basin about a rockwork centre-piece, with minor fountains surrounding 

 a great central jet. Above the cornice runs a long line of stone vases, 

 now filled with aloes and other plants, each of which formerly was 

 a fountain adding its quota to the general effect. Doubtless when all the 

 fountains were in working order, and the air was filled with the spray of 

 falling water, it well deserved its high-sounding name. It is seen at its 

 best in the early morning, when half hidden by the mist-wreaths that 

 roll up from the Campagna, only to be dispersed later as the sun asserts 

 his power. 



Though the Girandola is attributed to Domenico Fontana, it 

 cannot for one moment compare with similar work by his brother 

 Giovanni in the neighbouring villas. In fact, both in conception and 

 detail it is so poor that one is tempted to place it a hundred years later ; 

 yet so unequal is the work produced by contemporary artists, that it is 

 more than possible for it to be of the same date as the grand stairways 

 in the lower part of the villa, which are a very different stamp of 

 work. 



Above the Girandola is the cascade, whose principal interest lies in its 

 peculiar sinuous outline, and in the sloping stone ledges which connect 

 its series of oval basins. Flights of moss-grown steps follow the curving 

 lines of these basins to a belvedere, which dominates the cascade, and 

 beneath which a stream of water gushes from the mouth of a huge 

 grotesque mask, almost hidden beneath a wealth of maidenhair which 

 takes complete possession of the damp and open-grained stone. 



The ground on each side of the cascade — in fact, the whole summit of 

 the hill — is clothed with a dense growth of evergreen-oak. A narrow 

 passage only is left for the cascade, high above which the trees tower. 

 Beyond, the trees open out, and encircle the great fountain, in its present 

 state perhaps the most beautiful feature in all these Frascati villas. Two 

 pictures are devoted to this fountain, but it is on so large a scale that 

 portions only of it can be satisfactorily shown. 



Its total width is about thirty-five yards, and it may roughly be 

 described as having four great lobes or semicircles, the segments of 

 which are united by two short angle-pieces. It is surrounded by a 

 richly carved balustrade, raised on a wide step ; facing the water, each of 



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