GARDENS OF ESTE AND GONZAGA PRINCES 



were broken," wrote the secretary Stabellino to Isabella 

 at Mantua, " I need say no more when you learn that 

 this solitary knight-errant all in white was none other 

 than our own illustrious Prince Ercole." l 



It was Ercole's successor, Alfonso the Second, who 

 conceived the idea of connecting all the palaces and 

 gardens in different parts of the city by a road and 

 waterway reserved exclusively for the use of the Court. 

 The Via Ducale, as it was called, consisted of a canal 

 flowing between grassy banks and flowering shrubs, 

 with a carriage road on either side shaded by tall elms 

 and plane trees, and a footway bordered with pleached 

 olive trees and a thick growth of vines. By this means 

 the ducal family and their guests could go by boat or 

 carriage or else on foot round three parts of the city 

 without being exposed to the public gaze. Alfonso 

 himself, who took genuine delight in gardening, often 

 spent whole mornings riding along the Viale from one 

 villa to another, planning fresh improvements and 

 examining his shrubs and flowers. 



Starting from the Gate of the Lions, the Viale led 

 through the Castello Gardens and the grounds of 

 Alfonso the First's Castellina to the Porta S. Benedetto, 

 past the monastery of S. Gabriele, under a wall covered 

 with a trellis of pomegranate trees. Then, turning a 

 sharp corner, it followed the western ramparts, past the 



1 B. Fontana, Renata di Francia, i. 1 56. 



43 



