THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 
104 
flatness of wall surface than really exists. The Palace is the residence of the Spanish 
Ambassador and it is not shown to the public, except that two or three of the lower ground- 
floor rooms containing some valuable pictures are open at certain hours. 
Although the original seven hills have been absorbed in the flood of building, some streets 
will occasionally bring forcibly home to the traveller’s mind the original hillsides of Rome. The 
mighty retaining wall of the Villa Aldobrandini, holding up a terraced garden, is a fine instance 
of a characteristic Roman street 
scene. The villa itself is in 
the distance, one of the garden 
pavilions occupying the fore- 
ground, while on the other 
side is the rich fa9ade of 
Santi Domenico e Sisto, built 
by Vincenzo della Greca about 
the year 1640. 
Villa Sciarra, on the Jani- 
culum, which for generations 
belonged to the Sciarra branch 
of the great Colonna family, 
was bought by Mr. Wurts, an 
American, who was passion- 
ately fond of gardening and 
garden decoration. Italians do 
not usually understand growing 
flowers, and prefer such roses 
and flowering shrubs as need 
little care ; but in such a 
climate, when an enthusiastic 
gardener takes matters in hand, 
the very perfection of floricul- 
ture may be expected. In the 
grounds of the Villa Sciarra, 
sheets of colour catch the eye 
at every turn, rose-rhododen- 
drons tower aloft, while rare 
and interesting plants fill the 
borders. In one little garden, 
where pansies of every shade 
make a brilliant carpet, twelve 
picturesque stone figures, 
representing the months, are set 
in a semicircle against close- 
clipped hedges with the happiest 
effect. From an old villa of the 
Viscontis comes the beautiful 
fountain illustrated, where the most charming of putti play games with the water and the Visconti 
dragon. The villa itself is a true summer-house with cool retreats, vaulted and softly lighted, in 
which to breathe the scent of flowers, to listen to the splash of fountains and to look down on 
Rome glowing in the sun and watch the Alban hills, sixteen and a half miles from Rome, ever 
changing, as the hours wear on, from delicate lilac and turquoise to purple amethyst and gold. 
The Sciarra gardens are on the site of the gardens of Julius Caesar, which he left to the people 
for public pleasure-grounds. Many remains of Roman days have been discovered in them, 
1 1 4 . — THE ROMAN WALL IN THE GARDEN OF THE BRITISH 
EMBASSY. 
