26 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



three remaining corners, while in the middle of each 

 side two statues of children direct water into an oblong 

 trough. The lead pipe through which the water was 

 conducted is still occasionally used ; the marble tables 

 upon which food was served still stand on the veranda, 

 while classic flowers, planted in beds laid out on their 

 original lines, still brighten the v parterre. The photo- 

 graph gives a good idea of the arrangement, but only 

 a vague impression of the charm of the running 

 water, the brilliant sunlight, and the wonderful blue 

 sky of Italy, in contrast to the cool shade of the 

 portico. 



The medium-sized country-seat near Pompeii, known 

 as the villa of Diomedes, is interesting as contain- 

 ing gardens both within 

 and without the house. 

 Its front door, as the 

 celebrated classic architect 

 Vitruvius advises, opens 

 almost directly into a peri- 

 style, the centre of which 

 is divided into paths and 

 flower-beds. At the left of 

 the peristyle is a passage 

 leading into a second garden not yet excavated. A 

 third and much larger enclosure behind the house is 

 encompassed by a portico, and was planted with 



