National Trust for Historic Preservation - Venice & the Villas of
Venetia & Lombardy
Through the Eyes of Edith Wharton
With Special Lecturer Peter Lauritzen
This tour to Venice, Asolo and the Italian Lakes, designed for the Edith Wharton Foundation, will revisit many of the most important villas and gardens in Northern Italy described by Mrs. Wharton in her 1905 classic, Italian Villas and Their Gardens. In many cases, the book’s exquisite period illustrations by Maxfield Parrish still serve to introduce magnificent gardens and splendid country houses little changed in the intervening ninety years.
The beautifully maintained gardens of the Villa Barbarigo at Valsanzibio or the fabulous island extravaganza of Isolabella on Lago Maggiore breathe a timeless life into their representation in art, while Venice itself still seems the perfect subject for the water colorists of Parrish’s generation. Yet it is only today and under the auspices of the Foundation that we can arrange a private evening visit to Venice’s fabulous cathedral church of San Marco to see the mosaic cycles illuminated in a way never possible in the past. We have also included a selection of Veneto villas, many built by Andrea Palladio, and the opportunity to visit them from the luxury and comfort of the legendary Villa Cipriani in picturesque Asolo.
The final days of our twelve-day tour will find us at the Lago di Como, least spoiled of the Italian Lakes, lodged in the Villa d’Este, one of Europe’s most famous hotels, set in the 16th-century, mannerist-style formal gardens so admired by Edith Wharton and Maxfield Parrish.
Guest Lecturer
After graduating from Princeton University, historian and author Peter Lauritzen studied at the University of Florence as a Fulbright Scholar. He has made his home in Italy ever since. An acknowledged authority on many different aspects of European history and culture, Mr. Lauritzen lectures on European political history, art history, social history and decorative arts in many of the continent’s capitals.
He is a member of the editorial board of and a contributing writer to Architectural Digest, and is considered an authority on the history and culture of Venice. He was asked by UNESCO to prepare the official report on all the restoration and preservation work carried out in that city over the past twenty-five years.
"As Italy is divided into foreground and background, so each city has its perspective; its premier plan asterisked for the hasty traveller, its middle distance for the ‘happy few’ who remain for more than three days, and its boundless horizon for the idler who refuses to measure art by time."
--Edith Wharton, Italian Backgrounds
Itinerary Highlights
- Accommodations at the handsome Hotel Bauer Grunwald located on Venice’s Grand Canal; in Asolo at the elegant Hotel Villa Cipriani, a 16th-century retreat and once home to poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning; and at the famous Villa d’Este Grand Hotel, a 16th-century palace set in magnificent gardens on the shores of Lake Como.
- Dine at some of Italy’s finest restaurants, including the famous Harry’s
- Visits to private residences, including a reception at Palazzo Treves de’Bonfili to see the great Canova statues at this 17th-century palace; the 15th-century Palazzo Pisani Moretta, one of the most important and beautiful Gothic palaces in Venice; lunch at Villa Emo at Rivella, attributed to Palladio’s disciple Vicenzo Scamozzi; and dinner in the spectacular state apartments of Palazzo Albrizzi. In Bagnolo, enjoy lunch at Villa Pisani, still owned by the same family for whom it was built by Palladio.
- A magical view of Venice as we walk to the illuminated Byzantine and Western-style Basilica di San Marco, specially opened for us to see the great mosaic cycle, the treasury of Byzantine artifacts and the Golden Screen of Byzantine enamel work on gold.
- Visit the island of San Giorgio Maggiore to see the great white church by Andrea di Pietro - known as Palladio - the last great architect of the Renaissance. Private arrangements to visit the Fondazione Georgio Cini to see the Palladian cloister, refectory and great library designed by Palladio.
- A day to the islands of the hauntingly beautiful Venetian Lagoon, including Murano, Torcello and Burano.
- Visits to Ravenna, unique in western Europe for its profusion of Byzantine remains; Venetia, to visit Palladio’s famous Villa Foscari at Malcontenta; and Padua to visit the Orto Botanico, the oldest botanical garden in the world.
- On excursions from Asolo, visit some of Palladio’s famous villas in Possagno and Maser, as well as the beautiful Villa Giusti Garden in Verona. Also see the Arena, an enormous Roman amphitheater, famous today for the opera performances given during the summer season.
- In Vicenza, see the Teatro Olimpico, designed by Palladio on the model of the theaters of antiquity, walk through the town to see the great public buildings and palaces built by Palladio, and see the world-famous Villa La Rotonda, one of Palladio’s most famous creations. The owner has invited us to visit the extraordinary domed interior of his family villa.
- Sail by private boat to picturesque Isola Pescatore, one of the Borromean islands in the middle of Lake Maggiore, bordered by the majestic Swiss Alps, and visit the great palace of the Borromeo princes and the world-famous Gardens of Isola Bella, a multi-terraced Baroque confection rising from the lake.
- Also sail along the coast of Lake Como to visit Villa del Cardinale (Villa Balbianello), the subject of an article by Peter Lauritzen in Architectural Digest, and its beautiful gardens.
Land Arrangements: $6,325.00 per person based on double occupancy
Single Supplement: $1,875.00
Contribution to Edith Wharton Restoration, Inc.: $1,000.00 per person tax-deductible contribution
Sample Airfare (NewYork or Boston/Venice - Milan/New York or Boston; plus taxs;, subject to change):
APEX (Coach): $905.00 per person
Special Business Class airfares are available on Alitalia.
Please contact Bellinger Davis/Protravel for details (see phone numbers below).
Other gateway cities, itineraries and classes of service quoted upon request.
Note: If you plan to make your own transatlantic airline booking, the cost for the land arrangements only is: $6,525.00 per person
Please telephone Bellinger Davis Travel, a division of Protravel International, for further details (212) 409-9555 or (800) 227-1059 ext. 455
Recommended Reading
Available from The Mount
Italian Villas and Their Gardens by Edith Wharton $17.95
The 1904 classic available in paperback. Wharton’s success in describing Italian "garden-magic" is enhanced and vivified in the full-color paintings by Maxfield Parrish from the first edition.
Italian Backgrounds by Edith Wharton $13.00
"It is only in the background that the artist finds himself free to express his personality," Wharton postulated in this expert and enduring series of travel sketches, originally published in 1905 and now available in paperback.
Edith Wharton’s Italian Gardens by Vivian Russell (hardcover) $35.00
In this beautiful new book, lavishly illustrated with numerous present-day color photographs, British journalist Russell retraces Wharton’s steps today through the Italian gardens Wharton described and Parrish illustrated for the original 1904 edition of Italian Villas and Their Gardens.
These titles and others by/about Edith Wharton are available year round from The Mount’s Book and Giftshop. Call Edith Wharton Restoration toll free at (888) 637-1902.
For more information or a detailed itinerary with reservation form, please contact Protravel International, 1-800-227-1059, ext. 455, (212) 409-9555.
