ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 



lishment of this his city of Ferrara and the building of 

 new palaces." 



The excellent Duchess Leonora, born and bred in 

 the sunny gardens of Naples, shared her lord's tastes 

 and took especial delight in beautifying the grounds of 

 the Castello, now the chief ducal residence. On the 

 banks of the moat, close to the Gate of the Lions, was 

 the Garden of the Padiglione, so called from the marble 

 pavilion supported by pillars which stood on a mount 

 planted with pergolas of vines and roses. Farther west- 

 ward was the Duchess's Casino, with its marble baths 

 and halls painted by Ercole Roberti, standing in a par- 

 terre of flowers set round with thick box hedges. Here 

 was the beautiful fountain adorned with richly carved 

 marbles upon which Duke Ercole had bestowed infinite 

 thought and pains. He even wrote to ask Count 

 Matteo Boiardo for his advice on the subject, but the 

 poet replied that his wife was ill and his imagination ill- 

 disposed for such matters and could only refer him to 

 Alberti's Trattato. 2 Here, too, under the city walls, 

 were the kitchen gardens and orchards, a plantation of 

 orange and lemon trees rarely seen in these parts, known 

 as " La Cedraia," and a thick ilex-wood where nightin- 

 gales sang on the summer nights and rare birds of 

 bright plumage sought shelter in the shade. Ercole's 



1 Frizzi, Storia di Ferrara, iv. 148. 



2 Lettere edite e inedite^ N. Campanini, 393. 



38 



