THE ITALIAN GARDEN 



41 



It lies in a hollow against a rising background of ilex woods, and is said to 

 have been built in imitation of the old Roman villa architecture ; in 

 fact, it embodies exactly the descriptions of Pliny. 



The Villa Medici (illus. opposite), now the home of the French Academy 

 in Rome, has preserved its characteristics untouched for many years. It was 

 begun about 1540 from 

 the designs of Annibale 

 Lippi, and the gar- 

 dens were laid out at 

 the same time. They 

 are approached from 

 the piazza in front of 

 the Casino by a shady 

 drive ascending to the 

 parterre, which is thus 

 arranged upon the 

 same level as the fiano 

 nobile of the house. 

 The parterre is divided 

 into sixteen plots, 

 shaded by ilex trees 

 and stone-pines, and 

 traversed by hedged 

 alleys. Falda's draw- 

 ing of the garden in 

 1670 shows that it 

 remains to-day in very 

 much its original con- 

 dition. There is a 

 mount surrounded by 

 an ilex boschetto, and 



from its summit a grand view of Rome may be obtained. The mount is 

 a feature rarely to be met with in Italian gardens, though we occasionally 

 find it in the North of Italy at a later date. There are few gardens in 

 Italy that can be compared with the Villa Medici, or which exhibit to a 

 greater extent the good taste and simplicity characteristic of the best period 



THEVtLliA MEDICI , ROME 



