56 
THE ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
serve also to enclose the two charming little courtyard gardens on either side, both of which 
contain good fountains; one, of a satyr riding upon a dolphin, has a raised platform surrounded 
by a marble balustrade with semicircular balconies at the angles, illustrated on page 54. In the 
other courtyard is an octagonal basin and fountain. From the central paved court a double ramp 
descends to the parterre, flanked on either side by retaining walls and two wall-fountains. 
The gardens which rose from the hillside behind the palace have now been entirely 
destroyed. In September 1904, the last of the statuary was being thrown down and new roads 
being laid out. But the plan and section by M. Gautier made in 1832, on Plate 17, makes it 
possible to study the original scheme. A high retaining wall extending along the rear of the 
palace, at a sufficient distance behind to allow of an ample entrance courtyard being formed, 
supported a fine pergola with Doric columns, and from here steps led to a higher level, where 
there was an hexagonal fountain pool surrounded by a balustrade and rows of trees in tubs. 
At the west end of the terrace was a fine casino, the ruins of which may still be seen, and in 
the centre, semicircular stairways conducted to the higher level with the usual bosco behind, 
the whole hillside was covered with dark woods of ilex, and in the midst a large water-supply 
tank for the numerous fountains. In a lithograph by Chapuy and Deroy, the gardens are shown 
much in their original state. 
