Villa Silvio Pellico, Garden Sketch Plan RP/1/10/27/6

A pencil and coloured pencil drawing on paper. Although undated, it is likely to be the earliest plan for Silvio Pellico in the Page archive collection. Overall, the design is close to that of RP/1/10/27/5. In both, Page’s idea of arranging the garden across two axes is in place, but in these earlier drawings the emphasis on the north-south axis. A central rectangular pool is flanked by two side gardens to the east and west. The idea of using a staircase to link the house with the lower garden is already in place. Here they are shown as curved (similar to those found in chateaux in France where Page had worked).

A classical garden arranged across a variety of levels, Page’s design for Villa Silvio Pellico, an 18th-century villa close to Turin in northern Italy, demonstrates his remarkable ability to perfect his design according to the site.