Italian villas and their gardens; . a Lante, at Bagnaia, nearViterbo, appears to have been the work not of one car-dinal, but of four. Raphael Riario, Cardinal Bishop ofViterbo, began it toward the end of the fifteenth century,and the work, carried on by his successors in the see,Cardinals Ridolfi and Gambara, was finally completedin 1588 by Cardinal Montalto, nephew of Sixtus V,who bought the estate from the bishops of Viterbo andbequeathed it to the Holy See. Percier and Fontainebelieve that several architects collaborated in the work,but its unity of composition shows that the generalscheme
Italian villas and their gardens; . a Lante, at Bagnaia, nearViterbo, appears to have been the work not of one car-dinal, but of four. Raphael Riario, Cardinal Bishop ofViterbo, began it toward the end of the fifteenth century,and the work, carried on by his successors in the see,Cardinals Ridolfi and Gambara, was finally completedin 1588 by Cardinal Montalto, nephew of Sixtus V,who bought the estate from the bishops of Viterbo andbequeathed it to the Holy See. Percier and Fontainebelieve that several architects collaborated in the work,but its unity of composition shows that the generalscheme must have originated in one mind, and HerrGurlitt thinks there is nothing to disprove that Vignolawas its author. Lante, like Caprarola, has been exhaustively sketchedand photographed, but so perfect is it, so far does itsurpass, in beauty, in preservation, and in the qualityof garden-magic, all the other great pleasure-houses ofItaly, that the student of garden-craft may always find 132 THE CASINO, VILLA FARNESE, CAPRAROLA kO aHT. VILLAS NEAR ROME fresh inspiration in its study. If Caprarola is a gardento look out from, Lante is one to look into, not inthe sense that it is enclosed, for its terraces command awide horizon ; but the pleasant landscape surroundingit is merely accessory to the gardens, a last touch ofloveliness where all is lovely. The designer of Lante understood this, and perceivedthat, the surroundings being unobtrusive, he mightelaborate the foreground. The flower-garden occupiesa level space in front of the twin pavilions; for insteadof one villa there are two at Lante, absolutely identical,and connected by a ranipe dottce which ascends betweenthem to an upper terrace. This peculiar arrangementis probably due to the fact that Cardinal Montalto, whobuilt the second pavilion, found there was no other wayof providing more house-room without disturbing theplan of the grounds. The design of the flower-gardenis intricate and beautiful, and its box-bordered parterr
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