THE GARDENS OF PAPAL ROME 



The delicate grace and charm of these reliefs, the 

 boundless wealth of fancy and infinite variety of 

 invention which they reveal, all seem to indicate how 

 large a part of the work was due to Raphael. Some of 

 the best authorities, Hittorf for instance, pronounce 

 the stuccoes of Villa Madama to be superior in beauty 

 of detail and composition to those of the Vatican 

 Loggie, while Burckhardt declares that some of the 

 motives can only have emanated from the master's 

 brain. 1 



But what concerns us more nearly is that Raphael 

 himself, without doubt, designed the gardens of Villa 

 Madama. Of this we have certain proof in a drawing 

 by his own hand in the Uffizi (No. 1355). Here, 

 lightly sketched after his manner, are the outlines of 

 the extensive gardens which he planned on the north- 

 east of the house, where the ground falls towards the 

 Tiber and Ponte Molle. We see how carefully he 

 adapted his design to the configuration of the hillside 

 by placing the gardens at three different levels. First 

 of all, from the terrace in front of the fayade, a double 

 flight of steps led down to a square garden laid out in 

 flower-beds and divided by pergolas, with one large 

 central pavilion. From this parterre another broad 

 stairway led to a round garden, adorned with loggias 

 and clumps of cypresses, while the third and largest 



1 Der Cicerone, ii. 179. 

 89 



