2 THE BOOK OF GARDEN FURNITURE 



alcoves, and seats, near which bubbled tiny fountains. 

 Urns and statues were much used for the decoration of 

 gardens by the celebrated Cardinal d'Este, early in the 

 sixteenth century, and the fashion quickly spread from 

 one European country to another. During the seven- 

 teenth century, Evelyn, then on a visit to Italy, gives his 

 impressions of some of the gardens which he visited. 

 Treillage was evidently appreciated, for he tells of "a 

 magnificent wire cupola supported by slender brick piers, 

 and thickly covered with ivy." At Frascati, Naples, 

 and Florence, the great villas vied with one another 

 in the sumptuous magnificence of their garden decora- 

 tions. Whole courtyards were given over to a display of 

 fountains, besides which the modern marvels of Chats- 

 worth would surely pale into insignificance. Statues 

 costing enormous sums, vases and urns of prodigious size 

 and exquisite workmanship, were lavishly employed. In 

 such a fashion did the wealth of the cardinals, to whom 

 Italy owes most of its great villas, find outlet. 



Next to Italy, France is the country which has always 

 displayed the greatest preference for artificial embellish- 

 ment in the garden. One of the most celebrated 

 designers was Le Notre, and under Louis XIV. he 

 had ample encouragement to display his talent. The 

 gardens of the Tuilleries, Versailles, Trianon, and St. 

 Cloud all owed their splendour to his skill, which did not 

 pass unrewarded. Fountains with extraordinary figures, 

 gilt trellis-work, statues and therms, all were to be found 

 in the great gardens with which he was connected. In 

 later years, when the fashion for the English style of 

 garden came in, these costly structures were swept away 

 with ruthless hand. Spanish gardens were usually well 

 supplied with fountains, arbours, and trellis structures, but 

 the formal style was little seen except in the extensive 

 grounds attached to the old palaces. In England, the 

 climate has always been against the excessive use of 



