THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 



389. VIEW IN THE CORTILE OF THE PALAZZO DURAZZO, 



VIA BALBI, GENOA. 



Built for Paolo Balbi in 1620 by Bart Bianco. 



390. PLAN OF THE PALAZZO DURAZZO, VIA BALBI, GENOA. 



with costly walls and 

 sloping stairways, it will 

 be seen that there is little 

 of the mere suburban 

 villa of modern days 

 about these monuments 

 of a great age. The 

 general disposition, while 

 broad and simple, is on a 

 similarly adequate scale. 

 As a rule, the masses 

 are not unduly broken 

 up ; two very slightly 

 advanced wings and a 

 centre, well marked by 

 blank arcades or open 

 loggias, constitute the 

 customary disposition of 

 the main elevations. 

 Sometimes the basement 

 and lower storeys are 

 preserved unbroken, and 

 any recess in the outline 

 occurs only in the upper 

 storeys, so as to preserve 

 a greater solidity of effect. 

 The great open loggias, 

 as in the Imperiale or 

 the Paradiso Villas in 

 particular, are a magnifi- 

 cent source of effect, 

 particularly where they 

 are vaulted and decorated 

 in stucco relief and 

 colour. These Genoese 

 villas are, of course, 

 frankly plastered palaces 

 of brick or rubble, with 

 some stone or marble in 

 important parts, but 

 usually all washed over in 

 colours, which seem very 

 suitable on the spot. 

 Buffs, terra-cottas, greys 

 and whites are employed. 

 The heavy green foliage 

 helps, evergreen oaks and 

 palm trees providing 

 masses of contrasted 

 green. This colour is 

 echoed in the Venetians, 

 which, when closed, pre- 

 serve the continuity and 

 flatness of the fafades. 



