Villa d’Este, with its impressive concentration of fountains, nymphs,
grottoes, plays of water, and music, constitutes a
much-copied model for European gardens in the baroque style. It was a beautiful beautiful garden that was terraced down a steep hillside. I wish our tour would have had more time there. 
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509–1572). After the First World War, the villa was acquired by the Italian State, which began a major restoration in 1922. the most impressive art work in the Villa is on the ceilings. The centerpiece of the courtyard is the Fountain of Venus, the only fountain in the Villa which retains its original appearance and decoration. The fountain, designed by Raffaelo Sangallo in 1568-69, is framed by two doric columns, and crowned by a 4th-century marble bust of the Emperor Constatine. The central element of the fountain is a Roman statue of a sleeping Venus, made in the 4th or 5th centuries A.D. - Nancy
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| Fountain of Venus |
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| Detail of the wooden ceiling |
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| Fresco in the Villa |
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