GARDENS OF ESTE AND GONZAGA PRINCES 
towers. Within, a marble atrium, painted by Dossi 
with cupids and nymphs, opened into saloons decorated 
with frescoes or hung with tapestries. On the other 
side of the house, between the Duke’s private rooms 
and the chapel, was the giardino segreto , a sunk parterre 
with the usual low box hedges, where rare flowers and 
fruits were cultivated and the water of countless jets 
d'eau splashed into marble basins supported by putti 
and dolphins. Beyond this was a menagerie filled with 
elephants, ostriches, and other rare animals, and orchards 
and ilex woods growing down to the riverside. Here 
this soldier Duke, whose whole reign was one long 
struggle with three successive Popes, loved to spend his 
brief intervals of peace and leisure, saying in the motto 
inscribed on his mantelpiece that he was “ never less 
alone than when alone.” 1 
Soon the fame of this enchanted palace became the 
theme of every Court poet. Ariosto, in his Orlando , 
sang the praises of the joyous isle throned on the 
bosom of the king of rivers, the “ bel loco ” whose fruits 
are fairer than the apples of the Hesperides, and whose 
herds outnumber the flocks of Circe’s fold. Giulio 
Cesare Scaligero wrote a poem called Elysium dedi¬ 
cated to Alfonso’s sister, Isabella d’Este, describing 
this terrestrial paradise, and Tasso celebrated “ la vaga 
isoletta ” both in his sonnets and in his Aminta. It was 
1 E. Gruyer, L'artferrarais , i. 473. 
4 1 
