VILLA IMPERIALI 



Built on the slopes of a semicircular range of lofty hills, Genoa owes 

 much to the beauty of her position and to the rich vegetation in the 

 midst of which she is placed. 



Although, at the commencement of the Renaissance, the city pro- 

 duced no artist of the first rank, it was not long ere she employed several 

 of the best artists of the day, among whom may be mentioned Fra 

 Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, Giacomo della Porta, Giambologna, 

 Galeazzo Alessi, Giovanni Battista Castello, and Perino del Vaga. 



After the siege of Rome in the year 1527, Perino del Vaga, a 

 favourite pupil of Raphael, in order to escape the miseries which followed 

 the sack of the city, fled to Genoa, where he was well received by Prince 

 Andrea Doria, who was at that time engaged in enlarging and beauti- 

 fying the palace which had been presented to him in recognition of his 

 great services to the State. Here Perino not only decorated the principal 

 rooms of the palace and the garden pavilion, but superintended the 

 painting of the garden fa9ade with frescoes " qui represente des jeux 

 d'enfants." Unhappily the paintings on this fa9ade have entirely dis- 

 appeared, but the remains of similar decoration on other Genoese palaces 

 carried out by his pupils give some conception of their beauty. 



As del Vaga appears to have been consulted on all matters of taste by 

 his patron, it is more than probable that the garden plan, which dates 

 from about the year 1530, is also his. He would naturally be familiar 

 with the gardens recently laid out in the neighbourhood of Rome ; 

 notably those of the Vatican and the Villa Madama, both of which are 

 said to have been designed, in part at least, by Raphael himself, 



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