A FLORENTINE TERRACE 



Of the innumerable gardens of lesser note within the city walls, that at 

 one time added to the gaiety and charm of Florence, but few remain of 

 any interest. How many of these have been swept away during recent 

 so-called improvements, it would not be easy to say. As Ouida writes : 

 " Every day some architectural beauty, some noble avenue, some court 

 or loggia or gateway, some green lawn or shadowy ilex grove or 

 sculptured basin, musical with falling water and veiled with moss and 

 maidenhair, is swept away for ever." 



In Italy as in England it is only the minority who care for any of 

 these things, but even now in unexpected corners some quiet garden 

 betrays its presence by its overhanging boughs of ilex or bay, or by 

 some weather-stained statues dimly seen among overgrown bushes of 

 myrtle. Here a factory overlooks what was once a noble garden, and 

 still some oleanders and flowering shrubs with a wild growth of 

 clambering rose surround a dilapidated fountain. In yet another place a 

 baroque gateway with boldly modelled terra-cotta vases opens into a 

 little formal garden, with a fountain set back against the wall, presided 

 over by some forlorn water nymph, and flanked by trees of nespola and 

 almond. 



Even in the centre of the city not a few grand cortile still retain their 

 fountain, despite the mania for privacy which has enclosed far too many 

 of them with that modern abomination a sheet-iron gate-screen. Not 

 far distant from San Marco is an oblong cortile which gives an excellent 

 idea of the old garden court. Opposite to the entrance gate stands a 

 Venus, within a shallow niche that makes part of a bizarre architectural 



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