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 



