GARDENS OF ESTE AND GONZAGA PRINCES 



heats of August. " The loggia expects you eagerly," 

 replied the gracious Marchesana, " and will make you 

 the more welcome for the fine praises which you have 

 bestowed upon it." 



Even dearer to Isabella's heart in her later years was 

 Porto, the summer palace half a mile from Mantua on 

 the edge of the Lago Superiore, just where the Mincio 

 flows into the lake whose waters sleep under the Cas- 

 tello walls. Soon after her marriage the Marquis had 

 given this villa to his wife, and Isabella devoted all her 

 savings to the embellishment of the house and gardens. 

 She employed the architect Biagio Rossetti to build a 

 garden-house on the pattern of her mother's casino at 

 Ferrara, and made Cristoforo Solari design a magnifi- 

 cent fountain for the terrace. This Lombard sculptor, 

 who carved the beautiful effigies of Lodovico Sforza 

 and Beatrice at the Certosa, promised to execute the 

 marble reliefs and statues for the work with his own 

 hand, but, after the wont of great masters, he delayed 

 completing his task from year to year, until he died of 

 the plague, leaving the Marchesa's fountain to be finished 

 by other hands. 



Isabella spent most of the summer months in this 

 charming spot, where she loved to escape from the 

 ceremonial duties and cares of the Court and lead the 

 simple life after her own fashion. Here she and 

 Elisabetta Gonzaga came for change of air and rest 



55 



