Italian Villas and Their Gardens

Edith Wharton's elegant study of Italy's great villas and gardens is both a visual tour and a passionate argument for the art of landscape design. With vivid illustrations by Maxfield Parrish and photographs, she moves region by region from Florence and Siena to Rome, Genoa, Lombardy, and Venetia, revealing how the finest Italian gardens unite architecture, nature, water, stone, and evergreen growth into one living composition. Wharton insists that the true lesson of Italy is not in flowers or decorative effects, but in proportion, purpose, and harmony with place. In Florence, she traces the legacy of the Medici villas and mourns the loss of their original character under later "improvements," then celebrates masterpieces such as Boboli, Castello, Petraia, Poggio Imperiale, and the Gamberaia. She also turns to Caprarola and Villa Lante, where terraces, fountains, groves, and sculptural forms create gardens of extraordinary balance and imagination. Throughout, she offers a richly informed appreciation of Renaissance garden art as a practical, beautiful, and enduring ideal. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.