212 
THE GARDENS OE ITALY. 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
C A P R A R O L A . 
T he aim ot travel is secured and its benefits received when out of dim memories 
some day shines out as an ineffaceable recollection. It is a commonplace of 
travelling experience that such days most often arise out of some departure from the 
beaten track. Such a day, distinct after twenty-four years, was that of the drive to 
Caprarola from Viterbo. In recollection the way seems to have unrolled itself through hours of 
brilliant sunshine along a ridge between two valleys, each offering a magnificent prospect. At 
one point far below lay a mirror-like lake, the Lago di Vico. It seemed the ideal hill- 
surrounded pool of art and magic. Above it rose the volcanic Monte Venere. The road 
had passed from Latium into Pitruria, entering into the tangled centre of the peninsula, the 
region of those hill cities which 
have contributed so much to 
the formation of Italian art. 
The visit to Caprarola occu- 
pied the entire day, and two 
strong horses were required by 
the route across the hills, the 
head of the pass being nearly 
two thousand feet higher than 
Viterbo. The Farnese Palace, 
Vignola’s masterpiece, revealed 
itself as a great dominating mass 
covering the end of a spur be- 
tween two deep valleys, with the 
ground falling away steeply in 
front. It stood up in a proud 
isolation, like St. Peter’s, above 
its suburb (Fig. 222). The whole 
scheme of the pentagonal fortress palace explained itself upon the ground. Much that appeared 
to be complex on paper then appeared to be both natural and simple. Vignola’s skill in the 
management of architectural detail has anticipated any objection arising out of the supposed crude- 
ness of mere fortress imitation. He has known how to infuse a sufficient element of the palace to 
make it clear that his structure, despite its warlike mien, is still the lordly pleasure house. 
The pentagonal plan in itself is a good one, as three sides are visible at once, and the slightly 
acute angles produce a sharp effect in cornice projections. The building looks all its height 
of eighty-four feet and is well crowned by a good corbel cornice of the Vignola type. A 
certain flatness of surface projections has been preserved, which makes for breadth of effect in 
the mass. The materials are stone and rubble, mainly plastered with a texture which is almost 
that of rough-cast. All the lower parts are hewn in the solid rock, and the remarkable vaulted 
sub-structures are partly built and partly live rock. The bastions provide terraces with 
fine points of view', but they are not in themselves very happy in relation to the general 
mass, and thev might have been multiangular with advantage. 'Fhe great ditch is carried 
round, and isolates the gardens which rise up at the rear. The low^est part of the garden is 
