STYLES OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



39 



thoroughly worked out, in India its use in irrigation was a practical 

 requirement as well, without which the garden could not have existed. 



Of these tomb gardens of the plains the Taj Mahal at Agra, which 

 by great good fortune has come down to our time in much of its former 

 glory, is the finest example. In the Taj, Persian and Hindu craftsmen 

 vied with each other in the decoration of a still essentially Persian archi- 

 tectural conception. Although the relation of the principal building 

 to the four-parted garden is not typical, since the garden lies to one 

 side of it, it thus takes advantage of a natural opportunity, standing 

 with its terrace on the bank of the river Jumna and so dominating a 

 sweeping view along the river and into the level country beyond. 

 Arranged as it is, the garden gives a fitting setting for the central 

 building, that miracle of architectural beauty the tomb of Mumtaz 

 Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan. 



The Italian Renaissance buildings and gardens — many of which are The Styles of 



preserv'ed to us as examples of this style at once so historically important '^'' ■'^'?'"'« 



J J 1 1 1 1.1.,, Renaissance 



and so adaptable to our present needs — were made by the mdependent and Baroque 



and turbulent nobles of the countr}% proud, ostentatious, competitive, f'Mas 



jealous of each other's success, but esthetically appreciative, often 



excellent artists in their own right, and in any case having command 



through riches or feudal power of the labor of great numbers of artisans 



and of the skill of a group of artists of greater attainment than the 



world has since seen. Practically throughout Italy, the plains and 



valleys are unpleasantly hot in summer and often unhealthful, while 



the steep-sided hills, even though they rise but a few hundred feet, are 



breezy and cool, and the outlying uplands of the higher country are well- 



watered. It was natural therefore that the villas of the nobles should 



be placed on these hills, facing a broad view and a cooling wind, and 



taking fullest advantage of the water which increased the luxuriance 



of the gardens and formed the chief feature of their decoration. The 



mode of life of these Italian princes was not ver>^ different from that of 



the nobles of ancient Rome, to whom they were often so proud to trace 



their ancestry-. Traditions and records of the old Roman villas, indeed 



in some cases extensive remains of their former magnificence, served 



as inspiration for new work, as was the case in architecture and the 



other arts in the period of the Renaissance. Many statues and sculp- 



