THE GARDENS OF PAPAL ROME 



his fortunes elsewhere. Early in 1500 he found his 

 way to Rome, where he devoted the next few years to 

 the careful study of classical remains. Soon his 

 talents brought him into notice at the Papal Court. 

 He was engaged, according to Bottari, to design the 

 fountains on the Piazza of St. Peter's, and in 1502 

 built the famous Tempietto in the Franciscan convent 

 on the Janiculan Hill for the " Catholic kings," 

 Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The erection of 

 this beautiful little shrine, which shows how entirely 

 Bramante had assimilated the principles of classical art, 

 marked a new epoch in the history of architecture and 

 ensured the Urbino master's recognition as the most 

 original builder of the age. No sooner had Julius the 

 Second assumed the Papal tiara than Bramante was 

 summoned to carry out the new Pope's lofty dreams 

 and ordered to rebuild St. Peter's and restore the old 

 Vatican palace. Nothing daunted by the magnitude 

 of these undertakings, the master, who was already 

 sixty years of age, threw himself with ardour into his 

 new task. On the one hand, he laid the foundations 

 of the new Basilica, while on the other he prepared 

 a magnificent design for the transformation of the 

 Vatican. 



Before Bramante's time little attention had been 

 paid to the treatment of gardens on architectural lines, 

 or the laying out of vast spaces as an harmonious 



