ROMAN VILLAS 
flanked by marble Cupids on dolphins, lead to an oval 
paved court with a central fountain in which the Cupid- 
motive is repeated. This court is enclosed by a low wall 
with a seat running around it and surmounted by marble 
vases of a beautiful tazza-like shape. Facing the loggia, 
the wall is broken (as at the Villa di Papa Giulio) by a 
small pavilion resting on an open arcade, with an attic 
adorned with stucco panels ; while at the sides, equidis- 
tant between the villa and the pavilion, are two vaulted 
porticoes, with facades like arches of triumph, by means 
of which access is obtained to curving ramps that lead 
to the lower level of the gardens. These porticoes are 
also richly adorned with stucco panels, and lined within 
with a mosaic-work of pebbles, forming niches for a row 
of busts. 
From the central pavilion one looks down on a tank 
at its base (the pavilion being a story lower on its outer 
or garden side). This tank is surmounted by a statue 
of Thetis on a rock-work throne, in a niche formed in 
the basement of the pavilion. The tank encloses the 
pavilion on three sides, like a moat, and the water, 
gushing from three niches, overflows the low stone curb 
and drips on a paved walk slightly hollowed to receive 
it — a device producing a wonderful effect of coolness 
and superabundance of water. 
The old gardens of the villa were on a level with the 
tank, and Falda’s print shows the ingenuity of their 
planning. These gardens have now been almost entirely 
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