185.

Secondo Prospetto del Casino di Villa Madama

The second of the two views of Villa Madama (for the entry view see Plate 184) shows the casino from the opposite side and reveals its multi-level aspect. The great three-bay portico (1) opens onto the formal giardino pensile (hanging garden), from which two stairs descend to the level of the fountain (2) in part passing through the supporting structure of the garden. Farther to the left Vasi's shows two arches below the balustered balcony which give access to the service rooms below the casino. Vasi refers to the trees at left as macchia (3) (woods) on the lower slope of the Monte Mario. The considerable distance of this villa from the city walls (2.7 kilometers or 1.7 miles, therefore off the Nolli map but visible on the accompanying satellite image) hardly qualifies it as one of the suburban villas, and almost puts it in the category of the more distant summer villas frequented by the Roman nobility in the Alban hills. In fact about 40 years later the Medici buy and enlarge a villa which bears their name within the walls of Rome, now known as the Villa Medici, Plate 188.