THE VILLA PETRAJA, FLORENCE 



ilex tree, up to a platform constructed in its 

 branches, where he often dined, and which 

 commanded a view of entrancing loveliness over 

 the city below, and distant hills dotted with 

 villas and crowned with church towers. 



The gardens, always well kept, are in their 

 season a riot of colour against the sober hues of 

 cypress and ilex groves. Terraces and fountains 

 abound. That of Tribolo on the east was 

 brought from Castello some 150 years ago, and 

 is a conspicuous ornament of the gardens. The 

 lofty bronze figure in the centre, wringing the 

 water from her long hair, is the work of Giam- 

 bologna, a Venus said to represent Florence. 



The splash of water falling rhythmically from 

 basin to basin, the witchery of garden sounds 

 and scents, the golden light upon the old square 

 tower of the villa, cast a spell of quiet aloofness 

 upon the spot, in which the present seems to 

 fade away and the past to come into its own 

 again. And ghostly forms and voices pass before 

 our imagination where the English Condottiere 

 led his noisy men, and, as a child, Giovanni of 

 the Black Bands played, and rode his "little 

 horse " under the watchful eyes of Caterina, 

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