Skip to Content
title

Lago di Como, Cernobbio, Villa d'Este - Il Mosaico

 
Accession number AR.EP.PC.0524
Creator
Places
Cernobbio (Italy)
Lake Como [Lago di Como] (Italy)
Italy
Measurements
3.5 x 5.5 inches
Materials/Techniques
black & white photograph
Work types
postcard

Description

TRANSCRIPTION

Lago di Como - Cernobbio - Villa d'Este - Il Mosaico [Lake Como - Cernobbio - Villa d'Este -The Mosaic]

Edizioni P. Vasconi - Fotomagazzino - Cernobbio - Lago di Como

8568

NOTE

The path effect down the center bordered by 9 lovely old cypresses is terraced with a stream flowing from one level to the next in stone urns. Then there are walks and more little buildings all through the grounds. The hotel is huge now but built on the same structure that you see in the queer old print (next card) of the 18th century.

It would be pretty marvelous if one had loads of money to stay at a place like that, but I'm sure those people who have do not have as much fun as we do batting around.

EXHIBITION

Transplanting the Renaissance: Italian Villa Gardens in America, 1900-1940
May-August 2018

Popular texts and images provide a window into how Americans perceived Italian gardens, as well as their understanding of the gardens’ histories. Italian gardens represented a past rooted in both the classical Roman world and the Italian Renaissance and demonstrated the principles of order, balance, and design associated with those periods. This past was not completely timeless, however: the Italian gardens showed their age through decay and overgrowth which, though romanticized, was not often imitated in American garden recreations.

Postcards allowed people to jot down their thoughts in the moment, providing context for the accompanying image. These cards from the Lake Como region demonstrate how tourists experienced Italian “garden-magic” firsthand. One writer refers to the area as a “fairy land,” made more meaningful by her familiarity with its history, while another (above) elegantly describes the cypresses, urns, and small walks of the Villa d’Este garden.

Collection

Ephemera Collection
 

Repository

Dumbarton Oaks Archives, 054.SUZ.02.PCbox.094
Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC
Accession number AR.EP.PC.0524
Creator
Places
Cernobbio (Italy)
Lake Como [Lago di Como] (Italy)
Italy
Measurements
3.5 x 5.5 inches
Materials/Techniques
black & white photograph
Work types
postcard

Index Terms

Related Items