ITALIAN VILLAS 
in ivy-clad niches, and a curious crowning motive ter- 
minating in obelisks and balls. Beyond this the turf- 
walk continues again to a raised semicircular terrace, 
surrounded by a wall adorned with busts and enclosed 
in clipped ilexes. This terrace abuts on the ilex-clothed 
hillside which bounds the valley. A gateway leads 
directly into these wild romantic woods, and a steep 
irregular flight of stone steps is seen ascending the 
wooded slope to a tiny building on the crest of the hill. 
This ascent is called the Scala Santa, and the building 
to which it leads is a hermitage adorned with circular 
niches set in the form of a cross, each niche containing 
the bust of a saint. The hermitage being directly on 
the axis of the villa, one looks out from the latter down 
the admirable perspective of the tapis vert and up the 
Scala Santa to the little house at its summit. It is inter- 
esting to note that this effect of distance and grandeur 
is produced at small cost and in the simplest manner ; 
for the grass-walk with its semicircular end forms the 
whole extent of the Cetinale garden. The olive-orchards 
and corn-fields of the farm come up to the boundary 
walls of the walk, and the wood is left as nature planted 
it. Fontana, if it was indeed he who laid out this simple 
but admirable plan, was wise enough to profit by the 
natural advantage of the great forest of oak and ilex 
which clothes this part of the country, and to realize 
that only the broadest and simplest lines would be in 
harmony with so noble a background. 
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