FLORENTINE VILLAS 
one divided according to the varied requirements of its 
inmates, so a garden which is merely one huge outdoor 
room is also less interesting and less serviceable than 
one which has its logical divisions. Utility was doubt- 
less not the only consideration which produced this 
careful portioning off of the garden. ./Esthetic im- 
pressions were considered, and the effect of passing 
from the sunny fruit-garden to the dense grove, thence 
to the wide-reaching view, and again to the sheltered 
privacy of the pleached walk or the mossy coolness of 
the grotto — all this was taken into account by a race of 
artists who studied the contrast of aesthetic emotions as 
keenly as they did the juxtaposition of dark cypress and 
pale lemon-tree, of deep shade and level sunlight. But 
the real value of the old Italian garden-plan is that logic 
and beauty meet in it, as they should in all sound 
architectural work. Each quarter of the garden was 
placed where convenience required, and was made 
accessible from all the others by the most direct and 
rational means ; and from this intelligent method of 
planning the most varying effects of unexpectedness 
and beauty were obtained. 
It was said above that lawns are unsuited to the 
Italian soil and climate, but it must not be thought that 
the Italian gardeners did not appreciate the value of 
turf. They used it, but sparingly, knowing that it re- 
quired great care and was not a characteristic of the 
soil. The bowling-green of the Gamberaia shows how 
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