Minor Features of Italian Gardens 
storehouses of information for the architect 
and the landscape artist, for they represent the 
local traditions of more than twenty centuries 
in building and gardening. The remains of 
the villa of imperial days are found mingled 
with those of the Renaissance. Everywhere 
in these old places are fragments teeming with 
reminiscence and suggestion : reminiscence of 
the art of the past, suggestion for that of the 
present. 
Ruskin, in his “ Mornings in Florence,” 
says, “ it is the crowning virtue of all great 
art that however little is left of it by the in¬ 
juries of time, that little will be lovely. As 
long as you can see anything, you can see 
almost all; so much the hand of the master 
will suggest his soul.” And so it is as one 
traverses the Campagna and comes upon the 
sites of old villas, finding their ruined walls 
and tracing out under the tangle of grass, wild 
flowers and vines, the various terrace levels, 
the disposition of buildings, of colonnades, 
of stairways, grottoes, fountains, and gardens ; 
so it is as one stands on the ruins and gazes 
over the beautiful prospect, that one cannot 
help seeing “ almost all ” of the ideas that so 
long ago found expression at the hands of 
masters of their art. 
It is not the object here to show the gen¬ 
eral character of the Italian Villa, but rather 
to speak of fragments and minor features 
such as urns, seats, stairways, and fountains. 
All these have a certain significance and illus¬ 
trate the Italian manner of disposing adjuncts 
to the main composition. By studying them 
we may discover how their parts are so re¬ 
lated to surroundings that not only is their 
charm as individual objects enhanced, but we 
may see how they are made to take their part 
in a well ordered scheme. 
Immediately to the west of Rome in a 
stretch of country rather less generally known 
to the “ forestiere ” than those tracts on the 
other sides, many villas once existed. Now 
they are nearly all in ruins. Among these, 
The Villa Capagina, never could have claimed 
a right to fame. It is not in any way pre¬ 
tentious, and its details are not rich or elabo¬ 
rate ; yet its simplicity of plan and the frank 
avowal of various parts are interesting. What 
