The three-tiered topiary box illustrated by Alciati was known as an ‘Estrade’. It was a form of topiary which had been current during the medieval period, but which was later supplanted by more extravagant shapes, as the classical penchant for topiary forms was revived in Renaissance Italy. Animals, figures and even hounds in full pursuit of a hare were fashioned out of clipped box during the sixteenth century.