DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19775#0084
GARDENS OF THE QUIRINAL,
ROME.
THE long, central garden, of which passers-by
can catch a glimpse beyond the guarded
gates, runs the whole width of the grounds,
and is flanked on either side by towering
walls of close-clipped box and bay. These must
be at least thirty feet high and of great width,
with shady roads cut within them. Huge old ilex
trees grow at intervals and throw their distorted
black arms in all directions. These are more than
three hundred years old, and are part of the garden
which was originally planted here by Ippolito,
Cardinal of Este, adjoining his town house ; his
country seat being Villa d'Este at Tivoli. These
long and lofty Socages map out the garden, and
between their ranks are lawns and parterres and the
most goodly show of palm trees to be seen any-
where in Italy, unless it may be in Villa Pamphilj
Doria. The larger ones would take two men to
clasp their trunks. The garden is full of old Roman
and Renaissance remains—sarcophagi, garden figures,
and vases. A fine old marble sundial is conspicuous
in one of the square gardens, and in another part
there is a large low basin and a fountain where
water nymphs sport upon the rocks, and eight or
ten groups of arums make a circle round them,
among the goldfish. A great part of the garden
has been turned into a riding-ground, which of
course cannot be anything but unsightly, and
looking upon this is the palazzina in which are
the apartments occupied by the Royal Family, at the
opposite end of the garden from the palace proper.
The garden is bounded at this end by a high erection
of wall with balconies, along the facade of which
are ranged long terra-cotta flower-boxes, from which
hang masses of rose-coloured ivy geraniums, forming
a brilliant curtain upon the creamy background.
It is absolutely quiet in the Royal garden.
Nothing can be heard, to tell that it is in the heart
of a great capital. The distant chime of bells,
the twittering of birds, are the only sounds that
reach one's ears. In the grounds are several
casinos ; a pretty, bark-covered summer-house has
lately been built for the Royal children, who pass
a great part of every day playing in the garden.
They keep their toys in a simply-furnished room
opening on a stone piazza, which is evidently a
favourite play-place, to judge by the debris left
lying from the morning's games, the whips and
bricks and the dolls' feast laid out on a bench
and decorated with berries and birds' feathers. A
charming little parterre runs along the terrace,
which overlooks the distant town and is fenced
in by rose hedges on one side and on another by
masses of sweet peas trained to make a thick
wall of shaded colour. From the terrace, on which
are groups of garden statuary, one seems to look
over all Rome, with St. Peter's towering on the
Vatican hill, and the fortress of Monte Mario
rising to the west. If you lean over the balustrade
the remains of a huge grotto is to be seen in the
courtyard below with an organ fountain, evidently
a relic of the old pleasure-ground of Cardinal
d'Este, and which recalls the similar erections with
which he decorated the slopes of Tivoli.
Felice Peretti, when he quarrelled with all the
monks of Naples in the sixteenth century, came
to Rome, and, being very learned, was set to expound
the Fathers to the Abbot of SS. Apostoli, the
monastery which lies just below the hill. He
remained a long time as his guest, and the abbot
and the imperious monk formed a firm friendship.
No doubt they often walked in the Colonna
Gardens, and Peretti, when he became Sixtus V.
in 15H5, had learned to love the high, healthy
air of the Quirinal hill. Gregory XIII. had
already begun building there, and Sixtus carried
on and extended his plans, and so built the palace
in which till 1870 the Popes lived for a part of
every year. It was already a favourite site for
gardens. Besides those of Cardinal d'Este, Cardinal
Carafa's gardens stretched along part of where
Via XX. Settembre now runs. It was Carafa
who first recognised the beauty of the group
known as Pasquino, and set it upon that pedestal
to which those witty lampoons and satirical
epigrams were affixed, which have made the name
of the statue famous in every lan<nia<>;e. It soon
after became the fashion to build summer palaces
on the Quirinal hill, as being healthier than low
Rome, and safer than going beyond the walls.
Sixtus V. died here, and since his time twenty-one
other Popes have died at the Quirinal, each making
the curious bequest of his heart and viscera to
the Church of SS. Vincent and Anastasius.
( 74 )
ROME.
THE long, central garden, of which passers-by
can catch a glimpse beyond the guarded
gates, runs the whole width of the grounds,
and is flanked on either side by towering
walls of close-clipped box and bay. These must
be at least thirty feet high and of great width,
with shady roads cut within them. Huge old ilex
trees grow at intervals and throw their distorted
black arms in all directions. These are more than
three hundred years old, and are part of the garden
which was originally planted here by Ippolito,
Cardinal of Este, adjoining his town house ; his
country seat being Villa d'Este at Tivoli. These
long and lofty Socages map out the garden, and
between their ranks are lawns and parterres and the
most goodly show of palm trees to be seen any-
where in Italy, unless it may be in Villa Pamphilj
Doria. The larger ones would take two men to
clasp their trunks. The garden is full of old Roman
and Renaissance remains—sarcophagi, garden figures,
and vases. A fine old marble sundial is conspicuous
in one of the square gardens, and in another part
there is a large low basin and a fountain where
water nymphs sport upon the rocks, and eight or
ten groups of arums make a circle round them,
among the goldfish. A great part of the garden
has been turned into a riding-ground, which of
course cannot be anything but unsightly, and
looking upon this is the palazzina in which are
the apartments occupied by the Royal Family, at the
opposite end of the garden from the palace proper.
The garden is bounded at this end by a high erection
of wall with balconies, along the facade of which
are ranged long terra-cotta flower-boxes, from which
hang masses of rose-coloured ivy geraniums, forming
a brilliant curtain upon the creamy background.
It is absolutely quiet in the Royal garden.
Nothing can be heard, to tell that it is in the heart
of a great capital. The distant chime of bells,
the twittering of birds, are the only sounds that
reach one's ears. In the grounds are several
casinos ; a pretty, bark-covered summer-house has
lately been built for the Royal children, who pass
a great part of every day playing in the garden.
They keep their toys in a simply-furnished room
opening on a stone piazza, which is evidently a
favourite play-place, to judge by the debris left
lying from the morning's games, the whips and
bricks and the dolls' feast laid out on a bench
and decorated with berries and birds' feathers. A
charming little parterre runs along the terrace,
which overlooks the distant town and is fenced
in by rose hedges on one side and on another by
masses of sweet peas trained to make a thick
wall of shaded colour. From the terrace, on which
are groups of garden statuary, one seems to look
over all Rome, with St. Peter's towering on the
Vatican hill, and the fortress of Monte Mario
rising to the west. If you lean over the balustrade
the remains of a huge grotto is to be seen in the
courtyard below with an organ fountain, evidently
a relic of the old pleasure-ground of Cardinal
d'Este, and which recalls the similar erections with
which he decorated the slopes of Tivoli.
Felice Peretti, when he quarrelled with all the
monks of Naples in the sixteenth century, came
to Rome, and, being very learned, was set to expound
the Fathers to the Abbot of SS. Apostoli, the
monastery which lies just below the hill. He
remained a long time as his guest, and the abbot
and the imperious monk formed a firm friendship.
No doubt they often walked in the Colonna
Gardens, and Peretti, when he became Sixtus V.
in 15H5, had learned to love the high, healthy
air of the Quirinal hill. Gregory XIII. had
already begun building there, and Sixtus carried
on and extended his plans, and so built the palace
in which till 1870 the Popes lived for a part of
every year. It was already a favourite site for
gardens. Besides those of Cardinal d'Este, Cardinal
Carafa's gardens stretched along part of where
Via XX. Settembre now runs. It was Carafa
who first recognised the beauty of the group
known as Pasquino, and set it upon that pedestal
to which those witty lampoons and satirical
epigrams were affixed, which have made the name
of the statue famous in every lan<nia<>;e. It soon
after became the fashion to build summer palaces
on the Quirinal hill, as being healthier than low
Rome, and safer than going beyond the walls.
Sixtus V. died here, and since his time twenty-one
other Popes have died at the Quirinal, each making
the curious bequest of his heart and viscera to
the Church of SS. Vincent and Anastasius.
( 74 )