GARDENS OF FLORENTINE HUMANISTS 



" When the summer heat becomes too great at Car- 

 eggi, do not fail to seek our Fiesolan villa. There is 

 abundance of water here, and, as we are on the edge 

 of a valley, but little sun, and the wind is certainly 

 never lacking. The villa itself lies off the road, in 

 a dense wood, but commands a view of the whole 

 city, and although the district is thickly populated 

 I enjoy that solitude dear to those who have fled 

 from town. More than this, I have a double attraction 

 to offer. Often Pico, appearing unexpectedly from 

 his oak-woods, drags me out of these shades to share 

 his supper. This, as you know, is frugal but sufficient, 

 well seasoned with pleasant conversation and jests. 

 But come and be my guest, and your supper shall be 

 as good and your wine perhaps better. For in this 

 I will venture to dispute the prize with Pico." 5 



Lorenzo made many improvements in the gardens at 

 Careggi, collecting all manner of rare plants and exotics 

 and adorning them with fine bronzes, such as the 

 superb statue of David and the beautiful fountain with 

 the boy strangling a dolphin, by Andrea Verrocchio, 

 which are now in Florence. Not content with the 

 villas erected by Cosimo, in 1485 he employed Giuliano 

 di Sangallo to build him a new country house at Poggio 

 a Caiano, on the banks of the Ombrone, half-way 

 between Florence and Pistoia. The grand double flight 

 of steps leading to the upper loggia and the vaulted 

 hall, which Vasari calls the loftiest he had ever seen, 



1 A. Poliziano, Opere, p. 135. 



17 B 



