THE GARDENS OF PAPAL ROME 
by Battista under Raphael’s direction, we are able to 
realise the magnificence of the original design, which was 
never wholly executed. The chief fagade of the house, 
looking east, was remarkable for its simple and impos¬ 
ing character. The central portico was flanked by two 
wings each ending in a tower. On the south side, a 
stately hemicycle of Ionic pillars with niches for statues, 
intended for use as a theatre, looked towards the Borgo 
and St. Peter’s, and, on the north, another fine portico 
opened on the gardens. 
But the chief feature of the house was the great 
central Loggia, a magnificent hall with three arches sup¬ 
porting a lofty dome, entirely decorated with delicate 
reliefs in stucco and fresco, in the same style as the 
Vatican Loggia. The internal decoration of the villa 
was carried out by Giulio Romano and Giovanni da 
Udine. Giulio was Raphael’s favourite pupil and chief 
assistant, who painted Madonnas and frescoes from his 
master’s cartoons and acted as foreman of the vast work¬ 
shop in which architects and sculptors, painters, engravers, 
mosaic-workers, wood-carvers, and gilders were employed 
to carry out the ideas of the master-mind. Giovanni 
was a young Venetian who, after Giorgione’s death, had 
been recommended to Castiglione by Cardinal Grimani, 
and placed by him in Raphael’s charge. Of all the great 
master’s scholars, none had a larger share of his spirit or 
entered more fully into his thoughts than this lad from 
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