34 
THE ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
In the early years of the seventeenth century Giovanni Fontana (1546-1614) was engaged 
upon many important garden schemes; he was principally celebrated for his hydraulic works, and, 
besides arranging the waterworks in the Vatican gardens, he also designed those at the Villa 
Borghese, Rome, and the villas Aldobrandini, Taverna, and Mondragone, Frascati. 
Upon the right bank of the Mincio, and not far from Brescia, are the remains of the Castle 
of Goito, which in its day was much celebrated for its gardens. A castle had been constructed 
there in 1444, and between 1584 and 1587 great alterations were made to both the house and 
garden for the Gonzaga Guglielmo under the direction of an architect, Traballesi, who, judging 
from some correspondence which passed between him and his patron, must have been a man of 
great ingenuity with a fine vein of humour. Writing to the Duke May 21, 1587, he says : 
‘ I have made a model for a jest to be constructed within a pond. In the midst of the pond, 
