32 



GARDEN CRAFT IN EUROPE 



This amphitheatre was designed to show off the superb spectacles given 

 from time to time by the Medici, and is a feature rarely to be seen in Italian 

 gardens. The engravings of Delia Bella illustrate the great fetes that took 

 place here, when all Florence flocked to see the entertainments. 



Another beautiful feature of the Boboli garden is the Isolotto, an oval- 

 shaped island at the foot of the long cypress alley dividing the garden. 

 It is laid out as a lemon garden, connected by two bridges, and is sur- 

 rounded by a balustrade in which orange trees in large red pots alternate 

 with short lengths of balustrading. In the middle is John of Bologna's 

 gigantic fountain surmounted by a figure of Oceanus. 



THE AMPHITHEATRE OF THE BOBOLI GARDEN ON THE OCCASION OF A GRAND FETE, 

 FROM AN ENGRAVING BY DELLA BELLA. 



A delightful picture of a city garden in Florence during the halcyon 

 days of the sixteenth century is given by Bocchi, an author who, writing 

 about the middle of the century, thus describes the garden of one of the 

 Acciaiuoli palaces : " There is a garden on strong arches about fifteen cubits 

 high, in a street close to the Arno and looking due south, where the air is 

 soft and pleasant. There in pots and on espaliers are such delightful greenery 

 and fruits, such as lemons and pomegranates, that although the space is 

 not really large, yet the delight it gives is so great that it appears so. Above 

 this and behind, rising yet higher, is another terrace filled with similar trees ; 

 it is marvellous to see the quantity of fruit produced and what good condition 



