ITALIAN VILLAS 
well the beauty of a long stretch of greensward was 
understood ; and at the Villa Capponi, at Arcetri, on 
the other side of Florence, there is a fine oblong of old 
turf adjoining the house, said to be the only surviving 
fragment of the original garden. These bits of sward 
were always used near the house, where their full value 
could be enjoyed, and were set like jewels in clipped 
hedges or statue-crowned walls. Though doubtless 
intended chiefly for games, they were certainly valued 
for their aesthetic effect, for in many Italian gardens 
steep grass alleys flanked by walls of beech or ilex are 
seen ascending a hillside to the temple or statue which 
forms the crowning ornament of the grounds. In 
Florence a good example of this tapis vert , of which 
Le Notre afterward made such admirable use in the 
moist climate of France, is seen at the Villa Danti, on 
the Arno near Campiobbi. 
Close to the ducal villas of Castello lies a country- 
seat possessing much of the intimate charm which they 
lack. This is Prince Corsini’s villa, the finest example 
of a baroque country house near Florence. The old 
villa, of which the typical Tuscan elevation may still be 
seen at the back, was remodelled during the latter half 
of the seventeenth century, probably by Antonio Ferri, 
who built the state saloon and staircase of the Palazzo 
Corsini on the Lungarno. The Villa Corsini lies in the 
plain, like Castello, and has before it the usual walled 
semicircle. The front of the villa is frankly baroque, a 
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