New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-02
ITALIAN VILLAS.
NOTES ON THEIR BEAUTIES.
TIL, LONELINESS OF TERRACE AND FOUNTAIN
SOME EXAMPLES OF THE BEST VILLA
B,Ir.DrNG OF RoME-TIIE PERFECT
VILLA LANTE.

Viterb0. July 2S.
To know Rome is TO love all Of her possessions.
but to love Rome Is not always TO know her VII
las They lie chiefly outside her wals-some OF
them are several miles distant from the city
and although they are not absolutely neglected
by travellers. they form. on the whole. one OF the
least studied portions Of the Roman DOMAIN.
No one who has once become intimately acquaint-
ed with their beauties can refrain from revising
them and idling whole days away IN their en-
chanted labyrinths The great villas of the
Renaissance are the euphonistic theatrical ana
spectacular decorations Of Rome. They are mon
umental because nothing Roman could ever DE
otherwise. but they give to the surroundings OF
the great city. first Of all. kind of light. pctur-
esque grace which is the one thing needed in the
grand and heroic Italian panorama.
This letter is dated from vi,erbo because. will
presently appear II ir in the vicinity OF that Iite
town that the Roman art Of villa building Gull
minated In an example which still exists ana Is
In perfect state of preservation. The general
history OF the art is written in and about Rome.
and dates. roughly speaking. from the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. The d'Este at IIVol'
one OF the earliest and most magnificent villas
near Rome is ascribed to l549 when Pirro Liz
gorio planned 1t for Cardinal Ippolito dEs'e.
villas OF Frascau was also projected about the
same time In the eighteenth century practically
nothing on the same scale or In the same style
was ACCOMPLISHED Outside the Porta Sala1a
the small Villa AlbanL which belongs to this
period is a good specimen OF the r!gdly formal
manner into which the landscape architecture OF
the time declined. II IL well Kept up. is ueish'-
full Of It's kind. and IL really necessary To- see ~
an illustration Of one phase Of the art IL repre-
SCENTS Curlouslv enough. the style which would
have bean .xpected here-the decorative style Of
the eighteenth century-is absent. Inc
palace in the Villa d'Este. by Ligorio Is
ona OF the statel!est mansions in ltaly.
But in the spirit of their work on the gardens
the designers anticipated the finest spirit OF the
eighteenth century giving their elegance Pc
culiary dainty and even quaint accent ad"rnlhE
their productions with the touches 81 ornate
humor Of refined extravaganc", which the IA
nous Arcadia introduced into later ltaIlah iI''i-
AZURE Perhaps the best equivalent I"' '"'n
mood. in the sphere Of pictorial art. is the mood
OF Watteau OF Fragonard, Of Bouoher Inc
reader who recalls the general effect Of one 81
Watteau's fates champetre Will have the most
suer.s,Ive sidellght on the Italian villas.
These villas however remain always Italian.
and I, is here that some Of the most essential
noInts I'm their construction have To be c'nsid-
cred They were built. rule. on the stump
tuous Roman scale without stint ana without
any thought Of the difficulties nature might SCI
IN the builders path The patriclans OF 'he
epoch were verltable pr0fi!gates ~ Iani a"'
they were also the masters u IT, The VIVA
dEste for instance. extends from IN" Top 10 '"'
bottom Of a long and steep slope on me d'"N
Of the hlll Is thrown the villa Itself or a. IL may
be called 10 avoid confusion. the palace. y u an
immense structure. erected on the srVrt"sl H"'7'
and crown!ng the hill with dignity ana All
ous,er. heauty that suggest. In those relations
some Of the celebrated palaces Of Braman'e. Al
its feet lies fairyland Scorning all the "r-r"-
laritles 81 the site the builder constructor IN"
precipitous descent with grandiose ramps anu
staircases that lead from one majestic terrace -
another only T. disclose the presence 81 Il '"'''
,rr,h.r down. AT every one OF these pans"s a
fountain Is encountered. and - the rsht ana
,e,, maths placed at right angles 70 the central
avenue lead through Expresses TO o'h"r ''""-
,,,ns 70 little fsh ponds inclosei In crunbling
marble or 70 n bosky exeira. where IN" sun
only filters through the dense foliage above.
c,,,tyb. down from the platform before the por-
tai in the centre 81 the palace the main ueSc'"'
,.us y.b the ramps and staircascs Just Ir-
,orred IN marking its divisions from terrace 70
,r-aco In large lines superb expresses Inc
Ga. yalk and from the fountains there gush iorth
,,,u,n.ra,le streams some Of them flying Z"
be,gh, ~ fifteen or twenty feet. Everywhere In
the fountains and enormous basins. In the seats
urns a nd statues the most lavish usr ~ stone ana
marble is noticed. Some OF the fountains IKE
one that plays at the side near the middle oil the
descent and is surrounded by c"lohhaie-i'"S'
have exhausted material sufficient Tor the con-
s,ruction Of small house. everywhere '"'
stone IL carved In artistic decorative ior"S'
This was building in the grand style Ana "h''
g., mos, remarkable about Il Is the unity Of the
design No matter how vast the estate might De-
the designer seems - have conceived MS pan
with the same feeling for balance and symmetry
that might have presided over the invention oil
facade.
The villa d'Este has been touched upon some
what at length because II IL one OF the very
finest villas extant: but in any OF the erectohs
y, the time the aim IS found to have the same
character Sometimes. as In the villa Medlci on
the PIncIo. which Annibale I.ppi constructed In
154o a very convenient site was available. Here
tho land e. in two distinct levels On the lower
~ the two where the admirable palace was
huilt the grounds had only to be laid ont In
formal STYLE In an early painting which hangs
in the gallery ut Naples II IL shown that the
arrangement was not materially different from
what Il Is now. being principally matter OF
flower beds, fountains. paths and hedges The
upper leve! was treated freely as a "bosco"
Other villas like the dEste. and Ike the Cont
and Aldobrandi at Frascati. were built upon de-
cldedly uneven ground and then, invariably.
there were employed the mastery expedients
which have Just been pointed out. Some OF the
remaining villas where the scale IL large and
where the site has necessitated especially Inter
esting measures Of terracing may be named FOR
the benefit OF the traveller. At Frascati. flung
on the side OF the mountain az though by some
gigantic whim the villa Mondragone possesses
a terrace with balustrades 70 Intains and gigan-
tic flower pots that is among the spendors OF the
old villa architecture The Facon!eri Taverna
and Ruffinella all at Frascat, are also represent