Italian villas and their gardens . valuedfor their aesthetic effect, for in many Italian gardenssteep grass alleys flanked by walls of beech or ilex areseen ascending a hillside to the temple or statue whichforms the crowning ornament of the grounds. InFlorence a good example of this tapis vert, of whichLe Notre afterward made such admirable use in themoist climate of France, is seen at the Villa Danti, onthe Arno near Campiobbi. Close to the ducal villas of Castello lies a country-seat possessing much of the intimate charm which theylack. This is Prince Corsinis villa, the finest exampleof a
Italian villas and their gardens . valuedfor their aesthetic effect, for in many Italian gardenssteep grass alleys flanked by walls of beech or ilex areseen ascending a hillside to the temple or statue whichforms the crowning ornament of the grounds. InFlorence a good example of this tapis vert, of whichLe Notre afterward made such admirable use in themoist climate of France, is seen at the Villa Danti, onthe Arno near Campiobbi. Close to the ducal villas of Castello lies a country-seat possessing much of the intimate charm which theylack. This is Prince Corsinis villa, the finest exampleof a baroque country house near Florence. The oldvilla, of which the typical Tuscan elevation may still beseen at the back, was remodelled during the latter halfof the seventeenth century, probably by Antonio Ferri,who built the state saloon and staircase of the PalazzoCorsini on the Lungarno. The Villa Corsini lies in theplain, like Castello, and has before it the usual walledsemicircle. The front of the villa is frankly baroque, a 43. FLORENTINE VILLAS two-storied elevation with windows divided by a meagreorder, and a stately central gable flanked by balustradessurmounted by vases. The whole treatment is inter-esting, as showing the manner in which the seventeenth-century architect overlaid a plain Tuscan structure withflorid ornament; and the effect, if open to criticism, isat once gay and stately. The house is built about a quadrangle enclosed in anopen arcade on columns. Opposite the porte-cochereis a doorway opening on a broad space bounded by abalustrade with statues. An ilex avenue extends be-yond this space, on the axis of the doorway. At oneend of the house is the oblong walled garden, with itsbox-edged flower-beds grouped in an intricate geomet-rical pattern about a central fountain. Correspondingwith this garden, at the opposite end of the house, is adense ilex-grove with an alley leading down the centreto a beautiful fountain, a tank surmounted by a kind ofvoluted pedim
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksub, booksubjectarchitecture
