DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68272#0026
8
THE GARDENS OF ITALY.
9.—LOGGIA OR CAMERA ALFRESCA.
is too high for the
descendants of the
constructive Ro-
mans.
Such lofty
plateaux, raised
high on the hill
slope, give a valu-
able absence of
foreground, and
concentrate the in-
terest on a com-
manding prospect.
There is a sense of
seclusion combined
with unlimited out-
look. The hedge in
Italy is mostly re-
placed by the wall,
endlessly different
in construction, ranging from rough dry stone, or rubble, mortared and brick banded, to crude
concrete plastered and finished with a coping of tiles. The hillside roads of Italy, climbing
between such walls, topped with cypress and olive, are as fully characteristic as a Devonshire
lane. The square-cut yew plays an important part enforcing the lines of balustrades and
serves as a background to statues, while the dense and shapely tunnel-way of living
greenery is not unknown. The pleached alley, though less common than the pergola, is fully as
effective.
Fortunately, the great value of the land in Italy for olive and vineyard, like that of Kent for
orchards and hopfields, tends to restrict their villa gardens to moderate dimensions. Italy
generally is free from the reproach that attaches to French gardening, that the lay-out is too vast
for human enjoy-
ment. There is no
absurdity so great
as that of extending
the garden as
though to the limit
of the horizon
itself. In trans-
lating the ideas of
Italy to other lands
the worst mistakes
have been those of
scale. Things
delightful in them-
selves have, by
exaggeration and
wearisome repeti-
tion, well-nigh lost
their native charm.
In England the
Italian, French,
Dutch and Oriental
Schools have all
10.—wayside chapel or fountain. had their admirers,
THE GARDENS OF ITALY.
9.—LOGGIA OR CAMERA ALFRESCA.
is too high for the
descendants of the
constructive Ro-
mans.
Such lofty
plateaux, raised
high on the hill
slope, give a valu-
able absence of
foreground, and
concentrate the in-
terest on a com-
manding prospect.
There is a sense of
seclusion combined
with unlimited out-
look. The hedge in
Italy is mostly re-
placed by the wall,
endlessly different
in construction, ranging from rough dry stone, or rubble, mortared and brick banded, to crude
concrete plastered and finished with a coping of tiles. The hillside roads of Italy, climbing
between such walls, topped with cypress and olive, are as fully characteristic as a Devonshire
lane. The square-cut yew plays an important part enforcing the lines of balustrades and
serves as a background to statues, while the dense and shapely tunnel-way of living
greenery is not unknown. The pleached alley, though less common than the pergola, is fully as
effective.
Fortunately, the great value of the land in Italy for olive and vineyard, like that of Kent for
orchards and hopfields, tends to restrict their villa gardens to moderate dimensions. Italy
generally is free from the reproach that attaches to French gardening, that the lay-out is too vast
for human enjoy-
ment. There is no
absurdity so great
as that of extending
the garden as
though to the limit
of the horizon
itself. In trans-
lating the ideas of
Italy to other lands
the worst mistakes
have been those of
scale. Things
delightful in them-
selves have, by
exaggeration and
wearisome repeti-
tion, well-nigh lost
their native charm.
In England the
Italian, French,
Dutch and Oriental
Schools have all
10.—wayside chapel or fountain. had their admirers,