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On either side of this tribune the palace wall breaks into niches containing statues, one of Abundance, the other of Health; and separated from each other by tall columns are panels depicting in high relief the discovery of the water and the construction of the aqueduct. Beyond these sculptures the windows and balconies of the palace frankly make their appearance.
Nothing could be more incongruous and artificial. The design is one which demands a background as an integral part of the composition, but this background has absolutely no connection with the fountain, except the purely physical connection of juxtaposition. Neptune should be appearing from some sea cave, worn in straight, steep cliffs like the cliffs at Sorrento. The architect who could so skilfully mass these rocky ledges and dispose these streams and cascades could have designed quite as well stone palisades and grottos; but the fountain belongs to an age which played "Macbeth" in periwig and ruffles, and it remains a magnificent example of the taste of that period.
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