GARDENS OF FLORENTINE HUMANISTS 
the fine old citizen who thanked God that he was 
born in the days of Cosimo, built a villa at Quaracchi, 
which he spared no pains or expense to beautify. His 
son married Lorenzo’s sister Nannina, and his grand¬ 
son Giovanni, who was Castellan of Sant’ Angelo in 
the reign of Leo the Tenth, wrote a charming poem 
on the bees—“ Le Api ”—in which he describes this 
beloved country house. The poet dwells fondly on 
his recollections of the delicious spot, and recalls the 
whispering reeds in the pool, the bees and butterflies 
gathering honey from lilies and roses, the goats feeding 
in the meadow and the swallows circling in the air, the 
clear stream and grassy lawns, for which he sighed 
in the hot summer months. But he died in Rome 
a year afterwards, and never saw Quaracchi again. 
Many of these gardens have perished altogether, 
and those which remained were for the most part 
transformed into sumptuous pleasure-houses in the 
seventeenth or eighteenth century. But all alike 
were modelled on the plan of Pliny s Tuscan villa, 
with a portico opening on the xystus or terrace, walls 
bordered with clipped box or ilex hedges leading to 
grassy lawns adorned with fountains and marble seats. 
The view from the house or terrace was always a 
special feature. The site of the house was chosen 
chiefly for the sake of the prospect, whether, as at 
Castello and Poggo a Caiano, you looked out on 
