GARDENS OF FLORENTINE HUMANISTS 



the fine old citizen who thanked God that he was 

 born in the days of Cosimo, built a villa at Quaracchi, 

 which he spared no pains or expense to beautify. His 

 son married Lorenzo's sister Nannina, and his grand- 

 son Giovanni, who was Castellan of Sant' Angelo in 

 the reign of Leo the Tenth, wrote a charming poem 

 on the bees " Le Api " in which he describes this 

 beloved country house. The poet dwells fondly on 

 his recollections of the delicious spot, and recalls the 

 whispering reeds in the pool, the bees and butterflies 

 gathering honey from lilies and roses, the goats feeding 

 in the meadow and the swallows circling in the air, the 

 clear stream and grassy lawns, for which he sighed 

 in the hot summer months. But he died in Rome 

 a year afterwards, and never saw Quaracchi again. 



Many of these gardens have perished altogether, 

 and those which remained were for the most part 

 transformed into sumptuous pleasure-houses in the 

 seventeenth or eighteenth century. But all alike 

 were modelled on the plan of Pliny's Tuscan villa, 

 with a portico opening on the xystus or terrace, walls 

 bordered with clipped box or ilex hedges leading to 

 grassy lawns adorned with fountains and marble seats. 

 The view from the house or terrace was always a 

 special feature. The site of the house was chosen 

 chiefly for the sake of the prospect, whether, as at 

 Castello and Poggo a Caiano, you looked out on 

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