Italian villas and their gardens; . ld formal gardens, and on each side, the parkextends along the road, from which it is divided by a high wall and several im-posing gateways. Thepalace is built about twoinner courts, and its in-numerable rooms are fres-coed by the principalItalian decorative paintersof the day, while the greatcentral saloon has oneof Tiepolos most riotously splendid ceilings. Fortu-nately for the preservation of these treasures, Stra, afterbeing the property of Eugene Beauharnais, was ac-quired by the Italian government, and is now a villanazionale, well kept up and open to


Italian villas and their gardens; . ld formal gardens, and on each side, the parkextends along the road, from which it is divided by a high wall and several im-posing gateways. Thepalace is built about twoinner courts, and its in-numerable rooms are fres-coed by the principalItalian decorative paintersof the day, while the greatcentral saloon has oneof Tiepolos most riotously splendid ceilings. Fortu-nately for the preservation of these treasures, Stra, afterbeing the property of Eugene Beauharnais, was ac-quired by the Italian government, and is now a villanazionale, well kept up and open to the public. In the etching of Costa, an elaborate formal gardenwith parterres de broderie is seen to extend from theback of the villa to the beautifully composed stableswhich face it. This garden has unfortunately been re-placed by a level meadow, flanked on both sides byboschi, with long straight walks piercing the dense greenleafage of elm, beech and lime. Here and there frag-ments of garden-architecture have survived the evident. GATEWAY—VILLA PISANI, STRA 244 VILLAS OF VKNETIA attempt to convert the grounds into 2i jardin anglais ofthe sentimental type. There is still a maze, with a fan-ciful little central tower ascended by winding stairs ;there is a little wooded mount, with a moat about it,and a crowning temple; and there are various charm-ing garden-pavilions, orangeries, gardeners houses, andsimilar small constructions, all built in the airy and ro-mantic style of which the Italian villa-architect had notyet lost the secret. Architecturally, however, the stablesare perhaps the most interesting buildings at Stra. Theirclassical central fagade is flanked by two curving wings,forming charmingly proportioned lemon-houses, and inthe stables themselves the stalls are sumptuously di-vided by columns of red marble, each surmounted bythe gilded effigy of a horse. From Stra to Fusina the shores of the Brenta arelined with charming pleasure-houses, varying in sizefrom the digni


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