European and Japanese Gardens 



THE DECORATIONS OF ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE' 



Approach to Central Fountain 



Villa Lante, Bagnaia 



avenues so as to provide vistas closed bv decorative structures, 

 and to oiier at every turn a pleasing contrast in the juxtaposi- 

 tion of art and nature. 



Every one of these elements has its origin in Roman prac- 

 tice, as shown not only by ruins, but by frescoes in Rome (as 

 in the Casino di Livia on the Palatine) and Pompeii. Each 

 has in a measure been adopted in the landscape gardening of 

 other countries, but rarely are all four elements combined as 

 they are in Italy. On the other hand, the Italian gardener 

 rarely or never employs the vast levels and long vistas of 

 French gardening, while, in the treatment of water, he avoids 

 the massive and lofty jets and immense basins which distin- 

 guish the gardens of Versailles. Toward the sloping lawns 

 and meandering paths of English and American grounds he 

 feels much as the Erenchman did who said, " Nothing is easier 

 than to lay out an English garden : one has only to make the 

 gardener drunk and then follow his meanderings." 



The typical Italian villa — such, for instance, as the X'illa 



29 



