most agreeable shade. This avenue of mulberries opens on to the high 

 road to Prato by a gate placed between two fountains, which give water to 

 the travellers who pass that way, as well as to their animals and the cattle 

 of the neighbourhood. 



" The northern front of the palace — that which looks towards the hill 

 — has a lawn before it, the length of which is equal to that of the palace, 

 the stables, and the private garden united, and from this lawn there is an 

 ascent by steps to the principal garden, and the garden itself, rising by a 

 gentle acclivity, extends to such a distance from the palace as to be 

 entirely open to the influence of the southern sun, precisely as if no 

 building stood before it. At its upper end, moreover, the garden attains 

 to such a height that not only is the whole ot the palace to be discovered 

 therefrom, but the entire plain extending before and around it, together 

 with the city itself. 



" In the midst of the last-mentioned garden there is a wood of high 

 cypresses, with laurels and shrubs of various kinds, which form a circle, 

 wherein is a labyrinth surrounded by hedges of box two braccia 

 and a half high, the growth being so equal, and the whole arranged 

 in so beautiful a manner that they might be taken for a work of the 

 pencil. In the centre of this labyrinth, Tribolo, by command of the 

 Duke, was to erect a marble fountain of great beauty. ... It was 

 Tribolo's intention to display the highest powers of art by means of the 

 various jets and ornamental forms into which the water was to be thrown, 

 and by the numerous decorations to be placed about the fountain, around 

 which there was to be a commodious and beautiful range of seats 

 for repose. The marble basin he proposed to make, as was in effect sub- 

 sequently done, was much smaller than that of the large and principal 

 fountain, and he intended to place therein a figure of bronze, throwing 

 water from its mouth. 



" At the end of this garden there was to be a portal in the centre, with 

 marble figures of boys throwing water ; a fountain was to be formed on 

 each side, and in the angles were to be double niches, within which 

 statues were to be placed, similar to those which are in the niches of the 

 side walls, and ranged along the avenues by which the garden is traversed; 

 all to be standing in various compartments and surrounded with verdure. 



90 



