DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16632#0401
372 History of Garden Art
as a model, for just at the time when he went to Spain the fame of Roman gardens, especi-
ally of the villas at Frascati, exceeded that of every other. The theatre wall (Fig. 299), which
he put up for the terrace wall of the Pardo garden, with niches, and water playing in them;
the water stairway, which cut through to the middle of the castle opposite the wall; the
triumphal arch at the end of the upper terrace; the way he embedded the whole ascending
structure in the woodland of the park—all these ideas were to be found deeply rooted in
Roman gardens, and especially at Frascati.
From El Pardo one could go out into an immense wild park. Half a mile away Philip IV.
had an old halting station, Torre de la Parada, made into a little place to put up at, and
fitted inside with valuable pictures; a little farther off was the hunting-box of the king's
brother, the Cardinal Infante Ferdinand, a place called Zarzuela. Here too there was a
terrace-garden in front of the house, and one of the terraces was supported on a great
number of arches," which,
seen from afar, gave a
very strange effect." From
the upper terrace you
descended by flights of
steps with pierced bal-
ustrades. Fountains and
streams watered this
garden, which most likely
belonged to the same age
and was made by the
same architect as El Pardo.
Madrid itself was
quite neglected during the
dull reign of Philip III.
He did not like the town,
and had tried to pass it over and make the Residence at Valladolid. But Philip IV.
spent nearly the whole of his forty years' reign at Madrid. For internal decoration of the
rooms in the castle he did everything he could, but we hear little of the enlargement
or embellishment of the garden. His interest and attention were soon entirely absorbed
in another place, Buen Retiro. He also, like his grandfather, frequented with pleasure
the summer-house at San Jeronimo. At the beginning of his reign he had been present
at a curious incident. In the year 1624 Charles Stuart had come there on his adven-
turous honeymoon. The two princes first met in the garden, intending to maintain an
incognito until the next morning, when the Prince of Wales was to be received into the
town with royal pomp.
Quite near by, the king's powerful favourite, Olivarez, had a little park
called Galineria where he bred peculiar kinds of fowl. This minister guided the
machine of state with a free hand very much to the detriment of the nation, and insisted
on leading the king (who was restless and always in need of distractions) into ever fresh
festivities and novel proceedings, to keep his attention from the deplorable foreign policy
of his country. In the gloomy Alcazar at Madrid there was not enough room for a
holiday crowd, and the love of festivals was taking possession of European courts, one
as a model, for just at the time when he went to Spain the fame of Roman gardens, especi-
ally of the villas at Frascati, exceeded that of every other. The theatre wall (Fig. 299), which
he put up for the terrace wall of the Pardo garden, with niches, and water playing in them;
the water stairway, which cut through to the middle of the castle opposite the wall; the
triumphal arch at the end of the upper terrace; the way he embedded the whole ascending
structure in the woodland of the park—all these ideas were to be found deeply rooted in
Roman gardens, and especially at Frascati.
From El Pardo one could go out into an immense wild park. Half a mile away Philip IV.
had an old halting station, Torre de la Parada, made into a little place to put up at, and
fitted inside with valuable pictures; a little farther off was the hunting-box of the king's
brother, the Cardinal Infante Ferdinand, a place called Zarzuela. Here too there was a
terrace-garden in front of the house, and one of the terraces was supported on a great
number of arches," which,
seen from afar, gave a
very strange effect." From
the upper terrace you
descended by flights of
steps with pierced bal-
ustrades. Fountains and
streams watered this
garden, which most likely
belonged to the same age
and was made by the
same architect as El Pardo.
Madrid itself was
quite neglected during the
dull reign of Philip III.
He did not like the town,
and had tried to pass it over and make the Residence at Valladolid. But Philip IV.
spent nearly the whole of his forty years' reign at Madrid. For internal decoration of the
rooms in the castle he did everything he could, but we hear little of the enlargement
or embellishment of the garden. His interest and attention were soon entirely absorbed
in another place, Buen Retiro. He also, like his grandfather, frequented with pleasure
the summer-house at San Jeronimo. At the beginning of his reign he had been present
at a curious incident. In the year 1624 Charles Stuart had come there on his adven-
turous honeymoon. The two princes first met in the garden, intending to maintain an
incognito until the next morning, when the Prince of Wales was to be received into the
town with royal pomp.
Quite near by, the king's powerful favourite, Olivarez, had a little park
called Galineria where he bred peculiar kinds of fowl. This minister guided the
machine of state with a free hand very much to the detriment of the nation, and insisted
on leading the king (who was restless and always in need of distractions) into ever fresh
festivities and novel proceedings, to keep his attention from the deplorable foreign policy
of his country. In the gloomy Alcazar at Madrid there was not enough room for a
holiday crowd, and the love of festivals was taking possession of European courts, one