DOI chapter:
Introduction
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61216#0034
ITALIAN VILLAS
green. He should remember that the terraces and
formal gardens adjoined the house, that the ilex or
laurel walks beyond were clipped into shape to effect a
transition between the straight lines of masonry and the
untrimmed growth of the woodland to which they led,
and that each step away from architecture was a nearer
approach to nature.
The cult of the Italian garden has spread from Eng-
land to America, and there is a general feeling that, by
placing a marble bench here and a sun-dial there, Italian
“effects” may be achieved. The results produced,
even where much money and thought have been ex-
pended, are not altogether satisfactory ; and some critics
have thence inferred that the Italian garden is, so to
speak, untranslatable, that it cannot be adequately ren-
dered in another landscape and another age.
Certain effects, those which depend on architectural
grandeur as well as those due to colouring and age, are
no doubt unattainable ; but there is, none the less, much
to be learned from the old Italian gardens, and the first
lesson is that, if they are to be a real inspiration, they
must be copied, not in the letter but in the spirit. That
is, a marble sarcophagus and a dozen twisted columns
will not make an Italian garden; but a piece of ground
laid out and planted on the principles of the old garden-
craft will be, not indeed an Italian garden in the literal
sense, but, what is far better, a garden as well adapted
to its surroundings as were the models which inspired it.
12
green. He should remember that the terraces and
formal gardens adjoined the house, that the ilex or
laurel walks beyond were clipped into shape to effect a
transition between the straight lines of masonry and the
untrimmed growth of the woodland to which they led,
and that each step away from architecture was a nearer
approach to nature.
The cult of the Italian garden has spread from Eng-
land to America, and there is a general feeling that, by
placing a marble bench here and a sun-dial there, Italian
“effects” may be achieved. The results produced,
even where much money and thought have been ex-
pended, are not altogether satisfactory ; and some critics
have thence inferred that the Italian garden is, so to
speak, untranslatable, that it cannot be adequately ren-
dered in another landscape and another age.
Certain effects, those which depend on architectural
grandeur as well as those due to colouring and age, are
no doubt unattainable ; but there is, none the less, much
to be learned from the old Italian gardens, and the first
lesson is that, if they are to be a real inspiration, they
must be copied, not in the letter but in the spirit. That
is, a marble sarcophagus and a dozen twisted columns
will not make an Italian garden; but a piece of ground
laid out and planted on the principles of the old garden-
craft will be, not indeed an Italian garden in the literal
sense, but, what is far better, a garden as well adapted
to its surroundings as were the models which inspired it.
12