THE ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
‘giardino segreto,’ or privy garden of the palace, and was laid out on one of the bastions 
constructed by Michael Angelo in 1529, when, as engineer to the Republic, he helped to defend 
the city during a siege of eleven months. 
This delightful little garden is laid out in compartments with box edgings, and long rows 
of carnations standing stiffly up from their pots along the low boundary walls. In the midst is 
a charming fountain, with bronze 
monkeys clambering round the 
open basin. Along one end is a 
casino adjoining the grim Bel¬ 
vedere fort; here the guests could 
rest during the hotter parts of the 
day, amid the lovely surrounding 
scenery. The casino is now de¬ 
voted to more utilitarian purposes, 
as a ‘ stanzone ’ for lemons. From 
the Porta Romana the main axial 
line of the garden extends in a 
direct line for rather more than 
half a mile, the greater part being 
occupied by a magnificent cypress 
walk. On either side the plots 
are laid out with ilex woods; one plot still remains as a kitchen garden, and is known as the 
‘ giardino degli ananas.’ 
Perhaps the greatest charm of the Boboli Garden is the ■ Isolotto,' at the foot of the cypress 
avenue. It is a lemon garden, laid out upon an oval-shaped island connected by two bridges. The 
entrance-gateways have coupled columns supporting goats, for the constellation Capricornus was 
that under which Cosimo I. had placed himself, according to the superstition of his day 
The whole composition is set within close-cut walls of ilex, and encompassed by a broad 
pathway with stone seats and quaint barocco fountains. In the canal are groups of mermen on 
swimming horses, strikingly sculptured. The ■ Isolotto’ itself is surrounded by a fine stone balus¬ 
trade, with great red terra-cotta pots between, taking the place of piers, and bearing orange-trees 
laden with their golden fruit. 
In the midst of the ‘ Isolotto ’ is John of Bologna’s gigantic fountain, surmounted by a figure 
of Oceanus; around the basin is an inscription to the effect that the enormous basin was placed 
here on July 18, 1618, in commemoration of the visit of the King of Hungary. 
Among the ilexes are several quaint fountain groups; in one a man empties wine from a 
small barrel into a larger vat, which a boy is playfully endeavouring to catch as it pours forth. 
Other groups represent old-fashioned Florentine games. 
