DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16632#0376
The Italian Renaissance and Baroque
347
altered since its foundation in the second half of the seventeenth century. Anyone, as he
first approached the Villa Collodi near Lucca by its great entrance gate, and at one glance
beheld the curious picture of this garden, full of rich colour, must have exclaimed in
astonishment. Before him lies a parterre of level ground with a large circular basin in the
middle (Fig. 275); high hedges disguised as battlemented walls with pots and vases shut
in the parterre at the side, and round it there are gay flower-beds in pretty arabesques, and
box variously clipped into many different shapes. On a second parterre gradually ascending
FIG. 279. VILLA ALBANI, ROME-THE PRINCIPAL PARTERRE SEEN FROM THE SIDE
he sees the name and arms of the owner set out in box and various coloured stones. The
effect is made perfect by hedges, pediments, and flower vases, and in addition to the
figures made of box there are numerous white statues in baroque surroundings (Fig. 274).
The garden is above in five narrow, steep terraces. Just as in the garden at Este, so
here, the middle axis is marked out by niches and grottoes. The dividing walls and formal
stairs are bordered with balustrades, and show an exuberance of figure decoration. As climax
to the scene there is a foaming, glittering water stairway, with two female forms, Lucca
and Florence, standing above it, while below two swans spout water into a basin. Above
the steps there is a large cistern, and at its upper end a colossal hovering figure of Fame,
who appears to be flying hastily out of a dense wood, while from her resounding horn
she pours streams of water into the basin below. No tall tree is left uncut. The narrow
terraces are uniformly enclosed by hedges, and adorned with niches and statues. At the
347
altered since its foundation in the second half of the seventeenth century. Anyone, as he
first approached the Villa Collodi near Lucca by its great entrance gate, and at one glance
beheld the curious picture of this garden, full of rich colour, must have exclaimed in
astonishment. Before him lies a parterre of level ground with a large circular basin in the
middle (Fig. 275); high hedges disguised as battlemented walls with pots and vases shut
in the parterre at the side, and round it there are gay flower-beds in pretty arabesques, and
box variously clipped into many different shapes. On a second parterre gradually ascending
FIG. 279. VILLA ALBANI, ROME-THE PRINCIPAL PARTERRE SEEN FROM THE SIDE
he sees the name and arms of the owner set out in box and various coloured stones. The
effect is made perfect by hedges, pediments, and flower vases, and in addition to the
figures made of box there are numerous white statues in baroque surroundings (Fig. 274).
The garden is above in five narrow, steep terraces. Just as in the garden at Este, so
here, the middle axis is marked out by niches and grottoes. The dividing walls and formal
stairs are bordered with balustrades, and show an exuberance of figure decoration. As climax
to the scene there is a foaming, glittering water stairway, with two female forms, Lucca
and Florence, standing above it, while below two swans spout water into a basin. Above
the steps there is a large cistern, and at its upper end a colossal hovering figure of Fame,
who appears to be flying hastily out of a dense wood, while from her resounding horn
she pours streams of water into the basin below. No tall tree is left uncut. The narrow
terraces are uniformly enclosed by hedges, and adorned with niches and statues. At the