
stairway, which begins in full sunlight and ends in the
heart of the grove in the densest shade. The reser-
voir is above this, and has seats about it. A great
deal of terracing was necessary for gardens. The old
gates and stairways which connected the terraces and
the retaining wall which supported them are still in

their places, and it is by this means that one recon-

103

structs the villa, and forms a vision of the beauty of
the place.

There are two villas in Frascati belonging to the
Borghese family, one of which, the Villa Taverna, has
been kept up as a family residence, and the other,
Mondragone, is now occupied by a Jesuit school.
The palace and the scale of the gardens of the latter
are of great size ; but with the exception of a fine ter-
race in front of the house, and an avenue of cypresses
which leads up to it from the public road, there is
nothing left but architectural details. The walls and
fountain of the old garden still exist, and also a pavil-
ion and colonnade of remarkable dignity at one end of
it ; but the razed parterre is now used as a playground
for boys.

The Villa Taverna has a very charming flower-gar-
den, which is reached from one wing of the house.
It is raised above the road, and is, in fact, so enclosed
and supported by architecture that it seems to be lit-
erally an apartment of the house. The central fount-
ain here is a very handsome one, surrounded by
laurels cut in a circular form. There are some inter-
esting fountains let into the wall, and the balustrade
which connects the garden and the house is a very

good one. Beyond this there is little here to detain

104

A FRASCATI RESERVOIR

one, though a path which leads tram the house to the
grove is interesting on account of the unusual open
character given it by the use of deciduous trees-
something quite unusual in Italian villas.

There are other interesting corners to be studied in
the minor villas at Frascati — a small flower-garden
here and an ilex walk there, and fountains and abrupt
stairways and architectural details; but the great
charm of the villas at Frascati in their now dilapidated
condition is in their beautiful sites, placed as they are
high above the campagna.

With such magnificent views, and with slopes so
delightfully accidental, it seems it would be difficult
for an artist-gardener not to produce beautiful results,
particularly as the Italians in their construction of
summer villas rarely allowed ideas of convenience to
interfere with their desire to produce a beautiful effect.

OLD GATE, VILLA MUTI

VILLA- FALCONIERI

[N the other side of Rome, in the opposite
direction from Frascati, there were some
extremely interesting villas, but the low-
ness of the land and the unhealthy character of
the campagna have long made them uninhabitable,
and in most cases all that remain of them are
interesting ruins in the midst of fields and past-
*ures. Percier and Fontaine have made restoration
of some of these, and it was in the author's vain en-
deavors to discover the site of the Villa Sachetti that
one much less important in itself was discovered, but
so compact, admirable, and simple in its adjustment
to a small area of land that it was thought worthy of
a particularly careful study. This is another Villa
Falconieri, though in no way connected with the one
at Frascati. It is not distinguished by an elaborate-
ness of architecture or by the extent of its gardening,
but is rather something of a compromise between the
villa of a nobleman and the residence of a wealthy

farmer. Its peculiarities are due to the fact that the
gardens and plantations in relation to the house do
not cover a width of more than four hundred feet,
being in the centre of a large farm, and allowing the
land for farm cultivation to come almost within a
stone's-throw of the house itself without being visible,
or to any extent interfering with the effect of the gar-
dens. The whole plan is in a direct straight line, so
that upon entering the gate at the road one can look
along the path and under the arched doorway of the
house directly to the architectural feature which termi-
nates the villa grounds. The flower-garden is on the
side of the house away from the road, and at either
side of a path which leads from the house to a circu-
lar terrace ; this terrace contains fountains, and over-
looks the valley which intervenes between it and
smaller terraces on the other side. At the lowest
point in this small valley is a fountain, and steps rise
from this point in both directions, these steps being
flanked by high hedges. At right angles with the
first circular terrace are two ilex walks which form a
screen for the uninteresting fields and tilled land which
otherwise would be visible from the house, and this
is also repeated on the street side, save that here the
ilex-trees are planted radiating from the front door

112

VIEW OF THE VII.I.A AND GARDEN, VILLA FAl.CONIERI

and leading to other lines of trees which mark the
boundary. The whole plan of the villa is well held
together by a system of stone-pines, which are planted
at intervals, ending in a group of circular form at the
extreme end. The builders of this villa were evi-
dently fortunate in their excavations, for they have an
extremely interesting collection of old Roman statuary
and carved stone, which they have made the basis of
the very simple architectural features of their plan.
The house itself is very simple in character, with two
pigeon-towers on either side, and one feels about this
place as if it were intended to be lived in all the year
round by its owner, and not simply a place to fly to
occasionally from the busier life of the town.

Still farther on in the same direction are the ruins
of the Villa Madama, but so complete here is the gen-
eral wreck that nothing is to be found which in its
actual state could more than suggest its former gran-
deur. The house itself was one of unusual architect-
ural beauty, and there is perhaps enough left now in
the gardens and terraces to show how admirably and
harmoniously the villa was planned. But further
study here would be altogether a matter of research,
and therefore beyond the province of this book.

VI! j\POR 1C!

OF THE

UWV-13ITY

THE BOSQUET, VILLA PORTICI

|N southern Italy very little is to be found
of interest to the student of the Renais-
sance garden. There are, indeed, bits here
and there of interest in themselves, but nothing suf-
ficiently complete to bear the character of a design.
This is the case in the royal villa at Portici, now
turned into an agricultural school. The architect-
ural details bear the mark of the eighteenth century,
though it is very probable that the plan, which is
excellent, would date from a much earlier time. The
flower-garden behind the palace is now filled with
botanical specimens, arranged without regard to the
design of the parterre, but the wall is extremely in-
teresting on account of its simplicity and the form
it gives to the general outlines of the garden. The
gate through which one passes from here to the
grove is very picturesque, the dignified columns and
delicate iron-work contrasting with the deep green of
the ilexes. Looking from the garden through this

119

gate, the grove itself presents an effect of the densest
shade imaginable, partly owing to the fact that from
neglect the paths in the wood have been allowed to
cover themselves with moss, so that everything there
is green. When one has passed through the gate and
is in the grove, the great variety of green is exceed-
ingly delightful ; the only relief from it which one
needs is found in the high gray wall forming a part of
the tennis-court, which is reached by an arched door-
way in the centre of the wall. Here is nothing but
ruin ; but by a little study the outlines of a capital ar-
rangement for such a place may be traced. The north
side of the court is made up of a series of stone steps
somewhat similar to those in the Piazzi di Siena in
the Villa Borghese, made for the accommodation of
spectators of minor importance who viewed the games.
At either end of the court are pavilions to accommo-
date the royal guests and others of importance. One
of them is higher than the other, and is reached by a
flight of steps. At present these buildings are with-
out roofs, and in a great state of dilapidation, their
only occupants being the birds of the neighborhood.

120

CAPRAROLA

[HE ruins of the gardens of Caprarola are
in the same part of the country as the
Villa Lante, not far from Viterbo. They
contain less now for the student of gardening than
for the architect, though the general plan is still
visible. The relation of one thing to another is
so good that the enthusiast will find a careful study
of the complete design very instructive. The ca-
sino overlooks the flower-garden, its first floor being
on the same level as the parterre, the second story
on a level with the upper terrace, which was once
enlivened with fountains, and from which there is a
magnificent view of the surrounding country. In
its present state of ruin, while there is much that one
may see with interest, there is very little in a state to
be reproduced, the most striking feature being lines
of hermae, nymphs, and satyrs which form part of the
wall surrounding the flower-garden. Although these
grotesque figures are characteristic of a certain ten-

125

dency of Italian garden architecture, to look well they
should be very much enveloped in foliage, and this, it
is to be hoped, is the treatment they received when
these gardens were kept up. At present they are sin-
gularly out of harmony with the architectural details
of the casino, and one has to see them as a part of the
whole scheme, and particularly from above, to be able
to judge of their effect in a complete garden.

GARDEN WALL, VILLA CAPRAROLA

\ 9 H ^ r
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BOBOLI GARDENS

best gardens existing to-day in Florence
and its neighborhood are due to the influ-
ence of the Medici family, Among these,
the Boboli, constructed in relation to the Pitti Palace,
are the largest and most important, although they
cannot be said to be the most beautiful. To one
thoroughly imbued with the charm of the compact
'treatment of the best villas about Rome, the large
scale and the endless paths and avenues of Boboli
are at first a shock, recalling the enormous stretches
of great parks in France, although they do not in
reality cover a very large area. Here interminable
avenues in relentless straight lines climb one hill
after another, and the visitor wanders about the place
with an increasing sense of fatigue. If, however,
he does not allow this fatigue to get the better of
him, he will discover much that is charming in the
details of the arrangements, and much that will re-
move his first sense of disappointment. The amphi-

theatre at the back of the palace is admirably adapted
to the form of the hill -side, and the circular terraces
which surround the most elevated of the ponds seem a
natural formation, so exactly do they fit in with their
surroundings. The Boboli Gardens, however, are so
well known, and have been so thoroughly photo-
graphed, it seems unnecessary to treat them in detail
here, particularly as there are other villas near at hand
which one would find more interesting and character-
istic of the Italian garden.

, R A

*• OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

CAS" -O

[HE Villa Castello is about three miles from
Florence, and built in a gently undulating
country. The flower-garden is its inter-
esting feature, and it is one of the most beautiful
in Italy. It covers a large area — several acres — and
is placed at the back and north of the palace, on
rising ground. It is protected at the north by an
* architectural terrace, above which is a grove of ilex
and cypress trees. A large fountain marks the cen-
tre of the parterre, with circular seats and statuary
surrounding it. In the centre of the terrace, at the
north, is a grotto and fountain very remarkable and
dignified in character. An orangery forms a part
of the east wall. The arrangement of the flower-
beds is as simple as possible, and the effect of the
whole is very full in regard to the plantation, and
very remarkable as to bloom, for so large a garden.
One is conscious only of the principal paths, so well
concealed is the necessary net-work of small ones by

137

which the gardener reaches his plants. The arrange-
ment of vines on the high stucco wall is an exceed-
ingly good one — the lower part of it covered with
climbing-roses, which are fastened to it with slender
bamboo sticks attached to the wall, and the upper part
for grape-vines, which, having grown up to a point
above the roses, are made to grow laterally in lines
one above the other, forming a sort of frieze. The
grove of Castello is reached by two stairways, one at
either end of the terrace. It is quite unpretentious in
character, its one embellishment being a fountain, now
very much overgrown with moss.

Quite near Castello is the Villa Petrasa, another
seat of the Medici. Here the flower-garden is in
front of the house, being semicircular, with a high
hedge at the north, and a terrace forming its southern
limit. The abrupt nature of the hill-side is, however,
ill adapted to form a flower-garden, and it has long
since been filled with trees and shrubs, so that at
present it is more interesting from the point of view
of horticulture than that of design.

There are many interesting small gardens surround-
ing Florence, most of them being occupied by their
owners, and are somewhat difficult of access to a
stranger. If, however, he is fortunate enough to gain

138

IN

THE FLOWER-GARDEN, VILLA CASTELLO

admittance, he will find something of interest in al-
most every one. This is the case also in the neigh-
borhood of Siena ; and while no one of these gardens
is of great importance, they have a character as a
whole which one should study to get a complete idea
of Italian gardening. The gardens of Genoa are par-
ticularly worthy of study from this point of view.
The character of the landscape here is extremely
abrupt, and great ingenuity has been shown by the
architects in planning villas in harmony with their
surroundings. In the city itself each of the palaces
has its own small garden, sometimes on the terrace
reached from the wing, but more frequently above the
main part of the palace, and reached by intricate and
varied stairways. Formerly the gardens of the more
important of these palaces stretched to the shore of
the harbor; but with Genoa's prosperity these have
now almost completely disappeared, to make place for
new quays and streets and other improvements of a
modern city. Of the two or three remaining ones the
Rosazza has the most marked characteristics of a
Genoa garden. Made on the extremely abrupt slope
at the north side of the harbor, the paths and terraces
and fountains rise one above another, and are very

skilfully planned, and so interwoven with the sharp

140

angle of the hill-side that one is surprised to feel it the
most natural place in the world for gardening. The
architecture in the terraces and fountains is of a late
and florid period, but so great is the mass of flowers
that it is sufficiently concealed to become interesting.

TERRACE WALL, VILLA CASTELLO

GUISTI GARDENS If

|HE impression left by this garden is one
of great tangle, and of a profusion of grow-
ing things mixed with the most charming
garden statuary. On entering through the palace,
one finds one's self in a broad avenue of cypresses;
to the left is the flower -garden, and to the right a
grove, arranged in open spaces among the trees, with
fountains as centres. At the end of the cypress walk
is a high and very precipitous hill -side, which forms
the background of the garden, and is densely cov-
ered with evergreen trees and shrubs. On this hill-
side one catches glimpses here and there of architect-
ural construction, and at the top is a small temple,
with a terrace which overlooks the garden and house,
and beyond that the City of Verona. The garden
has been allowed to go very much to ruin in its de-
tails. Fewof the old fountains are running, many
of them being filled up with earth and planted with
flowers, sometimes with a statue marking its centre.

147

It was very difficult in this garden to get a view which
seemed to give a true impression of the place, or
which in any way revealed the design. In looking
down from above there were too many trees in the
way to make this possible, and from below there was
no point at a sufficient distance to see the parterre as
a whole. The statuary of this garden is particularly
charming, being mostly of nymphs in flowing gar-
ments, giving a festive character very much in har-
mony with the gayety which one looks for in such a
place. In one's mind they make an agreeable con-
trast with the Roman senators and headless deities
which do duty in most of the old Roman gardens.

THE GUISTI GARDEN

CONCLUSION

|N closing these brief notes descriptive of the
gardens of Italy, the writer would like to
add, with a view of tempering criticism,
that they should be taken purely as supplementary
to the illustrations. It has not been the purpose to
make a treatise on landscape-gardening, but a simple
attempt to show some of the most salient of the
existing features of the formal garden as they may
be seen to-day in Italy. Doubtless some of the villas
are worthy of greater study than has been given
them, and some which have been left out altogether
might have claim to a place here ; but it is thought
that those considered are sufficient to give a compre-
hensive idea of the methods of the Italian in the
treatment of the garden. With the general interest
that undoubtedly exists in the subject of gardening
to-day, it is hoped that this work may be of value
towards a more thorough understanding and appre-
ciation of the reasons which led to a formal treat-

153

ment of the garden ; and as there is a great similarity
in the character of the landscape in many parts of our
country with that of Italy, that it might lead to a re-
vival of the same method.

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