OURELY the high reputa- 
^ tion of Smith & Wesson, 
won by half a century of 
Superior performance, is suffi¬ 
cient guide for the selection 
of your Revolver,, 
Smith Wesson 
fhCanufacturers of Superior T^evolvers 
SPRINGFIELD 
MASSACHUSETTS 
• 8 ? 
No arms are genu¬ 
ine Smith & Wesson 
Arms unless they 
bear, plainly marked 
on the barrel, the 
name smith & wesson. 
SPRINGFIELD. MASS. 
Catalogue sent on request 
Address Department F 
A Villa of the Italian Renaissance 
(Continued from page 94) 
with roses and iris, one can picture 
silks and satins, brocade and crinoline 
not incongruous with this more sophis¬ 
ticated nature. Returning to the central 
avenue, one may wander through the 
hemicycle of pylons, which forms the 
terminal gateway, either to the “Porta- 
dei Gigli” which leads out of the prop¬ 
erty by a side road or along the path 
to the right which meanders through 
the woods back to the main palace. 
But the Casino still demands atten¬ 
tion. It may be entered either from 
the parterre garden where one proceeds 
to the main floor by a winding flight 
of stairs or from the upper level directly 
into one of the two loggias, which oc¬ 
cupy nearly half the area of the Casino 
and extend almost from front to back 
with only a narrow passage between. 
In this narrow passage is a double stair¬ 
way leading to the servant’s loft over¬ 
head and the loggia below. Opposite 
the stairway is a tiny chapel once deco¬ 
rated, according to tradition, with a 
“Descent from the Cross” by Guido 
Reni. The entire purpose of the Casino 
seems to have been centered in the 
loggias on which the gardens focus and 
the most beautiful decorations are 
lavished. The rooms on either side 
seem to have had an incidental func¬ 
tion; they are devoid of decoration. 
The faqade, once decorated by sgraffito 
designs, is now grim enough; but, still 
beautiful, it is a tribute to the old rule 
that good proportion may be enhanced 
by fine decoration, but no amount of 
fine decoration can atone for bad pro¬ 
portion. 
The delicacy of Vignola’s proportions 
and the fitness of the Zuccari frescoes 
created an open air salon that must 
have inspired many a noble gathering 
and many a gay banquet. What must 
have been the satisfaction of Cardinal 
Odoardo to watch during the long even¬ 
ing hours from his exalted loggia the 
promenading of his favorites! 
Odoardo lived but a few years to 
enjoy his “Villa Deliziosa” after its 
completion, but, according to the docu¬ 
ments of the time, he added a new 
lustre and value to the Caprarola Tra¬ 
dition. Certainly, in order that the 
prestige of the Farnese dynasty should 
not diminish it was necessary that each 
successor should inherit not only the 
title but the wisdom of Paul III or 
Cardinal Alessandro. Unfortunately 
this could not be; through the tyranni¬ 
cal and ambitious character of the later 
Farneses the family fortune was soon 
exhausted and their influence lost. With 
the death of Alessandro Farnese in 1731 
the male line became extinct and the 
Villa Caprarola was left to his niece, 
Elisabetta, whose marriage to King 
Philip V of Spain and Naples, trans¬ 
ferred the Farnese possessions to the 
house of Bourbon, in whose possession 
the property still remains. Caprarola 
enjoyed a brief hundred years of 
supremacy but during that century of 
magnificent life was created one of the 
richest traditions of the Golden Age. 
The palace and gardens were still the 
scene of brilliant functions until 1775 
and even in 1841 Gregory XVI paid 
a brief visit. But in the declining days 
there was a touch of pathos even in 
those occasional revivals of camou¬ 
flage splendor. 
It should be significant to students 
of this day, that in Caprarola, the 
superb garden creation of Vignola, as 
well as in his other garden plans, the 
Villa Papa Giulio in Rome and the Villa 
Lante at Bagnaia, is found only the 
adaptation of his classic training to the 
solution of his particular problem. He 
was confronted with a tremendous 
problem and it is to his great credit 
that, although a thorough student of 
classic art, he was still capable of in¬ 
terpreting his marvelous discoveries in 
a way truly expressive of his own 
generation. 
The day of Caprarola has passed. 
Our social and economic life has under¬ 
gone a change comparable to the dark 
ages; we cannot now hope to build so 
pretentiously, careless of cost, with 
beauty our only consideration, but the 
tradition of Caprarola—originality of 
scheme, fitness to purpose, unity of con¬ 
ception, harmony with natural condi¬ 
tions and perfection of detail and pro¬ 
portion—should be an everlasting 
inspiration to those who would build 
beautifully. 
Bringing the Country to Town 
(Continued from page 73) 
Nothing gives the illusion of having 
brought the country to town like a 
flowered wall paper. The sketch on 
page 72 shows walls covered in a 
paper copied from an old Chinese 
Chippendale design. It has an apple 
green background with birds, flowers 
and butterflies in every pleasant color 
imaginable. As this is the most decora¬ 
tive feature of the room, it should be 
played up to and emphasized. Curtains 
of some brilliant fabric covered with 
design would be quite out of place 
against such a gay background. Hang¬ 
ings and furniture coverings in a room 
with a flowered wall paper should tone 
in with the background of the paper 
and not count for much in themselves. 
This does not mean that the room need 
be lacking in color interest, for such 
incidentals as lamp shades, sofa 
cushions, a bit of porcelain here and 
there, perhaps a vivid little red lac¬ 
quer table by a sofa can be counted 
on to give the varied color tones. 
In striking contrast to these rooms 
is the little Victorian morning room 
sketched on page 73. The main char¬ 
acteristic of an interior of this kind 
is a certain old-world charm and 
quaintness. Here the walls are very 
pale green, exactly the right shade for 
the amusing chandelier of calla lilies 
and leaves made of green and white 
Bristol glass. The note of green is 
repeated in the upholstery of the 
mahogany chairs, a soft brocade of 
small design. In front of the window 
stands an old spinet that has a certain 
decorative quality apart from its 
quaintness. 
When planning a morning room give 
yourself to your tastes. This room 
belongs to you. Here should be your 
favorite books and the colors most ex¬ 
pressive of you. Let the rest of the 
family put the things their hearts long 
for elsewhere. This room is yours. 
Make it charming and informal and 
above all gay. If it is in a city house 
or apartment try and give it the atmos¬ 
phere of a country house living room. 
Above all let it have the appearance of 
being lived in. 
