344 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAR DENER. 



[ May 12, 1863. 



are, however, among the over- wrought effects of hydraulic science 

 and art. More simple, and more artistically grand, are some of 

 the fountains of Rome ; that, for instance, which introduces the 

 aequo, Paola to Rome — a supply named after Pope Paul V., the 

 founder of the Borghesi family, who repaired one of the ancient 

 aqueducts, and so 

 united a magnificent 

 stream of water once 

 more to Rome, after 

 centurieB of severa- 

 tion, in consequence 

 of ruinous portions 

 of the aqueduct al- 

 lowing the stream to 

 waste itself uselessly 

 on the Campagna. 

 TouBher this restored 

 supply of the pre- 

 cious element into the 

 "Eternal City "with 

 due " pomp and cir- 

 cumstance," a mag- 

 nificent architectu- 

 ral composition was 

 erected on the slope 

 of the JaniculanH.il!, 

 between the columns 

 of which three grand- 

 ly designed apertures rfEfl 

 appear, from which ^JK,^ 

 three torrents, for no ^B 

 other term will suffi- ds 

 ciently express the 

 bulk of water — fall 

 with a deafening 

 sound, amid a cloud 

 of spray, into three gigantic tazze, from which conduits carry 

 the water to supply many of the greater, and an endless 

 number of the lesser fountains of Rome. The fountains on the 

 Piazza San' Pietro are, perhaps, the finest detached speoimens of 

 purely decorative fountains in existence. They are the work of 



and imposing. These, with the great fountain of Trevi, have 

 afforded Madame de Stael subject for some of her most eloquent, 

 descriptive passages in her admirable novel, " Corinne, ou 

 l'ltalie." 



No. 1 is a small, and, of course, inadequate representation of 



one of the foun- 

 tains of St. Peter's. 

 No. 2, that of Pa- 

 lazzo Fornesi ; and 

 No. 3, another 

 grand and simple 

 example of the 

 fountains of Rome 

 — that of the Court 

 of Belvidere. 



In these foun- 

 tains the abun- 

 dance of water al- 

 ways forms the 

 grandest feature — 

 a mere squirt is but 

 a caricature in com- 

 parison, for, to cite 

 a passage recently 

 quoted by Emerson 

 in bis " Represen- 

 tative Men," " A 

 single drop of sea- 

 water possesses ajl 

 the chemical pro- 

 perties of the great . 

 ocean of which it 

 is a part, but it 

 is incapable of re- 

 presenting the phe- 

 nomenon of a 

 storm." Thus we see that magnitude must inevitably form 

 a great element in the sublime, and that dimension, as well as 

 design, are points to be considered in the construction of objects 

 intended to produce a certain effect of grandeur. 



In places, however, where an enormous supply of water would 



-The Fountain of St. Peter's 



No. 2.— Fountains of tile Palazzo Fornesi. 



Carlo Maderno ; and such is the magnificent character of this 

 simple design — the quantity of water thrown up, and falling in 

 cloudB of spray, in which, at a certain hour, one or more rain- 

 bows are distinctly seen— that, even immediately in front of St. 

 Peter's, one of the largest and most imposing buildings in the 

 world, their effect so far from being insignificant, is most grand 



No. 3.— Fountain of the Vatican, in the Court of the Belvidere. 



be impossible, very pretty effects, approaching even the grand, 

 may be attained by judicious management. The water, by the 

 assistance of special contrivances, being made to appear more 

 plentiful than it is, and by the aid of moveable heads fitting on 

 the pipe of supply, a great variety of effects may be produced, 

 but these Bhould only be used on certain occasions, the simplest 



