ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 
them with her presence. For this radiant apparition 
was none other than Isabella, the Marchioness of 
Mantua, sister of the lamented Duchess Beatrice, who 
had paused on the way to Monferrato to visit her 
Milanese kinsfolk. 
Throughout her long life this typical lady of the 
Renaissance never faltered in the ardent pursuit of 
beauty, alike in art and nature. A prey to what 
Count Baldassare laughingly called “ the cursed love 
of vagabondage ” which flowed in the blood of the 
Este princes, Isabella’s insatiable curiosity to see and 
hear new things prompted her to undertake frequent 
excursions in all parts of Italy, One of her first 
expeditions was to the Lake of Garda, where this bride 
of fifteen summers spent some delightful days with her 
sister-in-law, the charming Duchess of Urbino. To¬ 
gether they visited the gardens of Desenzano and the 
Roman ruins of Sermione—beloved of Catullus—and 
crossed the blue waters to the enchanting Riviera di 
Said on the other shore. Everywhere the young 
princesses met with the warmest reception ; the priest 
of Toscolano made them a feast of the most delicate 
fish on the shores of the lake, and the owners of the 
gardens stripped their trees bare and loaded Isabella’s 
ladies with oranges and lemons. In after years the 
Marchesa frequently returned to the shores of the lake, 
each time with fresh delight in the beauty of the 
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