VILLAS OF VENETIA 
attempt to convert the grounds into a jardm anglais of 
the sentimental type. There is still a maze, with a fan- 
ciful little central tower ascended by winding stairs ; 
there is a little wooded “ mount,” with a moat about it, 
and a crowning temple ; and there are various charm- 
ing garden-pavilions, orangeries, gardeners’ houses, and 
similar small constructions, all built in the airy and ro- 
mantic style of which the Italian villa-architect had not 
yet lost the secret. Architecturally, however, the stables 
are perhaps the most interesting buildings at Stra. Their 
classical central facade is flanked by two curving wings, 
forming charmingly proportioned lemon-houses, and in 
the stables themselves the stalls are sumptuously di- 
vided by columns of red marble, each surmounted by 
the gilded effigy of a horse. 
From Stra to Fusina the shores of the Brenta are 
lined with charming pleasure-houses, varying in size 
from the dignified villa to the little garden-pavilion, and 
all full of interest and instruction to the student of villa- 
architecture ; but unhappily no traces of their old gar- 
dens remain, save the statues which once peopled the 
parterres and surmounted the walls. Several of the 
villas are attributed to Palladio, but only one is really 
typical of his style : the melancholy Malcontenta, built 
by the Foscari, and now standing ruinous and deserted 
in a marshy field beside the river. 
The Malcontenta has all the chief characteristics of 
Palladio’s manner: the high basement, the projecting 
245 
