236 



THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

 THE VILLA LANTE, BAGNAIA. 



IT question whether the Villa Lante at Bagnaia is not the gem of all the Italian gardens. 

 If ., it owes its pride of place to that quality which Hamlet commended in the actor, 

 artistic reserve, " that you o'er-step not the modesty of nature." It is a reticent and refined 

 piece of work when contrasted with the prouder works of the later Renaissance. Its architect 

 remembered that his garden was to be made for man, whose size, for all his ambition, is unalterable. 



It will not be disputed 

 that the reasonable scale 

 of this villa garden is 

 one of its pleasantest 

 features. It is an ideal 

 spot in which to spend 

 an Italian afternoon. 

 The easy driving dis- 

 tance from Viterbo 

 renders the Villa Lante 

 very accessible. The 

 jolly Church of Santa 

 Maria della Quercia, of 

 about the same epoch 

 (1470-1525), is just 

 over a mile outside the 

 Porta Fiorentia of that 

 delightful mediasval 

 city. It contains the 

 work of Andrea della 

 Robbia and Antonio da 

 Sangallo the younger. 

 That Vignola( 1 507-73) 

 was the architect of the 

 Villa Lante during the 

 period of 1564, when 

 it was enlarged, seems 

 established. Caprarola, 

 which is within fifteen 

 miles, was in hand from 



'547 to J 559- The 

 Villa Lante was com- 

 pleted in 1588. In 

 spite of his writings and 

 works, Vignola seems 

 one of the most distant 

 of the great architects 



246. CARDINAL MONTALTO'S FOUNTAIN AT VILLA LANTE, BAGNAIA. of the Renaissance, and 



