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 



