ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 



right to the benefices which he already held. He 

 was thoroughly sick of Rome, and hated the sight 

 of a pen. At length, in June 1521, he obtained 

 leave of absence on the score of ill health, and left 

 the Eternal City, with the fixed resolve never to 

 return there. 



" God knows," he wrote from the Villa to his old 

 Urbino friend, Archbishop Fregoso, " that I left 

 Rome and Pope Leo, on pretence of taking a short 

 holiday for the good of my health, but with the 

 firm resolution never to return and to spend what little 

 is left me of life, for my own enjoyment, not for 

 that of others. I am settled in Padua, a beautiful 

 city with a temperate climate, quiet and convenient 

 and singularly well adapted for the pursuit of letters. 

 I spend part of my time in town, and part in this 

 Villa, free from all cares, or, if my slender resources 

 entail some burdens that I cannot lay down, these 

 are comparatively light and do not hinder my studies. 

 I would have taken this step long ago if it had 

 been possible, and should not have wasted ten of the 

 best years of my life which have been thrown away, 

 excepting so far as they have procured me a little 

 fortune and freedom." * 



During the next ten years most of Bembo's life 

 was spent at his beloved Villa. In 1527 he succeeded 

 in buying a fine palazzo in the parish of S. Barto- 

 lommeo in Padua, close to the great church of the 



1 Letters, \. 118. 

 140 



