ISOLA BELLA, LAKE MAGGIORE 



PLATES 3> 4, 5. 6, 7 



F all the situations where one might choose to layout a garden, none could be 

 mure romantic than an island site, and no i)osition provides better material 

 or greater scope for ingenuity of treatment. Lsola liella is situated on Lake 



Maggiorc, opposite the town of Strcsa, and is the second in size of a 



group 





known as the Borromean Islands, in the most beautiful part of the lake, 

 surrounded upon all sides by verdure-clad mountains and placid lake, glittering 

 like a mirror. To the student of garden-planning lsola Bella is one of the 



most fascinating of studies, standing quite in a class by itself and unlike anything else in Italy — 

 one might indeed say, hi the world. A \-eritable enchanted island that for centuries has excited 

 the wonder and admiration of generations of travellers as one of the principal sights to be 

 admired \^■hilst making' the 'errand tour.' 



Before the days when Count Carlo Borromeo III. built his 'Casino' the island consisted 

 merely of a group of picturesque rocks rising from the lake. The larger of the group of islands, 

 the lsola Madre, was the first to be built upon, and the garden was laid out in terraces in a 

 formal, manner. Now, unfortunately, an idea of its former grandeur can only be obtained from 

 old surveys, for the landscape gardener has almost entirely obliterated the formal laying-out by 

 tlie plantation of specimen trees. 



In the year 1632 the work of laying out the lsola Isabella, as it was formerly called, was 



commenced b)- Count Carlo and continued by his sun, Count Vitaliauu IV., under the direction o[ 



Carlo Fontana and several Milanese architects. Carlo Simonetta and other sculptors were employed 



upon the man)- statues which adorn the terraces and mount. The whole work was completed 

 by 1 67 1. 



The principal approach to the palace is upon the north-east side, where a stairway leads 

 from the waterside and circular port to a courtyard, surrounded by the palace on two sides. The 

 third side is a sham arcaded wall, made to harmonise with the general architectural lines, and 

 scr\dng to screen the irregularity of the ofTices and village behind. In one of the low vaulted 

 rooms in tlie basement of the palace is still preserved a large model showing the complete design 

 of the island, with the approach as originally intended, jutting into the lake upon the north side 

 of the island. This scheme, although actually couunenced, was later abandoned, and the north 



(4- ) 



