ITALIAN VILLAS 
No villa was ever built on this site, and there is 
consequently an air of heaviness and over-importance 
about the stately ascent which leads merely to two 
domed pavilions ; but the composition would have 
regained its true value had it been crowned by such a 
palace as the Roman cardinals were beginning to erect 
for themselves. It is especially interesting to note the 
contrast in style and plan between this garden and that 
of the contemporaneous Villa Medici. One was designed 
for display, the other for privacy, and the success with 
which the purpose of each is fulfilled shows the origi- 
nality and independence of their creators. It is a com- 
mon error to think of the Italian gardens of the Renais- 
sance as repeating endlessly the same architectural 
effects : their peculiar charm lies chiefly in the versatility 
with which their designers adapted them to different 
sites and different requirements. 
As an example of this independence of meaningless 
conventions, let the student turn from the Villa Medici 
and the Orti Farnesiani to a third type of villa created 
at the same time — the Casino of Pope Pius IV in the 
Vatican gardens, built in 1560 by the Neapolitan archi- 
tect Pirro Ligorio. 
This exquisite little garden-house lies in a hollow of 
the outer Vatican gardens near the Via de’ Fondamenti. 
A hillside once clothed with a grove rises abruptly 
behind it, and in this hillside a deep oblong cut has 
been made and faced with a retaining-wall. In the 
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