GARDENS OF ESTE AND GONZAGA PRINCES 



towers. Within, a marble atrium, painted by Dossi 

 with cupids and nymphs, opened into saloons decorated 

 with frescoes or hung with tapestries. On the other 

 side of the house, between the Duke's private rooms 

 and the chapel, was the giardino segreto^ a sunk parterre 

 with the usual low box hedges, where rare flowers and 

 fruits were cultivated and the water of countless jets 

 d'eau splashed into marble basins supported by putti 

 and dolphins. Beyond this was a menagerie filled with 

 elephants, ostriches, and other rare animals, and orchards 

 and ilex woods growing down to the riverside. Here 

 this soldier Duke, whose whole reign was one long 

 struggle with three successive Popes, loved to spend his 

 brief intervals of peace and leisure, saying in the motto 

 inscribed on his mantelpiece that he was " never less 

 alone than when alone." * 



Soon the fame of this enchanted palace became the 

 theme of every Court poet. Ariosto, in his Orlando, 

 sang the praises of the joyous isle throned on the 

 bosom of the king of rivers, the " bel loco " whose fruits 

 are fairer than the apples of the Hesperides, and whose 

 herds outnumber the flocks of Circe's fold. Giulio 

 Cesare Scaligero wrote a poem called Elysium dedi- 

 cated to Alfonso's sister, Isabella d'Este, describing 

 this terrestrial paradise, and Tasso celebrated " la vaga 

 isoletta " both in his sonnets and in his Aminta. It was 



1 E. Gruyer, L'artferrarais, i. 473. 



4 1 



