buted to Le Notre, but on quite insufficient grounds, and there is every 

 reason to suppose that the planning of both the casino and the gardens 

 was Algardi's. Unhappily, like the Villa Borghese, the gardens fell at 

 a later period under the blighting influence of the landscape gardener, 

 who made a clean sweep of all the beautiful lower terrace, leaving only 

 some fountains, and portions of the architectural work which are lost 

 amidst a tumble of shrubs and wild growth not at all interesting in itself. 

 The only portions which escaped were the terraces near the casind, 

 with the parterre and some ilex avenues. 



The casino, which betrays the influence of the Medici palace, is a 

 charming piece of design, decorated with busts, statues, medallions, and 

 bas-reliefs in a frame-work of the three orders. It is built on the edge of 

 a terrace overhanging tht parterre, the ground floor being on the lower 

 level. In a print issued by "Jo Jacobi de Rubei," low wings are 

 shown crowning the terrace wall and terminating in octagonal turrets. 

 It would be interesting to know if these were ever built, for the fagade 

 seems to require something of the kind. 



The giardino segreto, partly enclosed by terrace walls and decorated 

 with grottoes and niches for statues, has the most elaborate and extensive 

 parterre de broderie to be seen in the vicinity of Rome. A double stair 

 on each side of the " Fontana di Venere " leads from it to the lower 

 level. 



On the slope to the right a highly wrought system of fountains and 

 guiochi d'acque formerly existed, disposed on either side of a semicircular 

 teatro. This took the form of a low wall divided into panels, with bas- 

 reliefs of subjects taken from ancient mythology which were set between 

 small fountain basins, other fountains forming a fringe along the top. 

 At the foot of the wall a channel received the overflowing waters. 

 Above the teatro was a fountain, with Neptune and sea-horses set within 

 the curve of a horse-shoe stair that led to the great avenue beyond. 



Equidistant from this, on each side, were grottoes and peschiere with 

 tritons and syrens. In one of these grottoes a Faun was represented as 

 playing upon a pipe, and in order to give an air of reality an organ was 

 hidden behind it which not only made music for the pipe but also 

 produced an echo, " Wherefore spectators run ecstatically to hear the 



45 



