ed in the proper place. From the
mouth of this Antaeus he intended that, instead of his spirit, there
should gush out through a pipe water in great abundance, as indeed it
does; which water is that of the great conduit of Petraia, which comes
with much force, and rises sixteen braccia above the level where the
steps are, and makes a marvellous effect in falling back into the
greater tazza. In that same aqueduct, then, come not only those waters
from Petraia, but also those that go to the fish-pond and the grotto,
and these, uniting with those from Castellina, go to the fountains of
the Falterona and Monte Asinaio, and thence to the fountains of the
Arno and Mugnone, as has been related; after which, being reunited at
the fountain of the labyrinth, they go to the centre of the great
fountain, where are the children with the geese. From there, according
to the design of Tribolo, they were to flow through two distinct and
separate conduits into the basins of the loggie, where the tables are,
and then each into a separate private garden. The first of these
gardens--that towards the west--is all filled with rare and medicinal
plants; wherefore at the highest level of that water, in that garden
of simples, in the niche of the fountain, and behind a basin of
marble, there was to be a statue of AEsculapius.

The principal fountain described above, then, was completely finished
in marble by Tribolo, and carried to the finest and greatest
perfection that could be desired in a work of this kind. Wherefore I
believe that it may be said with truth that it is the most beautiful
fountain, the richest, the best proportioned, and the most pleasing
that has ever been made, for the reason that in the figures, in the
vases, in the tazze, and, in short, throughout the whole work, are
proofs of extraordinary diligence and industry. After this, having
made the model of the above-mentioned statue of AEsculapius, Tribolo
began to execute it in marble, but, being hindered by other things, he
did not finish that figure, which was completed afterwards by the
sculptor Antonio di Gino, his disciple.

[Illustration: THE HERCULES FOUNTAIN

(_After =Niccolo [Tribolo]=. Florence: Villa Reale di Castello_)]

On the side towards the east, in a little lawn without the garden,
Tribolo arranged an oak in a most ingenious manner, for, besides the
circumstance that it is so thickly covered both above and all around
with ivy intertwined among the branches,