44 GLEANINGS ON GARDENS. 



and gilt by Pargotti, and the ceilings and niches 

 painted by Bellucci ; there is a handsome altar-piece, 

 and in an alcove above the altar, a neat organ ; front- 

 ing the altar, above the gate, is a fine gallery for the 

 duke and duchess, with a door that comes from the 

 apartments above, and a staircase that also descends 

 into the body of the chapel, in case of taking the 

 sacrament or other occasion ; in the windows of 

 this chapel are also finely painted some parts of the 

 History of the New Testament. In that court which 

 opens into the area is the dining-room, very spacious, 

 and a nobler sideboard of plate than most sovereign 

 princes have ; and at the end of it a room for his 

 music, which performs both vocal and instrumental 

 during the time he is at table ; he spares no 

 expense to have the best. The parterre fronting the 

 west is separated from the great avenue, and the 

 great court leading to the great staircase by balus- 

 trades of iron, as it is also from the gardens on the 

 other side. There is a large terrace walk, from 

 whence you descend to the parterre; this parterre 

 hath a row of gilded vases on pedestals on each side 

 down to the great canal, and in the middle, fronting 

 the canal, is a gladiator, gilded also ; through the 

 whole parterre, abundance of statues as big as the 

 Me, are regularly disposed. The canal runs a great 

 way, and indeed one would wonder to see such a vast 



