THE ITALIAN GARDEN 



39 



almost be called a botanical garden, as they contained countless specimens of 

 trees and shrubs. The collection of rare animals soon became a princely 

 occupation, and by the end of the fifteenth century menageries {serragli) 

 were reckoned part of the suitable appointments of every court. " It 

 belongs to the position of the great," says Matarazzo, "to keep horses, dogs, 

 mules, falcons and other birds, court jesters, singers, and foreign animals." 



THE PARTERRE AT THE VATICAN. 



Towards the end of the fifteenth century the famous Orti Orcellari, 

 at Florence, were laid out by Bernardo Rucellai, the kinsman of Lorenzo 

 il Magnifico. Here it was that the celebrated Platonic Academy held its 

 meetings and Niccolo Machiavelli read his discourses. 



At the same time that these villas were being laid out in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Florence, many of the best artists of the day were engaged upon 

 the princely villas in and about Rome. Raphael, San Gallo, Bramante, 

 Peruzzi, all giants in art, who knew how to combine the attainments of 



