Introduction 



the other." True, there was always symmetry and 

 balance, but it was not till the style was rendered 

 absurd by exaggeration and foolish conceits that 

 it aroused the scorn of those who had never 

 troubled to study examples of its best period. 



A garden in those days was essentially a place 

 to live in. It had sunny walks for cold days and 

 cool, shady woods and dripping grottos — the 

 " splendid improprieties " of Horace Walpole — 

 for hot weather. Stairways and ramps led from 

 terrace to terrace when the garden was on a hill 

 side, and the abundance of water usually available 

 supplied many fountains. In the designing of 

 these schemes most of the greatest sculptors and 

 architects of the day took part, yet even when the 

 simplest means were used the pools and fountains 

 are always delightful, each with its own especial 

 loveliness. Whether one stands by the great 

 central fountain and water spaces at Lante, or by 

 the plain rectangular pond with its tall cypresses at 

 Falconieri, the supreme suitability of each to its 

 surroundings is borne in upon one. 



Those who declare that they like what they call 

 " natural " gardens perhaps hardly realise what 

 they mean. Surely it is quite as unnatural to 

 slavishly copy nature as to frankly follow a certain 

 artistic design. Early in the last century " Capa- 

 bility Brown " was busy designing feigned steeples 

 for non-existent churches in order that the view 

 might become more attractive. A cascade was 

 considered so " unnatural " that whenever a 

 " meandering stream " changed its level the pretty 



