74 
THE ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
robed by a thick underwood of bay and myrtle, above which rise several nodding towers, and a 
long sweep of venerable wall, almost entirely concealed by ivy. You would have been enraptured 
with the broad masses of shade and dusky alleys that 
opened as I advanced, with white statues of fauns and 
sylvans glimmering among them, some of which pour water 
into sarcophagi of the purest marble covered with antique 
relievos. The capitals of columns and ancient friezes are 
scattered about as seats. On these I reposed myself, and 
looked up to the cypress groves which spring above their 
thickets; then, plunging into their retirements, I followed a 
winding path, which led me by a series of ascents to a 
green platform overlooking the whole extent of wood, with 
Florence deep beneath and the tops of the hills which encircle 
it jagged with pines, here and there a convent or villa 
whitening in the sun. Still ascending, I attained the brow 
of the eminence, and had nothing but the fortress of Bel¬ 
vedere and two or three open porticoes above me. On this 
elevated situation I found several walks of trellis-work, 
clothed with luxuriant vines. A colossal statue of Ceres, 
her hands extended in the act of scattering fertility over 
the country, crowns the summit. Descending alley after 
alley, and bank after bank, I came to the orangery in front 
of the palace, disposed in a grand amphitheatre, with marble 
niches relieved by dark foliage, out of which spring cedars 
and tall aerial cypresses. This spot brought the scenery 
of an antique Roman garden so vividly to my mind that, lost in the train of recollections this 
idea excited, I expected every instant to be called to the table of Lucullus hard by, in one of 
the porticoes, and to stretch myself on his purple triclinias ; but, waiting in vain for a summons 
until the approach of night, I returned delighted with a ramble that had led my imagination so 
far into antiquity.’ 
Inside the palace is preserved a charming little fountain, with a boy holding one of the 
balls which form part of the Medici arms, from which the water issues forth ; his right arm 
nurses a small goat. It is probably the work of John of Bologna. 
