THE ROYAL PALACE OF THE QUIRINAL 
PLATES 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 
LTHOUGH situated in the very heart of Rome, all is quiet and peaceful when 
once within the gateway of this delightful retreat; having passed the porter’s 
lodge, we are completely shut out from a crowded, busy world, and may wander 
with pleasure for hours in a garden of shady walks, gay flowers, and noble 
trees. The situation has always been considered a very healthy one, and John 
Evelyn notes : ' The garden which is called the Belvedere di Monte Cavallo, 
in emulation of that of the Vatican, is most excellent for ayre and prospect, 
its exquisite fountaines, close walks, grots, piscinas, or stews for fish, planted about with venerable 
cypresses, and refreshed with water, music, avairies, and other rarities.’ The engraving reproduced 
on Plate 66, from Falda’s work, illustrates clearly the design of the garden as it appeared about 
the middle of the seventeenth century, laid out with numerous simple squares, each surrounded 
by a low hedge of myrtle, laurel, or box, some enclosing thickets of ilex, others laid out in set 
designs with fountains. Intersecting alleys of cypresses extend across the garden. The plan of 
Rome by Giambattista Nolli, dated 1748, shows that the garden remained in practically the same 
condition at this date, except that the small garden on the extreme right of Falda’s view is laid 
out as a parterre, in which condition it still remains. According to Nolli’s plan there were 
altogether fifty-nine of these square parterres, which were all exactly similar, and which, in their lack 
of variety, must have been somewhat monotonous. The Palace of the Quirinal consists of an oblong 
courtyard, round which the buildings are ranged ; a long wing extends eastward the entire length 
of the garden. The northern boundary is entirely devoted to the stables, around a courtyard which 
upon Nolli’s plan is indicated as the Cortile della Panateria. The huge hydraulic organ, illustrated 
in Plate 65, was constructed in 1596 and restored by Gregory XVI.; it is placed at one end of this 
court, upon a much lower level than the palace, and consists of a large open salon, everywhere 
richly decorated with rococo ornament, the organ occupying the centre of the design ; on either 
side are small recesses, one with life-size figures of Vulcan and his assistants at a forge, with 
Cupids working lustily at the bellows ; a similar recess upon the opposite side was probably a 
chamber prepared with surprise fountains. 
De Brasses, who visited the gardens in 1739, remarks upon their healthy position, which had 
induced the Pope to abandon the Vatican in favour of the higher situation of the Quirinal. He 
( 93 ) A A 
