170 
THE GARDENS OF ITALY 
CHAPTER XV. 
THE VILLA FALCONIERI. 
A pproaching this villa by the roughest of hill roads, which mainly run between 
walls enclosing valuable olive yards, the fine gateway, illustrated (Fig. 176) demands 
I attention by the quality of its tufa masonry. This gateway of 1729 was erected by 
Cardinal Falconieri. It is closed, as will be seen, by an intrusive tree growth, and 
another gateway higher up, of lesser architectural interest, leads into an enclosure, from which 
again a third gateway (Fig. 177) admits to an extensive forecourt of about one hundred yards 
in width. 
The villa is of great extent, broken, however, by a very prominent centre (Fig. 178), from which 
its extensive arcaded wings are set back so far as to seem like separate buildings. The house 
suffers so much from pink 
and yellow' washes that 
it is difficult to judge 
fairly of its architecture. 
The detail is of an 
inferior description, and 
there have been restora- 
tions evidently not abso- 
lutely in character with 
the original. The main 
niche head, for instance, 
is very poor in its 
decoration. The change 
of scale in main arches 
of the loggia is un- 
doubtedly a mistake, and 
the break downwards of 
the entablature is a 
detrimental whim. The 
strong feature of the 
design is the light and 
shade produced by the 
boldly advanced masses. 
The Palazzo is given 
as the work of Borromini 
(1599 — 1667) in 1648, 
though the villa was 
laid out by Cardinal 
Rufini in 1546. The 
scheme therefore is one 
of successive growth. A 
tablet in the hall records 
176.— THE DISUSED ENTRANCE OF THE VILLA FALCONIERI AT FRASCATI. a restoration in 184O. 
