246 VERSAILLES. 



repose which are characteristics of the greater part of Ver- 

 sailles, are here absent. It is simply a sweep of grass, sur- 

 rounded by handsome trees, with a few flower beds and fine- 

 leaved plants here and there. It is but one of a thousand 

 types of scene which pure taste and a knowledge of hardy 

 trees and plants may produce, and yet it is sufficient to 

 show the vain, unsatisfactory, and trumpery character of 

 the various far more costly gardens in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. All visitors should see it after surveying the 

 general dreariness of the rest. 



Fig. 91. 



The Tapis Vert. 



To the south of the Tapis Vert, and near the Jardin du 

 Roi, the Colonnade is very well worth seeing, and perhaps 

 the happiest feature of the architectural gardening. The 

 grove encloses a peristyle in marble about one hundred feet 

 in diameter. It is composed of thirty-two columns of 

 marble in different colours, with the capitals in white 

 marble, and all most richly ornamented. Under each arch 

 is placed a vase-like basin in marble from which springs a 

 jet d'eau, and in the centre of the arena is a group in 

 marble representing the Rape of Proserpine. The effect of 



