The Italian Formal Garden 



Lante, at Bagnaia, near Viterbo, the work of Vignola, or Pirro 

 Ligorio's Villa Pia in the Vatican grounds, at Rome — com- 

 prises a rectangular territory of a few acres, rarely more than 

 ten or fifteen, its length twice or thrice its breadth, and the 

 major axis following the profile or slope of the hill on which it 

 is laid out. It is divided into three terraces (rarely two or four), 

 each faced by a stone retaining-wall, surmounted by a balus- 

 trade, and reached by broad stairways leading to the other 

 levels. The lower level, entered from the street by a somewhat 

 pretentious gateway, is the flower-garden proper; on the middle 

 level is the house or casino, with the more important architec- 

 tural accessories, such as colonnades, loggias, and summer 

 houses. Behind and above this, the third level, planted with 

 trees, and less formally treated than the other two, furnishes a 

 shady and secluded retreat, grassy under foot, leafy overhead, 

 musical with the song of birds and the trickle of water in the 



Cascade of Hercules 



DECORATIVE AND FESTAL CHARACTER" 



At the Villa d'Este on Lake Como 



30 



