THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 



355 



CHAPTER XXX. 



GARDENS AND VILLAS IN THE LAKE DISTRICT : INTRODUCTORY. 

 VILLA D'ESTE AT CERNOBBIO AND VILLAS ON LAKE COMO. 



THE North of Italy may easily prove a disappointment to the lover of old gardens 

 approaching it from the south, inspired by a knowledge acquired in the true heart 

 of Italy, the land of the olive and the vine, only to find, in the lake district in 

 particular, the ravages of Northern sentimentality. Como, the most developed of 

 the lakes, its mountain sides and lake shores dotted with countless villas, is a somewhat barren 



land to those in search 

 of true Italian gardens 

 and architecture. This 

 district has not only 

 been built over too 

 late, but it has also been 

 dominated by the 

 fashion of the " English 

 garden," as it is under- 

 stood abroad. The 

 catchword o f nature 

 has been as destructive 

 in art as in politics. 

 The spirit of Rousseau 

 early passed over the 

 mountains . The gems , 

 Balbianello on Como 

 and Isola Bella on Lago 

 Maggiore, are both of 

 the baroco age. and 

 most of the villas 

 belong to the dull 

 classicist period of the 

 first third of the nine- 

 teenth century. In 

 this northern part of 

 Italy the student misses 

 the unfailing tact of the 

 true Italian architec- 

 ture. Obtrusive gables 

 and small features 

 creep in. It is a district 

 more remarkable for 

 natural beauties than 

 architectural achieve- 



ment. The a w e - 



371 .--THE CYPRESS AVENUE OF ASCENT, VILLA D'ESTE, CERNOBBIO, ON COMO. inspiring panorama of 



