Florence and Northern Tuscany with Genoa: With Sixteen Illustrations in Colour by William Parkinson and Sixteen Other Illustrations, Second EditionHutton, Edward
History
Florence and Northern Tuscany with Genoa: With Sixteen Illustrations in Colour by William Parkinson and Sixteen Other Illustrations, Second Edition
Hutton, Edward
Art -- Italy -- Florence; Genoa (Italy) -- History; Tuscany (Italy) -- Description and travel
other flowers, made so sweet a perfume that they seemed to be in the
spicy gardens of the East. The sides of the walks were almost closed
with red and white roses and with jessamine so that they gave sweet
odours and shade not only in the morning but when the sun was high, so
that one might walk there all day without fear. What flowers there were
there how various and how ordered, it would take too long to tell, but
there was not one which in our climate is to be praised, which was not
to be found there abundantly. Perhaps the most delightful thing therein
was a meadow in the midst, of the finest grass and all so green that it
seemed almost black, all sprinkled with a thousand various flowers, shut
in by oranges and cedars, the which bore the ripe fruit and the young
fruit too and the blossom, offering a shade most grateful to the eyes
and also a delicious perfume. In the midst of this meadow there was a
fountain of the whitest marble marvellously carved, and within--I do not
know whether artificially or from a natural spring--it threw so much
water and so high towards the sky through a statue which stood there on
a pedestal, that it would not have needed more to turn a mill. The water
fell back again with a delicious sound into the clear waters of the
basin, and the surplus was carried away through a subterranean way into
little waterways most beautifully and artfully made about the meadow,
and afterwards ran into others round about, and so watered every part of
the garden; it collected at length in one place, whence it had entered
the beautiful garden, turning two mills, much to the profit, as you may
suppose, of the signore, and pouring down at last in a stream clear and
sweet into the valley."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account