fountain on either side. Baldinucci states that Susini was paid the sum 

 of 1250 scudi for his various works in marble in connection with this 

 fountain, which is said to have replaced an earlier one by Baccio 

 Bandinelli, some of the statues from which were distributed about the 

 gardens. 



Opposite the centre of the palace is a spacious theatre, or amphi- 

 theatre as it is commonly called. This has served in times past not only 

 for jousts and games, but likewise for those gorgeous pageants conceived 

 and conducted for the pleasure not only of the audience but also of those 

 taking part in the spectacle, and in the preparation of which some of the 

 greatest artists were employed. A more delightful background for such 

 a purpose it would be difficult to imagine. 



This theatre is surrounded by six tiers of stone benches, finished with 

 a balustrade and niches for statues and vases which stand out boldly 

 against the dark ilex hedge with its fringe of cypresses. Until the 

 middle of the eighteenth century the piazza of this amphitheatre was 

 kept free from any embellishment, but about 1740 it was planted as 

 a parterre with " various sweet-scented flowers in squares bordered by 

 little cypress and box trees," and marble statues and vases with many 

 kinds of orange- and lemon-tree were set about it. Of late the older 

 arrangement has been restored, and gravel paths and rough grass have 

 again taken the place of the parterre. The baldness of the present 

 arrangement is emphasised by the two miserable little beds of geraniums 

 and sickly palms that are left. The ugly, modern-looking area, too, that 

 divides the fountain from the garden, helps to give a poverty-stricken air 

 to what might so easily be made the most delightful section of the 

 garden. 



The curve of the amphitheatre is broken by a wide walk, 

 which follows the slope of the hill and leads upwards between high 

 hedges of evergreen oak to the Vivaio or Fountain of Neptune. This is a 

 capacious cistern or peschiera, hemmed in by grass terraces, which 

 supplies the fountains in the lower part of the grounds. The centre- 

 piece of this vhaio represents the Triumph of Neptune, and was set up 

 by order of the Grand Duke Cosimo I. It is formed of a great mass of 

 stalactite with Tritons, marine monsters, and huge conchs, " with other 



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