CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 



37 



In summer they were shielded from the bright rays 

 of light and exposed to every cool breath of wind; in 

 winter protected from unwelcome breezes and warmed 

 by the sunshine. The length of each promenade was 

 carefully measured, and posted up where the walker 

 could easily calculate the extent of his stroll. 



Sculpture added much to the decorative effect of the sculpture, 

 garden. Carved balustrades, benches, tables, bas-reliefs, 

 and statuary were considered the most 

 important part of many gardens, and were 

 beautifully designed. To supply this orna- 

 mentation, ship-loads of the finest works of 

 art were exported from Greece to adorn 

 Italian pleasure grounds. At Lucan's villa, 

 near Rome, marble sculpture was so predominant that 

 his gardens were called by Juvenal horti marmorei. 



As in Greece, statues were usually set up in honour statuary, 

 of some appropriate divinity. Accordingly, images of 

 the Graces, the Seasons, Pan, 

 Sylvanus, Flora, Pomona, and 

 Vertumnus were frequently erected. 

 Oftenest of all Priapus was thus 

 worshipped. Even the humblest 

 peasants took pains to employ his 

 image rudely carved from a tree 

 trunk or a block of stone to act 

 as a protective deity or sanctified scarecrow to frighten 



