The Villa Corsi-Salviati 
straight gravel bed with now and again a 
stone step to trickle over. Its banks are of 
soft moss, and above it ilexes and bays spread 
their branches into a low arch, their leaves so 
close and thick that only here and there does 
the sun succeed in piercing through to 
flicker on the streamlet. At the far end, 
where the water is collected again in a basin, 
the wall was originally painted to repre¬ 
sent a colonnade and distant landscape be¬ 
yond, but time has faded these into a neutral 
tint which, from afar, gives a wonderful illu¬ 
sion of distance, so that now, looking down 
from the garden, there seems no limit to the 
view. This delightful bit of artificial nature 
must have been planned to rest eyes weary 
with the blaze of color close by, weary with 
the unrest of many statues, and with the 
dazzling sunlight flickering on the many 
fountains, for the garden itself is all formal 
beds, fountains and statues. The number 
of smaller fountains, besides the great vasca 
and a large round basin to the west of it, 
give it a peculiar charm and character. 
Wherever you pause you hear the ripple of 
water; wherever you look you see it spark¬ 
ling in the sunlight. Water lilies float on it, 
and maidenhair fern fringes the basins. A 
copy of Giovanni da Bologna’s “Mercury,” 
now in the Bargello, stands tiptoe on the 
slight pinnacle of the fountain which faces 
the house. The original statue was, it will 
be remembered, designed for a fountain in 
one of the Medicean villas. The pedestal 
that supports the statue springs here from a 
round basin from which the water overflows 
into a larger, deeper one beneath. Marble- 
rimmed, this is sunk a foot or more into the 
ground and is wide enough to allow some fine 
plants of an exquisitely delicate pink water- 
lily to spread their smooth leaves on its 
waters. A solid block of rocaille supports 
the upper basin, and round its base four 
vases for ferns have been placed. Its own 
two circles, then that of the gravel path which 
runs round it, outlined by the curve of four 
stone seats, the circle accentuated by four 
marble statues of Roman warriors, the whole 
backed by the brilliant colors in the flower 
beds, are very happy in effect. 
Banana trees, chamoerops and date-palms 
are dotted here and there among the beds, and 
A VIEW POINT IN THE GARDEN WALL 
I 48 
