VILLA DI CASTELLO 
NEAR FLORENCE 
PLATES 40, 41, 42, 43 
hired horses to go to a country place of the Duke’s, called Castello,’ writes 
Montaigne in the latter part of the sixteenth century ; ‘ there are several 
gardens admirably laid out, all of them on the slope of a hill, so that the 
straight walks are upon a descent, the cross walks are levelled and terraced. 
In the centre of one of the pieces of water is an artificial rock, which looks 
all frozen over, and at the top is a statue of brass, representing a very old 
grey-haired man, seated in a melancholy attitude, with folded arms, from 
whose beard the water is incessantly running, drop by drop, so as to represent tears and perspiration- 
Elsewhere we had an amusing experience; for, walking through the garden, and looking at its 
singularities, the gardener having left us for the purpose, as we were standing at a certain spot 
looking at the marble figures, there issued under our feet and between our legs, through infinite 
small holes, jets of water so fine as to be almost invisible.’ 
The villa of Castello was built by Pier Francesco de’ Medici, as Vasari remarks, ‘with 
much judgment,’ from the designs of Buontalenti; its low-lying fa9ade stands some little distance 
back from the main road, from which it is approached by a double avenue of chestnuts upon a 
gentle incline. The garden is planned upon the slope to the north of the villa, a charming spot 
upon a still summer day, when the sweet-scented magnolias are in full blossom, and oleanders 
mingle their willow-like wands and rose-coloured blooms with the glorious foliage of orange and 
lemon trees, and give a luxuriant air to what is a typical Italian formal garden. In the centre 
of the parterre is the fountain of Hercules, illustrated on Plate 41, surrounded by classic figures 
with tightly drawn drapery, supposed to be portraits of members of the Medici family. This 
fountain is one of the finest to be met with in Italy, in every detail a work of consummate art. 
It is generally supposed to have been the work of John of Bologna; but Vasari attributes it to 
II Tribolo; above the pool are two basins of marble; the larger one has four little bronze ‘putti’ 
playing half in the water. Below, upon the stem of the fountain, seven marble ‘ putti ’ are seated 
upon lions’ claws. Upon the upper and smaller basin are four rams’ heads, with water issuing 
from their mouths. Above are marble figures of children holding wild geese by their necks, 
which spout water from their bills. The whole is crowned by a bronze group of Hercules 
wrestling with Antasus, by Ammanati. Upon a rather higher level is the orange garden, with 
central flight of steps, whence issue many tiny jets of water (see Plate 42). These secret 
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