GARDENS OF ESTE AND GONZAGA PRINCES 
heats of August. “ The loggia expects you eagerly,” 
replied the gracious Marchesana, “ and will make you 
the more welcome for the fine praises which you have 
bestowed upon it.” 
Even dearer to Isabella’s heart in her later years was 
Porto, the summer palace half a mile from Mantua on 
the edge of the Lago Superiore, just where the Mincio 
flows into the lake whose waters sleep under the Cas- 
tello walls. Soon after her marriage the Marquis had 
given this villa to his wife, and Isabella devoted all her 
savings to the embellishment of the house and gardens. 
She employed the architect Biagio Rossetti to build a 
garden-house on the pattern of her mother’s casino at 
Ferrara, and made Cristoforo Solari design a magnifi¬ 
cent fountain for the terrace. This Lombard sculptor, 
who carved the beautiful effigies of Lodovico Sforza 
and Beatrice at the Certosa, promised to execute the 
marble reliefs and statues for the work with his own 
hand, but, after the wont of great masters, he delayed 
completing his task from year to year, until he died of 
the plague, leaving the Marchesa’s fountain to be finished 
by other hands. 
Isabella spent most of the summer months in this 
charming spot, where she loved to escape from the 
ceremonial duties and cares of the Court and lead the 
simple life after her own fashion. Here she and 
Elisabetta Gonzaga came for change of air and rest 
55 
