European and Japanese Gardens 
“essential FEATURES OF THE VILLA GARDEN” 
an of Villa Lante At Bagnaia 
■ — t£j 
if f I 
lift 
4 - 
P-^ 
it si \tm L-d 
K - ... 2^5 '• Zw*-~- .. 
1 loo feel! 
ancient and glorious 
estates with such 
loveliness of pros¬ 
pect and setting. 
Given the condi¬ 
tions which I have 
tried to sketch, it is 
easy to understand 
the results that came 
about in the domain 
of landscape gard¬ 
ening. The churchly 
patricians who built 
the villas were no 
recluses, seeking the 
solitude of the glens 
and forests to hold 
communion only 
with themselves and 
nature. They were 
the powerful, proud 
and wealthy leaders 
of a society conspic¬ 
uous for its worldli¬ 
ness and love of dis¬ 
play. Like true Ital¬ 
ians they loved the 
open air, but unlike 
the lords of Eng¬ 
land and France, 
they had no taste for 
the chase, and the 
necessities of their 
state precluded their 
resorting to distant 
castles embowered 
in the forests or hid¬ 
den in the gorges 
of the Apennines. 
It was to the villa 
that they fled for 
21 
