In the Court of Seasons.--Four are in the Court of Seasons, where
Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, by Furio Piccirilli, have each its
own alcove in the wall and its own play of water. These are pleasant
fountains, simple and quiet. There is some feeling of lonely mountain
cliffs in the plain walls behind them, hung with streamers of the
maidenhair vine.

In the first alcove stands Spring with her flowers; on one side the man,
in whom love awakens, on the other fresh young Flora, bringing the first
offerings of the year. Next comes the alcove of Summer, the time of
fruition. The mother brings her babe to its father, the laborer bears
the first fruits of the harvest. (p. 94.)

Autumn follows, the time of harvest. The central figure of the fountain
group is Providence. The fruits of the year are brought in, and the
vintage is in progress. Last of all comes Winter, the melancholy time
when the trees are bare and the bark splits with the frost. The central
figure is naked Nature resting in the period of conception. On one side
is bowed an old man, after preparing the ground for the seed; on the
other is a strong man sowing. This is perhaps the best of the four
fountain groups it expresses admirably the bleakness and sadness of the
season. There is a wintry chill about it, the gloom of a dark December
day. Of the others, Spring is most likable, with its conception of the
seasonal impulse to love; and Autumn, for the strength of its figures
and the beauty of their modeling.

In the forecourt, appropriately placed between the Palaces of
Agriculture and Food Products, stands the Fountain of Ceres. (p. 79.) It
is an odd fountain, with the water gushing from the mouths of satyrs set