and in the court there are two great basins of Oriental granite, 

 twenty-four palms long, which were brought from the Baths of Titus. 

 Immediately beyond this is the parterre, divided into six main 

 "quarters," each possessing its small central fountain and embroidery 

 of cut box. An obelisk, surrounded by four uncut cypresses, occupies 

 the principal position, where to-day stands the so-called fountain of 

 Venus. The remainder of the garden on this level is divided by 

 high hedges cut in two stages, into sixteen compartments, which 

 seem to have been variously planted with fruit and other trees. To 

 the right, by the side of the parterre, runs the great terrace wall, 

 with its architectural treatment of niches, with pilasters and cornice 

 and balustrade above. By a staircase within the wall the somewhat 

 formal bosco is reached, through which a pathway leads to the 

 " mount " or gazebo, which is ascended by a steep flight of steps and 

 is described by Falda as Mausoleo cercondato di Cipressi. 



This " mount," beyond which was another garden of flowers and 

 " simples " laid out in geometrical pattern, deserves notice as being 

 one of the few to be found in Italy, where, owing to the fall of the 

 ground, there is generally no object in having them. In England, on 

 the other hand, where the high garden walls made them almost a 

 necessity, they were at one time frequently to be found. 



Of all this but little is changed, though the bosco of fine old 

 ilex trees with their dark rich foliage and gnarled trunks has grown 

 wilder and more picturesque. 



When the Grand Dukes removed the more valuable statues from 

 the Gallery to Florence, the garden to a great extent also was 

 despoiled of all that was best worth removing. The whole group of 

 Niobe and her Children, which occupied a special pavilion at the 

 extremity of the garden ; the statue of Cleopatra, which also had a 

 casino or pavilion to itself, overhanging the city wall ; the bronze 

 Mercury of Giovanni da Bologna, executed for the Grand Duke 

 in 1598, which stood in ^the fountain at the top of the steps 

 leading to the loggia, and a copy of which has recently been placed 

 in its former position, were included with many others in the 

 spoliation. 



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