ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 



went to his grave unwept, and Pope Clement the Eighth, 

 who took possession of his duchy, destroyed the 

 wonderful palace of Belvedere to build a fortress, in 

 order that he might maintain his rule over Ferrara. 



The poets and humanists who flourished under the 

 shadow of the house of Este shared their patrons' love 

 of gardens. Guarino, who came to Ferrara as Leonello's 

 tutor in 1429, and taught at the University for thirty 

 years, was never happier than when he could escape 

 from the lecture-room to his villa on the Adige. Here 

 he cultivated his flowers and read the Georgics in the 

 pasture among his flocks, while his energetic wife, 

 Taddea, the mother of twenty-three children, herself 

 worked in the fields. Under this humble roof old 

 friends and young students were always welcome, and 

 many distinguished scholars came to share the great 

 teacher's frugal meal and enjoy what he called his "fave 

 e favole " " beans and talk." Angelo Decembrio tells 

 us how the chief magistrate Gualengo would invite 

 Leonello and his scholar friends to taste the first ripe 

 figs in his garden and decorate his library with white 

 and purple iris in honour of their visit. And we think 

 of Matteo Boiardo, the poet of the Orlando Innamorato^ 

 spending the pleasant May-time in the meadows and 

 woods along the Secchia, composing pastorals in imita- 

 tion of Virgil and addressing love songs to the mistress 

 whose golden tresses kept him bound to these rural 



