House and Garden 
seen how the masonry supports for the 
anchorage saddles are made a part of the 
architectural scheme connecting the colon¬ 
nades. 
In conclusion, it is well to repeat this high 
tribute paid by Messrs. Carrere & Hastings 
to the work of the engineers, O. F. Nich¬ 
ols, Chief Engineer of the Department of 
Bridges, and R. S. Buck, Consulting En¬ 
gineer: “The main lines of the cables and 
suspended trusses, as given to us by the en¬ 
gineers, are, in our opinion, the most beautiful 
we have ever seen in any bridge, expressing 
as they do the rational and simple solution 
of the problem from the engineering point 
of view.” 
NATURE’S CHIAROSCURO IN ITALY 
N OT without reason is the artists’ term 
for effects of light and shade made up 
of the Italian chiaro , “light ,” and oscuro , 
“darkness.” For in Italy preeminently one 
may enjoy such effects and in Italian gardens 
Nature’s care for just this matter is the cause 
for no little of their vaunted charm. 
Though but rarely considered, it is to the 
wonderful contrasts of light and dark masses 
that this charm is due even more than to 
the artfulness with which the landscape gar¬ 
dener introduced his famous architectural 
and sculptural features. 
The old claim of formal versus natural 
gardening is just now to the fore; but in 
discussing the 
classic method we 
are prone to for¬ 
get that the clas¬ 
sicists, instead of 
despising Nature 
(and especially 
Nature’s sun¬ 
light) rather called 
her to their aid 
and worked to¬ 
gether with her. 
If you will 
compare some of 
the Italian formal 
gardens with some 
northern exam¬ 
ples I think you 
must agree with 
me that there is 
a glamour, a mys¬ 
terious radiance 
about the south¬ 
ern gardens that is somehow lacking in the 
north. It is not the glamour of romance 
and antiquity that 1 mean. England and 
Scotland are brimful of romance and age. 
But it is sunshine,—alive, shimmering, exu¬ 
berant, exultant; ’tis a glamour of another 
ilk and none the less real because it is 
intangible, indescribable. 
And for this you must come to Italy. 
Come into the garden at Tivoli, this gar¬ 
den that has been so photographed and 
painted and described. Vet in spite of all, the 
Villa d’Este holds its own and still hides many 
a dear secluded spot unprofaned by the hur¬ 
ried tourist wearily following his voluble 
guide. Come into 
this nook where 
we may sit and 
look out over the 
artificial lakes. 
The trees and 
shrubs which sur¬ 
round us aredense 
and dark as if il¬ 
limitable forests 
hemmed us in. 
The mysterious 
gloom of the black 
cypress trees is 
scarce lightened 
by the witchlike 
glitter of silver 
birches. Yet the 
pools themselves 
are liquid sun¬ 
shine, for they 
were so placed as 
to catch every 
THE GARDEN AT ASOLO 
Formerly F^ueen Caterina s 
245 
