THE VILLA ALDOBRANDINI. 
163 
the top of the house, and the view from this point explains the lofty and narrow centre feature 
of the back front, which forms so characteristic a part of the outline of the villa. Seen between 
masses of trees, as the terminal of a vista, this tall, elegant bay with its Venetian loggia justifies itself. 
Behind is the boundless plain of the Campagna, against which it is silhouetted like a campanilli. 
The rush and murmur of the water as it speeds on its way down the slopes add to the singular 
charm of the spot. It explains the name of Belvedere often given to the villa. Built as the 
last work of Giacomo della Porta between 1598 and 1603, it was completed by Domenichino of 
Bologna. Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, nephew of Clement VIII, was the magnificent owner. 
He had added the Duchy of Ferrara to the Papal States, and the resources at his command must 
indeed have been great to enable him to undertake so immense a pleasure house. The waterworks 
were contrived by Giovanni Fontana and D’Orazio Olivieri, the greatest experts of the age. The 
interior of the house is not shown, but the chapel, comprised in the hemicycle, is interesting. 
169. — VILLA ALDOBRANDINI, FRASCATI : SOUTH-WEST ASCENT. 
The frescoes, perished by the damp, have been replaced by copies on canvas after the originals. 
There is a fine St. Sebastian under the lunette over the altar. St. Teresa and St. Fran9ois de 
Sails, the latter of whom is visiting the prisons, oecupy the sides of the chancel recess. 
In judging the architecture of this somewhat pompous hemicycle it is necessary to eliminate 
the rather crude colouring, the yellows, blues, etc., of its distemper washes. The crude mosaics 
and somewhat theatrical sculpture are also unfavourable elements (Figs. 172 and 174). The fact is 
that the visitor cannot but recall earlier instances where the same thing has been done with the 
happier results due to the employment of better architectural detail. The old trees, regularly 
(1) Main entrance. 
(2) Parterres, 
(3) Fountain opposite entrance. 
(4) Sloping way to first terrace. 
(5) Terrace in form of a circus. 
(6) Oiiinrunx of trees, 
1 7) Fountains at base of terrace wall. 
(8) Cold rooms and grottoes under terrace. 
{9) Parterres with flowers. 
{10) Terrace at level of ground floor ol Villa. 
(11) Vestibule. 
(12) Living-rooms. 
(13) Terrace at level of first floor of Villa. 
(14) Quincunx. 
(13) Grass lawns with jet fountain. 
(16) Grand stairways to gardens, 
{Set' plan on page 162.) 
{17) Apsidal terrace with niches and foun- 
tains. 
(18) Cold rooms under terrace. 
{19) Water channel between cascades. 
(20) Fountain wliich feeds waters of 
cascade. 
(21) Woods which rise in amphitheatre to 
top of mountain. 
