CONTINENTAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 39 



concerned with the building itself. The best talent in Europe was 

 devoting itself to this work. Such exponents of the art as Bernini, 

 Bramante, Bounalesci, Michael Angelo, and Vignola are associated 

 with the best works of the high Renaissance. Can one then be 

 surprised at the degree of perfection attained in even the very minor 

 details. 



The gardens of Italy, dependent first upon their design, are quite 

 different from what many believe and picture them to be. These 

 much-heralded old villas are not rich in their abundance of flowers; 

 they are not virtual paradises on earth filled with vines and the 

 beautiful flowering plants so common to the American garden. 

 They rather may be described as wonderfully ingenious designs 

 enhanced with an abundance of running water and statuary, the 

 whole framed with a simple but dignified planting of trees and 

 shrubs. They are designed with the idea that they may be gardens 

 to look into and to look out from. An excellent illustration of the 

 former is the Villa Lante, and of the latter is the Villa D'Este over- 

 looking the Campagna. 



As the Renaissance reached its height at the close of the 16th and 

 the beginning of the 17th centuries the spirit of the gardening art 

 changed very much. Gradually the influence of the Baroque period 

 made itself felt, and the decline from the refined to the grotesque 

 became very marked. An excellent example of this is seen in a 

 careful study of the old Villa D'Este at Tivoli. Here at every 

 turn the observer is confronted by these ambitious designs executed 

 in plaster and stucco, and intended to convey the idea seen in the 

 refined statuary of such gardens as those at the Villa Lante, and the 

 Boboli Palace. This tendency marked the rapid decline of the 

 most fruitful period in the history of continental gardening, a period 

 the influence of which has been felt I might say throughout the 

 entire world. The gardens of these celebrated villas of Italy may 

 be summarized in a few words. 



1. The dominating influence is the presence of an admirably 

 adapted design set off with a great variety of running water used in 

 different ways. 



2. The topography of the country demanded comparatively 

 small garden areas which were so ingeniously designed on the 

 different terrace levels that the actual size of the garden was often 

 over-estimated. 



