THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 
3SS 
CHAPTER XXX. 
GARDENS AND VILLAS IN THE LAKE DISTRICT : INTRODUCTORY. 
VILLA D’ESTE AT CERNOBBIO AND VILLAS ON LAKE COMO. 
T HIi 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 onlv 
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, 
Balhianello 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 awe- 
371.— THE CYPRESS AVENUE OF ASCENT, VILLA d’eSTE, CERNOBBIO, ON COMO. inspiring panorama of 
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