114 



that arise from an irregular mixture of ve- 

 getation; as of trees and shrubs, or of vines? 

 ivy, and other creeping plants which climb 

 up the vases, steps, and balustrades: at the 

 Villa Negroni I remember being particularly 

 struck with many of these circumstances, 

 which have since, to the extreme regret of 

 all the artists, been destroyed. The more 

 broken, weather-stained, and decayed the 

 stone and brickwork, the more the plants 

 and creepers seem to have fastened and 

 rooted in between their joints, the more pic- 

 turesque these g-ardens become : and in that 

 respect they have to the painter's eye an 

 immense advantage over modern gardens, 

 from which all present decoration, and , all 

 future picturesqueness, are equally banished. 

 But between the original design, and such 

 an extreme change, there are many inter- 

 mediate states ; as there are likewise many 

 intermediate degrees between the wild and 

 singular irregularity of those plants which 

 seem to start from the old walls, and the ele- 

 gant forms of vegetation that no less fre^ 

 quentl}'- are produced by accident. All 



