128 
THE ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
wheel, furnished with teeth, so fixed in it as to strike in due order the keys of the organ, and thus 
produce the tune to which the wheel is set.’ 
From here the water rushes in a ceaseless torrent down a cascade to the series of pools 
below, crossed only by the bridges forming the main ways through the garden. A very fine effect 
is obtained by the great central alley, especially as seen from the principal entrance to the 
garden (Plate 114). In the midst of the parterre is a small ‘ rond-point,’ with high jets of 
water springing from basins on the ground, and seats placed between, surrounded by some of 
the most beautiful cypresses to be met with in Italy. 
The Villa d’ Este has been frequently illustrated : by Duperac in 1573; 1 by Perelle and 
Israel Sylvestre, about 1646; and also by Piranesi, who has devoted one of his most beautiful 
plates (‘Vedute di Roma,’ Plate 46) to a large engraving of the garden. The history of the villa 
has been very completely written by F. S. Serri, 2 who has gathered together a mass of useful 
information and hitherto unpublished documents. 
1 Stefano Duperac. Vues et Prospectives des Jardins de Tivoli, 1573. Dedicated to Catherine de’ Medici. 
* La Villa d' Este in Tivoli. Francesco Saverino Serri. Roma, 1902. 
