Within the wings are vaulted chambers. A porch or ante-chamber 

 on the left side gives entrance to the chapel of S. Sebastian, the patron 

 saint of the house of Aldobrandini ; on the right, in a similar chamber, 

 is " a miracle of human ingenuity, w^here the Muses and Apollo in life- 

 like attitudes are found on Mt. Parnassus, executed with such art that 

 they seem to live and breathe." Wind, generated by some hidden 

 device, causes the instruments with which Apollo and the Muses are 

 provided to sound, and "produces the sweetest harmony from the 

 trumpets, flutes, and horns, without the intervention of any human 

 agency." 



Appropriately enough, the walls were decorated by Domenichino 

 with a series of paintings of subjects taken from the myths of Apollo; but 

 the frescoes, having suffered a good deal from the damp, were removed to 

 the Palazzo Borghese in Rome. 



The vaulting is painted so as to represent an open trellis-work roof, 

 with vines trailing over it, and birds in great variety sitting among the 

 branches : a favourite device with the old artists, but not often used 

 nowadays, though occasionally it is to be met with in some unsophisti- 

 cated little wine-shop or trattoria. 



To return to the fountain-theatre. Above this, and evidently de- 

 signed to be seen to advantage from the loggie of the palace, is the 

 cascade, which, with its accompanying stairways, leads the eye upward to 

 a couple of detached columns. These originally had fountains at their 

 summits, and the spent water made its descent by way of a spiral 

 channel which wound round and round the column. The cascade itselt 

 was bordered by fountains from top to bottom, some of which were 

 concealed ; for hidden at the edge of each step were tiny nozzles, ingeni- 

 ously designed to sprinkle the unwary stranger. 



Still higher up the hill-side were other fountains, with channels 

 connecting them and arranged at different angles in order to suit the 

 slope. One of these fountains, now fallen into a state of considerable dis- 

 repair, but still picturesque, mellowed with age, and mossy, is shown in 

 one of Falda's prints. The full force of water comes down over a 

 jumble of rocks between two tall niches containing rustic figures, at 

 whose feet water also issues forth. Outside these niches are flanking 



62 



