Riario, from whom it passed to the Corsini family early in the eighteenth 

 century, being purchased by Pope Clement XII. for his nephew Cardinal 

 Neri Corsini. 



Cav. Ferdinando Fuga, who was employed to enlarge and improve 

 the palace, probably extended the gardens and built the present cascade 

 with its accompanying stairways. Of the garden as it existed at this 

 time' we know little, the accounts of it which come down to us being 



but meagre. 



The Corsini Palace throws out wings gardenwards ; these are 

 pleasantly connected by arcades, which carry balustraded terraces above 

 and form spacious courts. Stretching the whole breadth of the palace 

 is a great garden court enclosed by an iron grille with large piers at 

 intervals, which, being decorated with panel work and mouldings, form 

 a striking feature. Above the cornice is a pedestal enriched with 

 delicate scrolls, which carries a handsome terra-cotta urn with fluted 

 body and handles ornamented with masks and foliage. 



The lower part of the garden is nearly level and is now laid down 

 with rough grass, broken here and there by beds of rose bushes. An 

 avenue of palms leads to the central feature of this level. This is a bold 

 handsome fountain-basin with low moulded rim, quatre-foil in plan. 

 The centre is occupied by two tritons, two grown-up water-babies who 

 sport in the water. These act as supporters to a basket of fruit and 

 flowers, from the centre of which the principal jet of water rises to 

 a height of some forty feet or more, and, falling back, keeps the group 

 in a state of perpetual moisture, which gives them a rich colour like 

 old bronze. These tritons have the peculiarity of possessing, in place 

 of the usual arrangement, two long and sinuous fish-tails apiece, which 

 start from the thighs, and their serpent-like coils appear above the 

 surface of the water or peer through the masses of water-lilies, which 

 cover the basin and bid fair to take entire possession of it. 



Large bright blue dragon-flies sport in the sun ; green frogs, invisible 

 against the green leaves, jump with a splash into the waterS-when 

 disturbed ; and all day long swifts and swallows skim over the| surface! of 

 the long seedy grass, seeming to find endless supplies of food amidst 

 their beautiful surroundings. 



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