Vizcaya was once the palatial winter home of James Deering, who gained his great wealth when J.P. Morgan purchased his Deering Harvester Company in 1902 and merged it with the McCormick Reaper Company to form International Harvester. Deering built this 180-acre estate between 1914 and 1916. We did not tour his lavishly decorated home because photography is prohibited. Instead we concentrated on Vizcaya’s gardens, one of the best examples of Italian garden design in the United States. I made this image in one of the many walled nooks where Deering’s architects placed 200 year old sculptures that once were on display in Venice, Italy. Most of the sculpted figures are characters from classical mythology, including this bearded sculpture that seems to emerge from the wall behind it, rising from a lush bed of plantings at its feet. The fresh green plantings represent the natural world– they regenerate every year and are carefully nurtured. The stone wall and the sculpted figure looming above these plants can symbolize the aspirations of man, such as power, wealth and knowledge. The plants remain pristine, while the figure and wall show the wear of time.