HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 



31 



charming circular Ioo-«jia and foun- 





tain. At intcr\-a]s, huge barocco 

 statues representing the Seasons 

 stand out like grim sentinels. At 

 the back upon the plateau is a 

 square" garden formally laid out 

 with clipped-box hedges, fountains 

 and grottoes. Scbastiani, ^\■ritin 

 in 1 74 1, gives a description of the 

 garden.s, and mentions a pool in 

 the middle of the lower garden 

 ha\-ing a huge HI)-, the crest of the 



Farnese family, formed of lead, which sent up a volume of water \\\\\\ such \-ehemcnce that it ])urst 

 in fine clouds of spray in which the sunbeams produced a rainbow. There is a very spacious 

 grotto against a retaining wall at the 

 far side of the garden, worked in stucco 

 and pebbles, its walls sustained by six 

 gigantic sylvan figures, whilst nymphs 

 sit within pla)-ing upon musical in- 

 struments. The ground rises gently 

 behind these gardens for some distance, 

 and an avenue of cypresses leads for 

 about a quarter of a mile to the 

 graceful little retreat knn^^■n as the 



Villa Farnese, laid out about seventy- 

 five years after the great palace by 

 Cardinal Odoardo Farnese. Its par- 

 terres are now overgrown and unkempt, 

 the once wcll-tcndcd paths arc ^\■eedy 

 and uncared for, and the great moss- 

 covered caryatides look sorrowfully down 



w 



pon a scene of disorder and neglect. 



At the extremity (jf the grand avenue 

 is a square courtyard and circular foun- 

 tain pool, and on either side are grottoes 

 with mosaics of pebbles and shellwork ; 

 between these grottoes a broad ascent 

 leads to an oval court \\\\\\ a large 



u 



