H 



THE VILLA D' ESTE, TIVOLI 



PLATES 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 



J 



all Italy there are no more stately gardens nor any nobler cypress-trees 

 than at Villa d' Este, at Tivoli. * In the spring, by the straight smooth 

 ways under the ilexes and cypresses, all day the golden gloom 'is made 

 rosy, where ever and anon red Judas-trees shower down their bloom. Marble 

 stairs lead up through terraced heights to paved walks under the palazzo 



^ 



walls. -The lofty spires of ancient cypresses reach up above the topmost 



terrace; far below in the garden, between their dark ranks, sparkle the 



upspringing fountains. Beyond, above the tallest cypresses, rise brown crumbling walls of the 



old town. To the west rolls out the ocean of the wide Campagna, undulating far away where 



Rome IS lost in the sunset.' This charming description, by the Hon. Mrs. Boyle, well portrays 



h 



the grandeur of the wonderful situation of the Villa d' Este, perhaps the most beautiful site of 



■- h 



any garden in Italy. 



It was in 1549 that Ippolito d' Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, having been appointed governor 

 of Tivoli by Pope Paul III., first decided to take up his residence here; to pull down the 

 ancient castello, and erect the sumptuous villa that now exists. He called to his aid Pirro 

 Ligorio, the architect of the charming little Villa Pia, in the garden of the Vatican, and pupil of 



Vignola. 



Much of the land had to be acquired from the municipality to lay out the garden 



a gigantic task, and one which only the opulence of a prince of the Church could undertake. 

 According to Uberto Faglietta, writing in 1629, a considerable part of the village had to be 

 demolished, and the ground upon the eastern side of the garden considerably excavated. The 

 earth thus obtained went to extend the boundary upon the western side, where a huge retainin^^ 

 wall was constructed. ' 



The villa was intended only as a summer residence, and we see it to-day in an incomplete 

 state, void of all architectural embellishment— a barrack-like structure planned to house a 

 Cardinal and his suite, numbering, it is said, as many as two hundred and fifty persons. Though 

 the casino was never entirely completed, no effort was spared in the laying out of the grounds, 

 which were the joint design of Pirro Ligorio, Giacomo della Porta, and the famous hydraulic 

 engineer, Orazio Olivicri, whose work we have also seen at the Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati. 



( 125) 



L L 



