316 



THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 



Their shield is seen in prominent places in the villa. It bears a green pine tree eradicated 

 and fructated with the motto " Libertas." Round the base of the villa runs the stone seat 

 typical of the older Florentine palace, which of itself would mark an early date. In the house 

 is an old architectural drawing, an elevational perspective of the main front, showing the open 

 court as at present, except for a slight difference in the steps and for the fact that a tower or 

 belvedere is shown rising up from the back wall of the loggia, a central feature which was never 

 built. There are two other drawings of some kind of catacomb building, possibly Roman ; but 

 what attracts attention is the fact that the scale is given in " Piedi Inglese." It is known, of 

 course, that the old Roman foot was the same as the English, but it looks as if these drawings, 

 which have always been in the house, had been made for an English patron. 



328. THE TERRACE GARDEN, FROM BOWLING GREEN GATE. 



The adjacent " pineta," or woods of the true Italian pine, have had much to do with 

 preserving the perfect quiet of this hillside retreat. Despite the visible sight of Florence, the 

 villa might be miles away in the heart of Tuscany, and it is given to few to combine city and 

 rural life in so ideal a fashion. A. T. B. 



The Villa Gamberaia stands on a long, narrow piece of land ; it is not large, but the site is 

 utilised and managed so as to give all that the mind can desire of variety, and space itself. It 

 is a marvel of deft planning. From the short entrance alley the visitor emerges on the long 

 bowling green of soft, rich turf, an avenue than which nothing can be more perfect (Fig. 329). 

 On one side is set the house, a cream-washed villa, with wide eaves ; on the other, a high 

 retaining wall, crowned with statues and old vases filled with pink geraniums ; the 

 bowling alley stretches far beyond and far behind. In front, where the eye naturally turns, 



