villa, where carriages and serving-men could wait their masters' 



pleasure. 



It would be interesting to know to what extent the piazzas of Rome 

 were originally merely forecourts to the great palaces. About some 

 there can be little doubt ; the fine fountains which flank the entrance- 

 gate and which bear the arms of the family tell their own story, as in 

 the case of the Piazza Farnese with its splendid pair of fountains which 

 carry the lily of the Farnese as their chief ornament. 



One of the most picturesque of these minor gardens, of which there 

 is no lack beyond the walls if you but take the trouble to seek them out, 

 is the Villa Piatti. It lies some short distance outside the walls, in a 

 fold of the Campagna, and away from the beaten track ; so cleverly 

 concealed that few people would suspect its existence. At the side of 

 the rough country lane an archway, covered by a great penthouse roof, 

 admits to both villa and podere. The casino, half hidden behind a bank 

 of trees, is set back some distance from the road, and it is only on a 

 nearer approach that you discover into what a truly delightful place you 

 have stumbled. 



The gardens lie on the side away from the road and occupy a 

 comparatively narrow strip of ground, some hundred yards in width, 

 which runs in a straight line across a shallow valley. The podere which 

 closes them in on every side is to a great extent shut off by high hedges 

 of sweet bay. 



The flower-garden is no longer laid out in the old style, the box- 

 work parterre having been replaced by grass with beds of flowers and 

 flowering shrubs arranged about it, with a few taller trees scattered over 

 the lawn, slim peach and almond trees contrasting pleasantly with the 

 denser foliage of nespoli. 



At the end of the parterre is a slight drop in the level, marked by a 

 wall and short flights of stairs. Beyond that is a great circular plateau 

 enclosed by a low broad-topped wall, upon which pots of lemon, oleander, 

 azalea, and all kinds of flowers are ranged at convenient height. 

 From openings to the right and left, guarded by terminal figures, 

 pleached alleys of bay lead away far into the cultivated land. In the 

 middle of this terrace is an unusually large fountain-basin, or pescbiera ; 



40 



