European and Japanese Gardens 
“the decorations of ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE” 
Approach to Central Fountain Villa Lante, Bagnaia 
avenues so as to provide vistas closed by decorative structures, 
and to offer at every turn a pleasing contrast in the juxtaposi¬ 
tion of art and nature. 
Every one of these elements has its origin in Roman prac¬ 
tice, as shown not only by ruins, but by frescoes in Rome (as 
in the Casino di Livia on the Palatine) and Pompeii. Each 
has in a measure been adopted in the landscape gardening of 
other countries, but rarely are all four elements combined as 
they are in Italy. On the other hand, the Italian gardener 
rarely or never employs the vast levels and long vistas of 
French gardening, while, in the treatment of water, he avoids 
the massive and lofty jets and immense basins which distin¬ 
guish the gardens of Versailles. Toward the sloping lawns 
and meandering paths of English and American grounds he 
feels much as the Frenchman did who said, “ Nothing is easier 
than to lay out an English garden : one has only to make the 
gardener drunk and then follow his meanderings.” 
The typical Italian villa—such, for instance, as the Villa 
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