212 



THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

 CAPRAROLA. 



THE aim ot travel is secured and its benefits received when out of dim memories 

 some day shines out as an ineffaceable recollection. It is a commonplace of 

 travelling experience that such days most often arise out of some departure from the 

 beaten track. Such a day, distinct after twenty-four years, was that of the drive to 

 Caprarola from Viterbo. In recollection the way seems to have unrolled itself through hours of 

 brilliant sunshine along a ridge between two valleys, each offering a magnificent prospect. At 

 one point far below lay a mirror-like lake, the Lago di Vico. It seemed the ideal hill- 

 surrounded pool of art and magic. Above it rose the volcanic Monte Venere. The road 

 had passed from Latium into Etruria, entering into the tangled centre of the peninsula, the 



region of those hill cities which 

 have contributed so much to 

 the formation of Italian art. 



The visit to Caprarola occu- 

 pied the entire day, and two 

 strong horses were required by 

 the route across the hills, the 

 head of the pass being nearly 

 two thousand feet higher than 

 Viterbo. The Farnese Palace, 

 Vignola's masterpiece, revealed 

 itself as a great dominating mass 

 covering the end of a spur be- 

 tween two deep valleys, with the 

 ground falling away steeply in 

 front. It stood up in a proud 

 isolation, like St. Peter's, above 

 its suburb (Fig. 222). The whole 

 scheme of the pentagonal fortress palace explained itself upon the ground. Much that appeared 

 to be complex on paper then appeared to be both natural and simple. Vignola's skill in the 

 management of architectural detail has anticipated any objection arising out of the supposed crude- 

 ness of mere fortress imitation. He has known how to infuse a sufficient element of the palace to 

 make it clear that his structure, despite its warlike mien, is still the lordly pleasure house. 

 The pentagonal plan in itself is a good one, as three sides are visible at once, and the slightly 

 acute angles produce a sharp effect in cornice projections. The building looks all its height 

 of eighty-four feet and is well crowned by a good corbel cornice of the Vignola type. A 

 certain flatness of surface projections has been preserved, which makes for breadth of effect in 

 the mass. The materials are stone and rubble, mainly plastered with a texture which is almost 

 that of rough-cast. All the lower parts are hewn in the solid rock, and the remarkable vaulted 

 sub -structures are partly built and partly live rock. The bastions provide terraces with 

 fine points of view, but they are not in themselves very happy in relation to the general 

 mass, and they might have been multiangular with advantage. The great ditch is carried 

 round, and isolates the gardens which rise up at the rear. The lowest part of the garden is 



222. VIEW OF CAPRAROLA. 



The Palace facing down the valley at the end of the spur on which the gardens are laid out. 



From Percier and Fontaine. 



