Ippolito Cardinal d'Este, son of Alfonso I d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, had been appointed Governor of Tivoli by Pope Julius III, with the gift of the existing villa in the hills north of Rome, which he has begun to entirely reconstruct to plans of Pirro Ligorio, carried out under the direction of the Ferrarese architect-engineer Alberto Galvani, court architect of the Este.

Ligorio had in 1549 begun excavations in the nearby Villa Adriana, the palatial retreat of Emperor Hadrian, drawing inspiration (and many statues and much of the marble used for construction).

He begins construction the following year on his masterwork, the water works at Villa d'Este.

When completed in 1572, the vast terraced garden will combine spectacular cascades, jets, and curtains of water with placid pools on hillside terraces through which the visitor walks on ramps and stairways leading to the huge house.

Reviving Roman techniques of hydraulic engineering to supply water to an unexampled sequence of fountains, the cardinal has begun the creation of an elaborate fantasy garden whose mixture of architectural elements and water features is to have an enormous influence on European landscape design.

Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, Villa d'Este is a fine example of Renaissance architecture and the Italian Renaissance garden.

Pirro Ligorio—architect, painter, landscaper, and antiquarian—completes nineteen years of work for his patron, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, on the Villa d'Este at Tivol.

Still standing in its original state of completion in 1562, the villa has a planted landscape and a vast terraced garden with spectacular fountains leading up to the huge house.

The complex comprises an elliptical cortile, two free standing portals, and the loggia with its fountain.

Rich sculptural stuccos, once supplemented by some fifty ancient Roman sculptures, enliven the exterior.

A team of at least six major painters, including Federico Barocci, Federico Zuccari, and Santi di Tito and their assistants, have frescoed the interiors.

Ligorio decorates his works with profuse stucco ornament; a good example of his decoration is his Casino of Pope Pius IV (Casina di Pio IV) in the Vatican Gardens, constructed between 1558 and 1562. He also designed the Rotunda with Baldassare Peruzzi (1481–1536).

His map of ancient Rome (Antiquae Urbis Imago) from 1561 is one of most famous published works as an antiquarian.

Fired in 1568 by Paul V for having criticized Michelangelo's work in St. Peter's Basilica, Ligorio has moved to Ferrara, where he is the guest of Duke Alfonso II d'Este.