THE no no LI c; /A>/)/-;\.s', 



267 



pyramids of dark leaves and shining cones rising out of the mass, beneath which are cut, like 

 caverns, recesses which conduct into walks. The cathedral, with its marble campanile, and the 

 domes and spires of Florence, are at our feet." 



From hardly any other place does one get such a view of the marble bell-tower and of 

 Brunelleschi's wonderful brown dome. They seem to stand out above all the surrounding 

 houses, relieved against the sky, and flanked by the graceful tower of the Palax/o Vecchio, 

 ' noblest symbol of civic liberty in the world," which sends the deep note of its bell across the 

 summer air. Behind the amphitheatre the ground climbs straight up to a plateau, laid out as 

 a sheet of water in a stone setting, in the midst of which a green bronxe Xeptune moulded by 

 ( iian Bologna poises his trident above four crouching mermen (Fig. 277). Against the ilexes behind 

 stands a statue of Abundance, a \\oman with a fair, expressionless face, believed to be a portrait 

 of Joanna of Austria, wife of Francesco I. The statue was executed by Gian Bologna and Tocca, 

 and erected in 1636 to commemorate the fact that during the general distress in Italy from wars 



279. LOOKING DOWN THE GREAT AVENUE AND ACROSS THE ISOLOTTO. 



Tuscany alone, under the " benevolent prince '" Ferdinand II, revelled in plenty. This part 

 of the garden, like so many old Italian pleasure grounds, is a good deal spoilt by the planting 

 of deciduous trees, dotted about in a manner quite alien to the conception of the whole. There 

 ought to be a law prohibiting the planting of copper beeches, pampas grass and other ornamental 

 foliage all of which looks so out of keeping with the close-cut, sober green of bay and ilex and the 

 serious beauty of time-worn stone and marble. On the plateau at the top the flower garden, or 

 giardino segreto, is laid out. In Italian gardens this is generally near the palace, unless, as in the 

 present instance, it has a good-sized casino attached in which the guests could spend the day, lie 

 down and rest during the hot hours, and dine if they pleased. The casino, with its gently curving 

 cream walls, is now given up as a storehouse for lemon trees, and the garden itself is not very gay. 

 It is formally laid out with a fountain in the middle, round the base of which climb three green 

 bronze monkeys. Its interest lies chiefly in its position. It is situated on the remains of 

 one of those bastions which Michelangelo constructed in 1529 when he was engineer of the 



