LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Anna Sforza (as Saint Giustina) and Alfonso D'Este ALESSANDO MORETTO IMPERIAL MUSEUM, VIENNA [See page 242 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES BY EDGGUMBE STALEY AUTHOR OF 'KING RENE D ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS," "GUILDS OF FLORENCE," ' L WOMEN OF FLORENCE." "TRAGEDIES OF THE MEDICI," " DOGARESSAS OF VENICE," "HEROINES OF GENOA AND THE RIVIERAS." ETC. WITH COLOURED FRONTISPIECE AND FORTY-FIVE OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS " On dansant tout le jour au soleil !" BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY 1912 All rights reserved. PAGES X xi , xii xiii— -xxi CONTENTS List of Illustrations Preface .... IntroductionChapter I. " Verbano " - - - - 23—76 Minerva and Maggiore. — Dante's love of Maggiore. — Early deni zens of Lakeland. — Dominating families. — " Pmlanza la Qraciosa. ' ' — Quaint powers. — "Roll of Fame." — Pushful Pallanzaese.— Story of Battista Bertolotto — " I do not despair !" — A quixotic settle ment " To oure the devil in him !" — Marriage oustoms. — Nick names. — Laws of dress. — Sunday services. — •" Half-and-Half "! — Games and the Siesta. — Water pionios. — PaUone. — The theatre. — Social gatherings. — Playful trioks. — Carnival scrimmages. — Dances and kisses. — Romances of Arona and Angera. — Maria Bianoa Scapardona and the gay de Ghallant. — Agnese del Maine the charmer. — The chamber of Pour Lakes. — San Carlo Borromeo. — Sensuous hours.— A weeping picture — a miracle ! — Alberto Besozzo, robber and monk. — " The Scourge of Angera !" — Romantic Lake Orta. — The Amazon Queen Giullia. — Island Sirens. — Queen-mother Margherita. — " Eliza bdla " — A Garden of delights. — Buonaparte's battaglia." — Sweet barcarole. — The Villa Clara. — " Come in and have some tea !" — Queen Victoria's cedars. — " Here I oould wish to spend my days !" — Smoky Intra. — Pirates — the Mazzarditi ! — " No-pay castles 1" — " The Crown of Locarno." — Vision of Brother Bartolommeo d' Ivrea. — A pil grimage ohuroh. — The Cult of Religion v. the Cult of Fashion ! — Merry laughter. Chapter II. " Ceresio " - - - - 77—109 The " Home of Ceres." — Lugano's twin giants. — Social condi tion of Tioino. — The three castles of Bellinzona. — Johann von Wippingen. — " Libert e Svizzeri " — Giuseppe Mazzini. — Tradi tions and Folklore. — Children's games. — " Angels and Devils." — Kisses round and satires.— Churon bells. — The " week for Lovers !" — A lizard with two tails ! — Never beat a boy before a girl ! — The Mule of Isone — " Be of good courage !" — May-Day ditties. — A bit of Paradise ! — A mirror-like lake. — " Bella kissed me out of Muzzan !" — Noble mountainsi — Grottoes. — The tragedy of Giulia V vi CONTENTS PAGES da Lanzo d' Intelvi.— Notable artists.— A superb panorama.— The Campionesi-buildeia.— A dereliction of the dogamire !— Cigars.— .ZZ Deserto— bare feet and bare heads.— Countess Eliza- betta Morosoni-Dandolo.— A land of olives and fair women. " Le Belle del Varesotto !"— The milky way— YcrgHias.— Beauty spots.— Villa Cicogna-Mozzoni.— The music of the hounds !— The trout of Bisuschio.— " I wish to hear running water every where !"— The thriving town of Varese — The coming of Duke Francesco Maria d' Este.— " La Corte."— Stables— a Palace !— Fair Beatrice d' Este and brilliant Teresa Trivulzio-Saluzai.— An imposing suite. — Love and sport. — Diamonds. — Amarose dame e donzdle /—Cards and gossip.— Mass and sermons. — The theatre at Varase. — Saronno and its gingerbread. — Pedretto the peasant and the Virgin's shrine. — His gout vanished.— Mauled by a bear !! — Marchese Ponti and his " corner in ootton " !— King Victor Emmanuel II. Chapter III. " Lario " - - - - 110—182 " Venus of the Lakes !"— Como— " the place."— Pliny's ecstatic letter to Rufus. — Industrious people. — Rarest pot-pourri. — The city of Como. — St. Ambrose and the truffles ! — Battles on the lake. — Iron cages. — " A woman threw herself from a, win dow ("—Garibaldi— the " Liberator " and the village virago Bianca. — The Villa d' Este. — The Marchesa Vittoria Calderara. — The Princess of Wales. — Queen Caroline. — Her travels. — La buona Principessa 1 — Gardens in the air ! — The royal suite. — Slanders. — Cavaliere Bartolommeo Pergami's devotion. — Madame de Mont's witness. — A straw sun-bonnet. — A plot. — Duplicity of the Prince.' — William Burrell — a liaison ? — Despicable Castlereagh. — Lord Charles Stuart's " mission." — Base Baron d' Ompteda. — Moritz Crede — a groom. — An attempted assassination. — The Queen rejected at the Abbey. — The Villa Pliniana. — Pliny's letters.— Catching fish in bed !— Pliny's villas— " Comedy " and " Tra gedy." — The monster slain ! — Princess Cristina Trivulzio-Belgio- sioso — " Citizen Cristina." — The sacred cause of Italian unity. — Percy Bysshe Shelley and admiration of Como. — Warlike times. — The heroine Alicia da Torno. — PreoiouB relics. — The Isola Comacina — its romance and its industry. — Long-haired Autaris and bewitching Theodelinda.' — She kissed his sandal ! — A nail of Christ's Cross her diadem. — The fairy Queen of Lario. — A weird wraith ! — " Good-night, St. Francis 1 — They were all Counts.- — The family of Zobio or Giovio — historians and benefactors. — " Poor pay, poor preaoh " — and the reverse ! — Madonna dd Soccorso. — Little Nania's vision. — Vagaries of the Sacred Image. — Now " nothing but a blessing t" — An amazing contrast. — A modern Elysium. — Villa Scorpione. — " Zitto J" — A Dainty shoe less foot ! — A lover's guitar. — Eros and Psyche. — Amours now called " pleasures " ! — Villa Carlotta, the boudoir of the " Loves." — Longfellow's epic. — The call of Bellagio. — Griante and her story. — The feast of baskets. — Edward Royds and the sirens of the lake. — Two tragedies. — A Murderer ! — The Buonapartes at Villa Melzi. — Leonardo da Vinci and Franoesco Melzi d'Erile. — Promontory of Bi-lacus. — The dreaded Cavargnoni. — Countess Adeliza di Borgomanero — a female vampire 1 — The pathetio story of Giulio Mylius and Anastasie Kreutzner. — From the kiss of love to the kiss of God ! — Boisterous Leone Leoni. — Pin-pricks ! — CONTENTS vii PAOES Busy Bellano. — Tommaso Grossi and his " Ildegonda." — Rizzardo and Ildegonda meet in Paradise. — Many castles. — II Medeghino. — — the Trimmer — a Medioeo. — " No pardon for Gravedona !" — The " Holy Office " and St. Peter Martyr.— Women and Bene- diotine soapulas. — The Castle of Fuentes — a terror spot. — The fasoination of Lake Como. Chapter IV. Lecco — Brianza— Milan - - 183—249 Diana of the Gods. — " The Verdant Land." — Water nymphs. — The Lake of Leoco. — The Ponte Qrande. — Alessandro Manzone. — Madonna Giulia and her lover. — " / Promessi Sposi." — Banditti. — Ambrogio Arrigone done to death. — Pelf and curio-hunters. — A blinded Prince. — Three awesome creatures. — Pilgrims of San Pietro. — " Better leave well alone 1" — Henry III. and lovely Agnese d' Annona. — A ohain of lakelets. — Nature's charms. — Happy days of Federigo Barbarossa. — A beautiful dower house. — Frail Elizabetta Borromeo. — An Imperial marriage. — A water pageant. — Cecilia Gallerina and Lodovico " II Moro. — The lovely Val Assina. — A famous pilgrimage church. — Witches and witch craft. — Blood-thirstiness. — Zenith of human happiness. — Giuseppe Parini and the " Oiorno." — Everyone roared.— Cristina's " Mona Lisa smile." — Petrarca at Castello di San Colombano. — Family saints. — Rioh red wines. — The spendid Alari. — Empress Maria Teresa. — The Castle of Milan. — The Duke of Clarence marries Yolanda Visconti. — A portentous dowry. — Geoffrey Chaucer and the " Story of Griseldis." — Laura or Berta. — Visconti feuds. — Francesco Sforza. — The heiress of the Visoonti. — King Ren6 d' Anjou's amazement. — Proud Bona of Savoy. — A bridal tragedy. — Lucrezia Landriani. — The famous Caterina Sforza-Riario- Medici. — A liaison with Giacomo Feo. — Sporting soenes. — Macchiavelli and luxurious citizens. — Stabbed at Christmas. — " Cicco " Simonetta. The Duchess elopes. — Laban-like Duke of Ferrara. — Isabella or Beatrice ? — A Spanish Princess. — Castle rivalries. — " I would rather die by my own hand !" — Hl-bred Milanese ladies. — " Union of the Fittest." — Hunting-box at Cussago. — Galeazzo Sanseverino's gossipy letters. — Ladies at play. — Duchess Beatrice and Dioda. — The Duchess and Donna Cecilia. — Tricks and pranks. — Market-women laugh. — The theatre in Milan. — " Voce d' un, Angdo." — The widowed Duchess's matri monial schemes. — Charles VTII.'s visit and its consequences. — He kissed her cheek ! — Fasoinating pastimes. — Sumptuous gowns and jewels. — They rode astride ! — A tactful minuet. — " Won all hearts !" — Was Beatrice fiokle ? — Bayart " sans peur ei sans reproche." — Anna Sforza's charms. — The bride of Ferrara. — Alessandro Moretto's " St. Giustina " our frontispiece. — " The Sforza Baffo /" — Garden-parties. — Leonardo da Vinci at the Milanese Court. — Cosy games at cards. — Uncanny omens. — Lodo- vico's grief and exile. — Castle and city pillaged. — The " dirty French " ! — Lucrezia Crevelli's romance. — The Sforzas restored. — Duchess Cristina and Holbein. — Austrians and Frenoh. One hundred years' desolation. — Eerie voices of the past. Chapter V. " Sebino " — Bergamo and Brescia 250 — 305 Psyche of the Lakes. — Iseo and Georges Sand. — " Awake, my love, awake 1" — Painted houses. — An island shrine. — Loreto — a lottery prize ! — Velio I Vdlo I — The painter Romanino. — " Short viii CONTENTS PAGES skirts : short pay ! '—Artist-artisans.— Teresa Tadini's tragic death. — Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and her letters. — Loverese sooiety. — Nightgowns and stays. — Happy peasants. — Painted churches. — The Dance of Death." — Children and snails. — St. George and bridals. — Marriage customs. — Burials. — Giorgione — cheeses. — Simples. — Straw and ashes. — Workers in metals. — Psyohe's waterfall. — Bartolommeo Colleone. — Castle of Malpaga. — Trezzo and Esselino "the Terrible." — Bernabo Visconti's prison.— A dark deed. — Madonna Ricoardina gagged. — A helpless babe. — Filippo Aroelli's school — Bartolommeo runs away. — Mili tary service. — The notorious Queen Giovanna II. — Venice rewards the valiant hero. — Madonna Thisb6 and her daughters. — A great " Lord of the Lakes." — Fond of women. — A royal visitor. — King Christian. — A gigantic Dacian. — Zorzio da Spinone. — A champion charcoal-burner. — Berta da Trescore follows her lover. — A splen did flotilla. — " Triumph of the Black Buffaloes." — Famous fres coes at Malpaga. — Marina of the Basella.— A pretty legend. — Val Brembana — the cradle of artists. — Palma Vecchio — his model for St. Barbara. — Titian loved and painted Yolanda. — Loves of Giovanni de' Busi and Bettina Cariani. — Giovannino. The saint with the golden hair. — The oldest Via Orucis. — The Paschal Lamb. — The home of the Tassi. — The Bergamesque " burr." — " Qe.ru- salemme Liberata." — Torquato's triumph. — Shepherds of the Val Bregaglia. — Harlequin and Columbine. — Children's dance- songs. — Gouty patients. — Agreeable San Pellegrino. — The Ver- tove — Lords of the Mezzate. — A gruesome relic. — Mystic circles. — A Greek legend. — Folklore and roundelays. — " The rattles of Hell !" — A hero-monk. — Martinenghi — Counts and Countesses. — A romantic story of Le Chevalier Bayart. — Grim Val Sabbia. — Latin and Teuton faoe-to-faoe. — A mountain tarn and a gloomy castle. — Whitened bones of fugitives. — Dante's " Inferno." — A wonderful transformation. Chapter VI. " Benaco " - - - - 306—370 Regal Garda. — The lacustrine Juno. — Lake fish and fisheries. — Encomium of Frederic III. — Tennyson's " Olive-Silvery Sirmio." — Queen Ansa's foundations. — The castle of the Scaligeri. — The " Patareni " and their sufferings. — The hobby of Count Antonio d' Ilassi. — A countess built into a wall. — Sal6 and its oleanders. — The magnificent Martinenghi. — Count Sciarra's vengeance. — " The Albergo id Castdlo r — True gallantry. — The " Societa di Dubbiosi " — poor nobles. — Livia d' Arco's devotion. — Vittoria Colonna and Count Fortunato. — A white widow's veil. — Shake speare's epitaph. — Beata Maria Magdalena. — The story of Vit toria Acooramboni. — A scheming Cardinal. — The strangling of Isa bella de' Medioi. — Franoesoo Peretti stabbed to the heart. — In the Duke's power. — A sudden flight. — The Barbarano palaoe. — Vittoria's Court. — Virginio de' Medioi-Braooiano, the rightful heir. A vendetta. — The peaoe of Padua. — Lodovioo Orsini's treachery. — Conte Paganello's Iravi. — " Let me die deoently olothed !" Isa bella d' Este-Gonzaga, a great Lady of the Lake. — Her letters in praise of Garda. — Duchess Elizabetta Gonzaga-d'Urbino and the Marchioness. — Delightful excursions. — Card-parties. — Women's fashions. — The arohpriest's garden and flowery speech. — The dwarf Morgantino on Isabella's knee ! — Scrambling. — Livia's fall.— "We must build a CaBino here." — The gallant Spanish CONTENTS ix TAGIE3 Oapitano. — A splendid weloome. — Giangiorgio Trissino, tho poet. — La Margherita la Infdicissima / — The Ritratti delle Donne d' Italia." — " I know all her oharms !" — Junkettings on the lake. — A good-looking page. — High stakes. — A careful ohamberlain. — Two nigh-spirited girls. — Alfresco pleasures. — Marohioness prima cantatrice. — The true kiss of love. — Kissing under difficulties. — Emilia Pia and her cult of beauty. — " Rub ! rub I rub I" — The nuns of the Isola.—" Ess." or "Este 1" Bouquet.— "La Grotta" and " II Studiolo " at Mantua. — Piotures in the " Paradiso." — " The Court of Isabella." — Her motto. — The widowed Mar ohioness. — Count Cammillo, " the restorer," and Cosimo HI. of Florence. — A weird legend. — " La Violenta Signoretta " and the Black Art. — Holy Hermit. — St. Ercolano. — A drifting corpse. — Reprobate Duke Carlo's orgies. — Lady Mary Montagu's bath — " her dirt " ! — The French and Austrians fight to a finish. — The oharms and industries of the " Riviera di Garda." — Riva, like a fan. — Frate Dolcino and Margherita da Val di Ledro. — The stake and the dungeon. — " Patta." — Goethe's delight in Garda, and his adventures at Maloesine. — The Rocca di Garda and Adelheid of of Burgundy. — A cavalier monk. — A romantic escape. — The Bride of Otto " the Great." — Her daughter's romance. — Charlemagne on Lake Garda. — Sweet-faced St. Bernardo di Siena. — A sanctuary of distinguished men and women. — " Lords and Ladies " come and go. Bibliography - - ^ - - 371 Index - - - - 372—382 Banquet at Castle op Malpaga yolanda da sebina - Cbistofoeo Vebtova - Cassandea Mabtinengo Castle of the Soaligees VlTTOBIA COLONNA 32 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAG Anna Sfoeza and Antonio D' Este - - Frontispiece "Beuzio Visconti" - - ... 24 Pionio in a Foeest - Bath in a Villa-Gaeden Game of Soaetino - - - 40 Halt, of Tapesteies — Isola Bella - - - - 48 Mystic Dance .... - 56 Loggia at Villa Clara - - - 64 King Christian at Malpaga 72 Ladies of the Mabtinenghi - 80 Mtbbob of Muzzano - - - 90 Villa Cioogna-Mozzoni - 98 Fbancesoo Mabia D' Este - 106 Queen Caboline at Villa D' Este - 118 English Pabk at Cebnobbio - - - 128 Benedetto and Paolo Giovio - - 146 Hunting at Malpaga - - - 156 A Typical Villa-Gaeden - 164 Bartolommeo Colleone making Gifts 172 Maetybdom of St. Peteb of Veeona - 180 Lasnigo Ptlgbimage Ghuech Ponte Geande (ob Visconti), Lecoo Galeazzo Mabia Sfoeza - - - 198 Chase in the Beianza - - - # 206 Fbancesoo Sfoeza and Bianca Visconti - 216 Cateeina Sfobza-Riaeio-Medici - 220 Bona da Savoia, Duchess of Milan - - 224 Lodovico " Il Moeo " 230 Beatbice D' Este, Duchess of Mtlan - - 236 Luceezia Obevelli - - - - 242 Cbistina di Danbmaeoa, Duchess of Milan 248 Castle-Lotteey Pbize — Lake of Iseo - 254 Lady Mary Wobtley Montagu Tournament at Malpaga 186 264 272280286296 302 310316 SCIAEBA CeSAEESCO-MaBTINENGO ... . 324 Isabella D' Este, Marchioness of Mantua - - - 332 Elizabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Ubbino ... 342 " Court of Isabella D' Este-Gonzaga " - - - . 350 PREFACE " Lords and Ladies of the Italian Lakes !" — an author could not wish for a more delightful sub ject nor a more attractive title for his book. Few portions of this glorious old globe's surface are as lovely as the Lakeland of Lombardy. Nature and Art have gone revelling together there. Charming as is my subject from every point of view, it has, alas ! narrow and jealous limitations. Lombardy is full from end to end of ancient castles and modern villas, each at one time or another the happy home or bustling world of famous Lords and Ladies. Around and about them all are woven webs, dark and light, of stories romantic and pathetic, humorous and tragic. To recount them all would require a good-sized library of books. I have, consequently, made choice of persons and places, great and small, fairly representative of the legions of my Lords and Ladies. Some of them are already known, but many are new aspirants for the admiration of English readers. xi xii PREFACE Fifty years ago (1861) my parents first visited the Italian Lakes ; their travellers' tales interested" me vastly as a boy. Perhaps they gave me the " idea " of this volume. At all events, my own frequent saunterings in those beauty-spots and intercourse with some of my " Lords and Ladies " developed it. In the compilation of my manuscript I have found very much useful matter in the following publications : " Ville e Castelli d' Italia-Lombardia e Laghi," published at Milan ; " Lombard Studies," by Countess Martinengo Cesaresco ; " Pallanza Antica e Pallanza Moderna," by Signore Agostino Viani ; " The Lake of Como," by the Rev. T. W. M. Lund ; and frequent articles in " Archivio Storico Lombardo." To the various authors I now offer my sincere acknowledgments and thanks. With respect to the illustrations in this volume, I have had to content myself with likenesses of the more generally known and accessible Lords and Ladies. In every castle and villa are numerous family portraits, and other portraits, too ; but access to them for reproduction has not been granted by their owners. I have given many quotations in Italian, some I have translated in footnotes : but I have left the quaint folklore dialect to speak for itself. EDGCUMBE STALEY. INTRODUCTION Reader fair and critic dubious, I beg to intro duce to you my " Lords and Ladies of the Italian Lakes." The North Italian Lakeland is beautifully illus trated by a strip of old rose point pillow-lace of Venice or Milan. The topmost border, worked in Vandykes of twisted knots, stands very reasonably for the serrated ranges of the Southern Alps. The field of the reticdla, or network, exhibits the plain of Lombardy, with its free rolling uplands. The open-work of the lace, artistically irregular in design, represents the lacustrine system, with its twenty lakes or more, of every conceivable shape and size. The more closely worked arabesques and scrolls are like ranges of hill and dale, where streams, rushing swiftly or gently purling, meander naturally. The little crowns or loops, in raised work,innumerable, are the thousand and one castles and villas of the " Lords and Ladies of the Lakes." The starMke or floral adornments in the network web of lace tell of Lombard towns and villages, scattered here and there. The coronals and xiii xiv INTRODUCTION wreaths of the imbricated edge are the great cities of the plain— Novara, Como, Milan, and Treviglio ; Bergamo, Brescia, Mantua, and Verona ! This may be deemed an arbitrary and fanciful comparison ; nevertheless, it is as worthy of ac ceptance as that better-known metaphor which Hkens Lombardy to an artichoke, the leaves of which were eaten off in turn by the valiant Lords of Piedmont. The root of the succulent vegetable is Milan, the chief capital of the territory with which this volume is concerned. Whilst necessarily much that is topographical and artistic in interest and generally well known has been laid under contribution, — for this work is a sort of " Guide " to the Italian Lakes, — the aim in view has rather been to revivify those ravishing scenes and splendid villas, with the persons and doings of some of their most fascinating occupants, Two thousand years, from the times of the Greeks, Romans, and Lombards, to the days of the makers of Modern Italy, have rolled leisurely across the most famous pageant-ground in Europe. Go where you will in Lombardy, and you will not fail to note Grecian place-names, Roman inscriptions, and Lombard figures. The Lombards made Pavia their first capital, but the Franks, two hundred years later, preferred Charlemagne's city of Milan, whose rulers and INTRODUCTION xv people sided with the Guelphs. Families came and families went, — the stronger and more unscru pulous always in the front, — until the Visconti discomfited all rivals, and became masters of all Lombardy. Their predominance lasted all but two centuries, and then the Sforzas ruled for one hun dred years. France, Spain, and Austria fought for and gained the mastery in turn, each leaving characteristics of their dominion. Napoleon Buon- parte created the first kingdom of Italy, — Lom bardy, Venice, South Tirol, Istria, the Emilia, and the Marches, — with Milan for his capital. By the Peace of Zurich in 1859 Lombardy was ceded to Napoleon III., who transferred it to Sardinia in exchange for Savoy and Nice. Thus the cross of the House of Savoy rose triumphant over all the peninsula, and the Lords and Ladies of the Lakes became subjects of King Victor Emmanuel with the rest of the people of all Italy. The itinerary of this book's pilgrimage through the Italian Lakeland opens upon the southern banks of Lake Maggiore with the blessing of San Carlo Borromeo at Arona. Including a brief visit to the idyllic lake of Orta, it carries us right up to Locarno, with time for meditation in the Church of the Madonna del Sasso. Thence to Lugano we fare, with her lake and guardian mountains, and to Varese and her chain of charming lakelets — 2 xvi INTRODUCTION Biandrono, Monate, and Comabbio. Lake Como, the most beautiful of all, is the third stage of the progress ; and then Lecco and the Brianza, with her cincture of lovely little lakes — Annone, Pusiano, Segrino, Alserio, and Montorfano — call us on our way to the Castle of Milan. Fairy Lake Iseo and the captivating villages of the Bergamesque and Brescian Alps, and their rivers, — flowing through the plains of Lombardy, — lead into the last stage in the pilgrimage, the Lake of Garda, the grandest of all the lakes of Northern Italy. Upon the waters of these lakes, under the shady trees upon their banks, and in and out -of the castles and villas, jotted sumptuously every where, " Lords and Ladies of the Lakes " from all the towns and cities of the Lombardy have fore gathered, grimaced and postured, flirted, warred and died. Every village and hamlet has its story, every church and college its traditions, and the waters, mountains, and pastures have tales to tell of the romantic past. The headings of the chapters of this volume are of classical nomenclature, and the names suggest a fantasy, — quaint and beautiful, — the ascription or dedication of each principal lake to the patronage of a resplendent goddess of mythology. Maggiore — " Verbano " — becomes the studiolo of Minerva ; Lugano—" Ceresio "—the harvest-home of Ceres ; INTRODUCTION xvii Varese— " Astrsea "— the milky way of the Pleiades ; Como — " Lario " — the boudoir of Venus ; Lecco and the Brianza the hunting-glade of Diana ; Iseo the dreamland of Psyche ; and Garda — " Benaco " — the throne-room of Juno. This is not, after all, only a passing fancy ; for, fortunately enough, in vindication of my fantasy, the environment of each lake exactly matches the attributes of each goddess in the cycle. By way of further " Introduction " to the sub ject-matter of this book, and to expand a certain reference in the " Preface," the following quota tions from " Autumn Rambles or Fireside Recol lections," written by my mother, and published in 1863, are offered reverently : " Entering the valley of the Maira, it appeared to be a marshy district. Lago di Riva, a pic turesque httle lake, surrounded by mountains, was soon in sight. At first we fancied this expanse of water must be a portion of Lake Como, but, passing under some tunnels excavated in the rock, we came upon an extensive plain or morass over which pestilence and malaria reign. Here the great road to the Stelvio branches off, and shortly we reached Colico, a small village, where we left the dihgence ; and, losing no time, made our way to the steamer, which was waiting at the pier-head to convey us to Como. xviii INTRODUCTION "On board we found a number of Sardinian troops in picturesque uniforms, and we were quite enlivened by the strains of their military band. . . . As we approached Bellagio, the hills bordering the lake were clothed with walnut and chestnut trees; at their base nestled in profusion quaint villages with their tall white campanile churches. Many of the houses were most pictorial in external adornment, for the walls were covered with paint ings of the gayest and grandest colouring, pro ducing, however, in the distance a rich and novel effect. . . . " At Bellagio, also, the rain descended in tor rents. We were compelled to seek shelter in the cabin, and content ourselves with watching the deep blue waters from the small loophole windows ; and, by way of variety, we partook of a most wretched dinner. Truly there is only ' a step from the sublime to the ridiculous !' At Bellagio we heard of the arrest of Garibaldi, in whose move ments (rash as they were) we could not help being deeply interested. Upon landing at Como, we made the best of our way to the Hotel del' Angelo, a comfortable building with balconies and terraces overlooking the lake ; but not waiting to explore the city in the unfavourable state of the weather, we determined to push on to Milan. . . . " In passing through the fertile plains of Lorn- INTRODUCTION xix bardy, we noticed the luxuriant growth of the mul berry-trees, and how that beautiful villas, gardens, and cultivated fields gave a lifehke appearance to the scene. . . . Long before we arrived at Milan, the magnificent Duomo, — a mass of dazzhng white marble, — appeared in the distance. . . . Driving to our hotel, we were charmed with the noble aspect of the city, — the streets spacious and the houses well built — all characteristic of wealth and comfort. . . . The Milanese ladies have much grace in their carriage, and wear black lace veils, arranged with taste, something in the Spanish mantilla style. . . . The Milanese are an excit able people, and one circumstance was a little symptomatic of their character. We saw written upon the walls of the principal thoroughfare : ' A Morte Napoleone /' . . . " Having visited, examined, and admired the principal places of interest, we decided to return to Como. It is such a very quaint-looking town, and the natives are famed for their perseverance and industry. . . . The weather was glorious, and we were longing to feast upon the beauties of the exquisite scenery. . . . We seemed to be moving between banks clothed with olives, and vines, and orchards, embowered in trees, amongst which stood villas, with their gardens, fountains, and orange-trees. The sky above was a celestial xx INTRODUCTION blue, the water beneath clear as crystal. ... As we approached Menaggio the sun beamed forth with delicious radiance, and, landing, we secured places in an open dihgence for Porlezza. fc Before starting, we rambled about, and were interested with the manner in which the women were spinning. The flax is pulled to pieces without the aid of machinery, and the thread spun in the most primi tive method. . . . Bellagio and the Lake of Lecco appeared in the distance, and the landscape seemed to be clothed with magical lovehness. . . . Em barking at Porlezza, we commenced our explora tion of this exquisite sheet of water. Before land ing at Lugano, we made arrangements with a coachman to drive us in an open carriage to Luino. . . . " Leaving Lugano, we made a considerable cir cuit, the views becoming very grand. . . . Vege tation here has attained a chmax of richness and profusion, stamping upon the entire landscape a serenity and luxuriance perfectly bewitching. . . . Evening closing in, flashes of lightning and peals of thunder betokened the approach of a violent storm, but we were fortunate enough to reach the hotel at Luino without any rain . . . Lago Maggiore, the lake of renown, spreading its deep blue waters at our feet." The year of my parents' visit to Italian Lake- INTRODUCTION xxi land was one of dire disaster for the United King dom, when all who could had to put their hands in their pockets and open the instruments of aid to assist the cotton operatives rendered destitute by the lamentable civil war in the United States of North America. In her " Preface " to " Autumn Rambles," my mother, who was in dehcate health, says : " Being unable to join the devoted band of ladies — true Sisters of Charity — an idea struck me that I might turn to a charitable account a dis jointed diary I had kept during a recent visit to the Continent." The book was published in due course, and the proceeds vastly exceeded all ex pectation, for a sum of £50 was handed over to the Cotton Operatives' Rehef Fund. * * * * * Of each " Lady of the Lakes," Raffaelo Gual- terotto's Tuscan poem of Nature and Love may well be sung : " Oh, ever pleasant and stately groves, Your scented foliage spread — cool and green, That our sweet Lady, 'neath your screen, On her couch of Love may safe repose. Link'd boughs of pine and beech, tall and fair, Green laurel, sweet myrtle, shady oak Shield from harm her golden locks of hair, Guard her form from noontide's fiery stroke." LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES CHAPTER I "VERBANO" THE LAKE OF MAGGIORE " Verbano," — the classic style, " Lacus Verb*- anus," — has clung through all the ages to the chief of Lombardy's lordly lakes. Its shape is courtly — a bended knee : the token of worship, beauty, wisdom, and circumstance. In the Court of High Parnassus one divine personality has very specially all these attributes — Minerva, the goddess of the thew and wit of men. Upon her majestic head, upon her proud breast, and upon her supple hands, she wears the precious jewels of prudence, courage, and perseverance — Arbitress of mundane affairs, most wise of deities. Well may we see the derivation of " Verbano " in the classic name " Minerva " : Verbano, the watery domain of enterprise — the " Studiolo " of the Muses. The aspect of the Goddess is enigmatic, and of 23 24 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES her inscrutable wisdom Dante Alighieri has spoken in " II Paradiso " : " Sanz esserimi profetta Da te la voglio lui discerno meglio, Che tu qualunque costa t' e piu certa Perch' io la veggio vel verace speglio, Che fadi te pareglio all' altre cosa E nulla face lui t' se pareglio." * {Canto XXVI.). Thus may we predicate of " Verbano " too, and her inexphcable charms which open and delight every sense. The Goddess of Maggiore is, how ever, no languorous mermaid — of such an one and her wiles Goethe wrote mysteriously : — " Half she drew him, Half sank he in, And never more was seen." Minerva or " Verbano " enchants with words of wisdom and emboldens all who take heed. " Maggiore " is quite a modern name — " Greater." Great she is in aqueous area, great in picturesque beauty, great in seductive charm, and great in historical romance. * " No need thy will be told, which, I, unknown, Better discern than thou, whatever thing Thou holdst most certain : that will I see In wisdom — Truth's mirror — comprehending, By self-enlightenment all things enlightening, All is open mind and heart." iC BRUZIO VISCONTI " (ALLEGORICAL GROUP OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE FAMILY) From a Coloured Print in " Famiylie Celebre Italiana" by P. G. Litta To face page 24 " VERBANO " 25 Upon the opal-hued mirror of her wide expanse are reflected the lights and shadows of the sump tuous pageants of Lombardy and Milan. Her lovely features and her comely form are worthy, too, of the painter's canvas and the poet's song. She arrests the hurrying feet of travellers from afar, ever farther on their way by her lacustrine sisters — beauteous, like herself — whilst she tells her fascinating stories of the past. Lepontini, Etruscans, Celts, and Romans, have all left marks ethnologically and archaeologically in race and ruin. Ostrogoths and Lombards made the great reservoir of the Ticino their rendez vous in struggles for supremacy. Theodoric, Charlemagne and Alberic have, with their hosts, crossed and recrossed the ample water. Towers and castles sprang up on spur and spit, and feudal rule was absolute. Guelphs and Ghibellines struggled on lake and shore, and prolonged their feud when checked elsewhere ; every town became a repubhc for the nonce, and rose in conflict with its neighbours. Dominating clans and families farmed the resources of the Lakeland, and fought with one another — Del Castello, Barbavara, Tor- riani, Visconti, Sforza, and Borromei. Good blood was shed plentifully, and crimsoned by it were the green-blue ripples, and dyed the shingles of the beach. The last-named family at length became 26 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES champions and lords of Maggiore and its valley, and defenders of men's rights against the last desperadoes of the Dark Ages, the Mazzarditi of the Swiss frontier. The destinctive marks of Maggiore are her exquisite islets in the lake ; her splended range of mountain guardians, capped with snow ; and the pulsating movements of her ever-changing currents — these topographically ; economically the independent spirit of her peoples, their acute touch with modern movements, and their pros perity. " Maggiore," too, is the name the natives have for the most dreaded tempests which, in some years, lash the water to a maelstrom, and link earth and heaven in a consuming deluge, wherein things of man and man himself are annihilated. I. Pallanza is, from many points of view, the sovereign town of Lago Maggiore. Arona, Intra, and Locarno, across the Swiss border, may not grant her the distinction. Rivalries are inscru table. Without wasting time in argument, it may be safely asserted that the life and soul of splendid " Verbano " are most vividly expressed at "Pallanza la Qraciosa." On the fall of the Roman Empire, Pallanza was " VERBANO " 27 conquered by the ubiquitous Lombards. Charle magne made his North Italian home at the Castle of Saint Angelo, on the fortified islet of San Giovanni, and gave this desirable possession to Bishop Luitardo, who was the travelling diocesan of the Lakelands. He in time bequeathed the castle, island, and the church, which he built, to the Bishop of Novara in perpetuity. The good Bishop's bequest, however, was annulled by Frederic Barbarossa, who invested Giovanni del Castello, — the commander of his Lombard contin gent of military rallies, — with the fief and freehold rights. This ancient family was subsequently divided into three principal branches — Barbavare, CavalcaseUi, and Crollamonti. The Castle of Pallanza, now a negligible ruin, within the grounds of Villa Griffini, was built by the elder branch for the defence of the rights of possession against the claims of the Bishops of; Novara. Meanwhile, Pietro Cavalcasello, who had been chosen Podestd, or mayor, of the rapidly growing town of Pallanza, led the townfolk in an alliance with the inhabi tants of Vercelh, and Lodi, and the valley of the Ossola, in a league against clerical encroachment. Times out of mind town, castle, churches, and convents were sacked and burnt, and then for a century the Barbavare held the Lord-Para- mountcy of the commune. A still more powerful 28 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES family now came into conflict with the ruhng race —the Visconti of Milan— and drove them, men and women, out, pacifying the people by a charter, which constituted Pallanza a free town, in feu neither to Pope nor Emperor. The last Visconto, Duke Fihppo Maria, in 1422 granted to his faithful seneschal, Francesco Castiglione, the title and rights of Count of Pallanza, and with these, quaint powers — to legitimize children born in the com mune out of marriage ; to grant degrees to doctors and notaries ; and, as Captain-General, to levy toll on all vessels passing up and down the lake. The Castiglioni were an ancient Pallanza family. Charles V., in 1541, named them the first family in Lombardy, and created Pietro and Bartolommeo, the two heads, Counts Palatine of the Roman Empire. In the meantime the Sforzas of Milan had succeeded to the possessions and honours of the Visconti ; but their intrusion was resented by the Borromei, and again the land and lake were plunged in warfare, until Pallanza was again acknowledged a sovereign - city under her own Count and Captain-General of the Lake. During all these commotions and vicissitudes, many distinguished men made their marks upon the " Roll of Fame," and many attractive women graced the streets and houses — true " Lords and Ladies of the Lake." Such were Francesco " VERBANO " 29 Morizzia and Romerio Pozzoh, historians, Nicolo Regna, Giovanni Morizzia, Giovannino Viani, Gian Pietro Bianchini, and Gian Antonio Varnei, champions of liberty ; with Andrea Baglione, Antonio Giacobino, Giacomo Ruffini, and Angelo Cadolini — benefactors and administrators — the last named preconized in the Cardinalate by Pope Gregory XVI. The "Roll" may be ex ploited for two centuries more with profit and instruction ; indeed, Pallanza was recognized as the nursery of hterature and science. In 1603 she was called " a very ancient town, inhabited by a goodly number of gentlemen, scholars, and rich merchants." Bologna, Milan, Genoa, Venice, Rome, and Naples, all felt the impress of talented Pallanzaese. The fame of her schools, the renown of her liberties, and the enterprise of her sons, kept the flame and fame of the " fair city of Verbano," as she was called, brightly illuminated in every walk of human enterprise. Ascerbo Moriz zia, writing his " Memorie " in 1603, says : " The merchants of the noble town of Pallanza have now to consider how best to hold a general fair to accommodate the multitudes of peoples who con gregate in her marts, especially from distant places, to buy and sell every conceivable thing needful for human life, and, I may add," he very quaintly says, " for eternity as well. ..." The 30 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES town is the granary of Lombardy, and of the Swiss lords on the other side of the mountains. . . . Cattle and horses are brought from the lands of the Teuton, and with them come many crafty dealers. ..." An amusing and perfectly characteristic anec dote of the time and dominion of Francesco Sforza II. is quite apropos of the commercial instinct of the Pallanzaese. It runs as follows : "Battista Bertolotto, a member of a well-to-do family and a leading citizen of Pallanza, was one day in the cloth market of Milan, where he boasted, not wisely, but perhaps truly, that he could cover the Bay of Pallanza with scarlet noble cloth ! The Duke heard of this rash statement, and finding, by inquiry, that the man really was a wealthy merchant, he sent for him. After asking him about his business house and his business methods, he naively proposed that he should, to show his munificence and loyalty, undertake the restoration of the Vercelh tower of the Castello of Pallanza. Bertolotto never dreamt that the Duke was in serious mood, but regarded the sug gestion as a compliment and a joke, and began gracefully to deprecate the flattering proposal. One look at Sforza's face was enough to disabuse the merchant's mind of pleasantry; for, with a sardonic smile, and in a rasping voice, the Duke " VERBANO " 31 repeated his proposal as a command. Kneeling, he kissed the Sovereign's ring, and professed him self honoured by the commission. Back he went with a sorrowful heart to his home on Verbano, and began to carry out Duke Francesco's order ; but, as he progressed with the unwelcome work, more and more stringent were the orders from Milan. Certain architects were to be employed ; their plans were to be approved by the ducal council, a certain kind of costly stone was indicated for use, and, to add to the poor man's perplexities, he was ordered to pay into the ducal exchequer a good round sum of money, by way of security that the work should be well done and finished to the Duke's satisfaction. Bertolotto resigned himself to fate ; he made no more wild boastings, and to recoup his outlay he sagaciously advanced the retail prices of his goods, and raised the market against the ducal buyers. In the midst of his worries he put up on the fountain basin outside his palace a strange device — a human heart and a money-bag crowned with a ducal coronet, and under it the suggestive motto, ' I do not despair !' " The tower which Bertolotto built, — called by the people of Pallanza " Torrione il Pallanzotto," — stood well the test of the conditions of its con struction, and four hundred years of fierce cold tramontana and burning hot iverna did it little 3 32 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES damage. In 1848 frenzied hands of revolution demohshed it, and not a stone remains to-day to mark the tower of Ber^tolotto's pride. Spanish, French, and Austrian overlords of Lombardy have in turn traversed the piers and streets of Pallanza, robbing where they listed, and grinding down the inhabitants. To these scenes of tyranny, family feuds and rehgious rivalries have added categories of misfortunes ; but Pallanza has survived the hard knocks of the past, and still is " Begina di Verbano " — her people the proudest of all the lake - dwellers, lording themselves, as did their ancestors in the good old times long past. One of Pallanza's most bitter inner squabbles still divides the population. In 1822 Cardinal Morozzo was called upon to arbitrate between the claims of Pallanza and the neighbouring town of Suna, to the sanctuary Church of La Madonna di Campania, situated between the two rival communities, at the foot of Monte Rosso. For generations each town claimed the privilege of the Sunday High Mass, and the celebration within the sacred building of their several rehgious anniversaries. No sooner were the Pallanzese comfortably upon their knees in devout contem plation, than the Sunese clamoured at the portals for their ejection — and vice versa ran the riot. PICNIC IN THE FOREST (SEVENTEENTH CENTURY) BATH IN THE GARDENS OF A VILLA From Engravings by Augusto Fox, after Thomas Stothard, S.A. To face page 82 " VERBANO " 33 Assault and battery became the order of the day, and both sides claimed the victory. The worthy Cardinal devised a quixotic settlement : to PaUanza was alloted the grand Church of San Stefano, — to Suna that of Santa Lucia, whilst the Church of the Madonna was closed to both ! In the Church of San Leonardo is a tablet recording the virtues of one Bernardino Innocenti. The wildest of the wild in youthful days, he was sent as a student to the University of Padua, " to cure the devil in him !" Ringleader in all deeds of daring and turbulence, he was ultimately locked up with three other incorrigibles in the Castle guardhouse, and fed on spare food and daily whipped. Bernardino did not like this way of going on at all, and by some means or other he bribed his guardians, and made his escape to Bologna, where, apparently, he turned over a new leaf, for he took his degree of doctor within a twelvemonth, and was welcomed back at Pallanza by his doting parents and his old school master. In time the renegade became " the legal oracle of Lombardy," and King Phihp IV. of Spain appointed him Fiscal Advocate for the entire Duchy of Milan. Pallanza, from her administrative and mihtary pre-eminence, no less than from the enterprise and opulence of her citizens, became the arbiter of 34 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES fashion and the leader in refinement among the communes of the lake, and among the prosperous inhabitants of the adjacent valleys. Then, too, the distance from Milan and the other cities of Lombardy, and an inherent hatred and contempt of the Novarese, elevated the lacustrine capital to an autocratic position. To be sure, her travelled merchants brought home foreign ways and foreign things, but the PaUanzese looked askance on out landish fashions, and stood by their own. In the architecture of her buildings and in the domestic arrangement of her households she held a uni- quity quite her own, and these are also traits of the native of to-day. The " Spirito del Cam panile " was quite as rife in proud PaUanza as in fascinating Florence : it is so still ! Marriages were almost exclusively confined to youths and maidens native born. Brides and grooms were, as a general rule, baptized, con firmed, and wedded in the selfsame churches. This had, to be sure, its disadvantages — first of all in the too intimate mixture of hke blood, and then in the inconvenience of hmited nomenclature. As a rule, every Pallanzese was known, not by his or her patronymic, but by a nickname. The law of primogeniture was very strictly observed, younger children taking, so to speak, pot-luck. Parents were accorded titles of nobility — " My " VERBANO " 35 good Lord Father," and " My Lady Mother," were in every child's mouth, rich and poor alike. Very courtly manners were cultivated within the home circle. Girls were required to curtsy lowly each morning and evening to the parents, and to kiss the wedding-ring of their mother. Boys obeyed a still stricter rule of etiquette, for in addition to reverential greetings, they were expected to bow low to both their parents before and after common meals and when they left the room. With respect to sumptuary laws, the century marked the vogue, not the year or month, and their distinctive costumes became fixed fashions, — char acteristic of the people of Pallanza, — when other communities observed varieties of modes. Men folk of all conditions had smooth-shaven faces and well cut and powdered crops of hair. Three- cornered hats, not round berrette, were rigorously worn ; and tunics and hose were starched, em broidered, and adorned with parti-coloured ribbons. Tall hats were not introduced till after the great French Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century ; then, too, the fashion of heavy whiskers and long hair came in, and big white cravats muffled up the manly throat. The fair sex had also their conventions in the laws of dress. They wore, when under middle age, very little but thin gauze fichus over their bare bosoms, but their 36 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES bodices were cut stiffly, and their skirts were fuUy gathered and woven of stiff brocade of native manu facture or of stout wooUen cloth. Jewels they wore sparingly, but almost every woman weighed down her ear-lobes with massive hoops of gold, and a gold chain and pendant were added on festivals and at receptions. Rehgious observances were scrupulously cele brated. A son or daughter, or a dependant, absent from Mass on Sunday was severely repri manded. The names of such citizens, — and there was no respect of persons — who failed to hand to the Pievano, or parish priest, — when he made his yearly visit of domiciliary benediction on Ascension Day, — their certificate of Communion at Easter, were pubhshed from the pulpit and posted on the church-doors. Members of Church fraternities and guilds went up and down the streets with stout staves in their hands before and during Church services to hustle truants and loiterers of all ages into church, and, when inside, sleepy wor shippers were aroused to devotional attention by sound bumps upon their heads and backs ! All worthy men competed at processions, in and out of church, for the honour of bearing the poles of the sacramental canopy and the crucifixes, and banners of the festival. This custom is still ob served in and about PaUanza. Places of business " VERBANO " 37 and shops remained closed during Mass. Shoe makers only were allowed to work on Sundays, and then with half-closed doors and for half the day. This custom gained the designation of Mezzanta (Half-and-Half !). Mondays were aUotted to slaves of the last for rest and prayer by way of compensation. The Pallanzese were great sticklers for the daily siesta. Winter as weU as summer found the men folk, at least, sprawling indolently or cosily chatting under the thick foliage of the chestnuts and limes which had been planted for this express purpose in a circle by the port, and caUed after the Barbavara benefactor of the past). Gambling, characteristic aUy enough, formed the occupation of the less sleepily inclined, and all games of chance, — bar the gesticulatory Mora, — were played craftily. Other games, too, of course, were the fashion : bowls for the men and boys, ninepins for the girls. These were enjoyed in the courtyards around the esplanade. Whilst the men on Sundays abstained from their sporting pro clivities openly, the women of the town sauntered to and fro displaying their best gowns, dyed by preference in briUiant colours1 — scarlet, apple- green, pistachio, and saffron. Blue was not in favour ; it was the common colour of the coarse linen cloth worn on week-days. Water-parties were 38 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES arranged to beauty-spots not far away — more fre quently than not upon one of the Borromean Islands. The gondolas in use had gilded prows, and were covered with gay awnings and carried floating bannerets. These aquatic diversions were shared in by all the notables as well as by the ordinary citizens ; indeed, pride of family was dis played by " Lords and Ladies of the Lake," for each noble vied with his peer in the splendour of his craft, the costliness of its decoration, and the magnificence of his guests. Musicians, too, and entertainers of all kinds were afloat to amuse the company and gather in silver harvests. The proud Borromei in particular made brave shows on Sun days and festivals. Their high-decked gondola was, in fact, a bucintoro, or state barge, very beauti- fuUy carved in dark wood veneers, and thickly gilded. It was propeUed by twenty oarsmen arrayed in the family colours and bearing the family badge upon their breasts and backs. The canopies were of silk with gold and silver fringes, and heraldic ensigns were borne aloft on gilded poles. The aim of all these gay water-parties was, of course, alfresco refreshment and amusement, and here citizen rivalled citizen in the gorgeous- ness of the display. It was httle trouble to carry upon the festive craft silver and gold cups and brilhant crystal beakers. Flowers, too, formed " VERBANO " 39 delightful accessories to the feasts, placed among the viands and worn by the company. One game there was — the game of games — Pallone, played by every sort of man. In this the woman's part was as spectator only. The pitch was the piazza by the harbour. Each festival the Podesta or Sindaco sent early intima tion to all inhabitants in the square at what hour, before or after Vespers, the game would begin. Windows and architectural ornaments were ordered to be netted, or if the windows opened into rooms, to set them well back, as no claim was allowed for broken glass. The young men of the highest families were usuaUy the players, arrayed in short tight drawers, bare-legged, with weU-laced shoes. Their tunics were also tight to the body, and parti coloured ; their heads were bare. The best- developed figures always, of course, gained the approbation of the fair sex, and the nimbler they were so much greater was the applause. Drawn games were inadmissible : the players played to a finish, sometimes after dusk, — when not infre quently they came to blows. If anybody got an unwelcome knock with the hard wooden baU, he was an object of derision, and had to rub the bruise in as he felt inchned ! The PaUanzese were fond, like other folk, of theatrical displays — not merely the well stage- 40 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES managed spectacle-plays and mysteries, but scenes of humour, tragedy, and burlesque. At the end of the sixteenth century a modest httle theatre was erected in Via Ruga, wherein gentlemen visitors at the great houses within reach — and sometimes the ladies, too, — gave attractive per formances. The building had no boxes ; it had a pit and gaUery. The families of Innocenti and Azari in particular were famous for their theatrical displays, which were entitled " Le Gelosie di Zelinda e Lindoro " — The Rivals, or Zelinda and Lindoro — "II Laccio Amoroso" — The Snare of Love — and so forth. These performances and concerts were generaUy given in behalf of local charities. At the end of Via Ruga was a building caUed "II Campidoglio," a sort of Club House, where, on winter evenings, the "Lords and Ladies," and the chief citizens, met for social intercourse, gaming, dancing and other indoor recreations. Within the entrance, on the ground-floor, was what we now caU a " restaurant," — backed by a com modious kitchen, — where, beyond the long tables spread with cleanest napery and furnished with every adjunct of a comfortable meal, crackled and blazed the great open fire, with its revolving spits of roasting dainties. At the principal table in the centre were high-backed chairs of circumstance for the Podestd and magistrates and other men of THE GAME OF " SCARTINO MICHELINO DA BEDOZZO Palazzo Bonardo, Milan To face page 40 " VERBANO " 41 eminence. Disputes were frequent and abrupt ; sometimes they turned upon the important ques tion as to whose duty it was to poke the embers and put on more wood ! The talk among the seniors was of pohtics and commerce ; the young feUows girded at one another for success or failure in love-affairs and game records. Madonnas, with their daughters strictly under charge, were wel comed to postprandial conversation, and whilst the elder men entertained one another's wives, the maidens were drawn on one side by the young gaUants. The older ladies favoured quiet games at cards, but the marriageable girls preferred the more suitable pastime of forfeits for kisses. Some times the curfew sounded whilst aU were merry in their cups or absorbed in love passages, and then there was general commotion. Sometimes, too, of course, the evening's entertainments ended in quarrels and chaUenges to fight, — the turbulent spirit of the old PaUanzese was never laid. In summer-time the Campidoglio was stiU the rendezvous for town amusement, but the com pany disposed themselves on benches outside and in the street. The ladies of the town in particular were habituees of these social gatherings. Some times their pique was excited by the jokes and gibes of mischievous youths looking out for pretty girls. There the elders sat and sat till past the 42 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES beU of the Ave Maria, chatting and disputing, with stocking, garment, or fancy-work in hand. Quite the most ancient dames dropped their rosary beads when the gossip became too acrimonious or indeli cate ! The younger men and maids, behind their betters' backs, strummed and hummed love-ditties and flung chestnut-cobs at one another on the sly. On fine evenings the rasping by a viohn or guitar of a dance measure made nimble toes move in unison, and round dances were seen on every side. The waltz, however, was taboo in public, but danced it was no less, and with other idyUs made life pass merrily. In September, when the hemp was ingathering, the lads had a very favourite pastime. Pulhng out the strands of the plant and twisting them into a lengthy rope, they hghted one end and trailed it blazing across the street, compeUing all whom they met to leap weU over, Many good-natured spiUs were the consequence, and high jumps for the girls were special features of the sport ! Amid aU this licence and merriment some un wary souls were sure to transgress the rules of good behaviour, but for such there was in waiting the worthy Travaligno, or sheriff's officer. If a serenader became too noisy and too constant, or a wine-bibber forgot to check his voice and guide his steps, a dark cell awaited him. The next " VERBANO " 43 morning he was released, with a paternal warning, a wiser and a cooler man. Carnival, however, was a season of relaxation from legal obhgations, and then aU the world ran riot. At PaUanza the masquerades most in vogue were of the nature of satires on local topics and mimicry of local mag nates. Sometimes the masqueraders came to blows ; indeed, in 1792, — when a party from Intra met a similar company of PaUanzese,— local rivalries led to blows, and many a ruffian youth came by his death in consequence. The last day of the Carnival witnessed scenes of indiscriminate merri ment and wild frolic. Every man twisted his girl, and others too, around the "Albero della Liberta," The Tree of Liberty, — as it was caUed, a giant chestnut by the quay, and kisses were free for the taking. Men and maids who would not join the fun were chased up steps and yards and beaten. Class distinction disappeared in Carnival. The patrician families of Dognani, CavaUotti, Melzi, Biffi, Cadolino, and the rest, opened wide their doors and welcomed aU the world to pot and pan. Fashionable ladies displayed their graces in elegant minuetti and perigordini, — danced and posed in gorgeous attire, — to aU who came to view in the courtyards and at the portals of their palaces ; and, be it said quite on the sly, no good-looking youth went away unkissed ! 44 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Verily the light-heartedness of most mortals is in exact ratio to their environment. The champagne atmosphere of the Lakeland, the translucency of the air, the beauty of the landscape, and the generous warmth of the red-gold sun, make life to be aU joy and beauty, with very little time for grumbling and disquietude. The hght-hearted PaUanzese caUed their place of public revelry " Cuccagna " — Land of Dehghts. It was their Paradise, and they were well content. Happy, playful Pallanzaese ! II. Arona is the base-rock of the romance of Lago Maggiore. She is the leaping-off spot, so to speak, for aU who would know the story of " Verbano." With lofty Angera opposite, she is the portal, too, through which aU the " Lords and Ladies of the Lake " have come and gone. Before exploring these two fortressed towns on the way from Milan to the lake, we pass Somma Lombardo, on the right bank of the Ticino, with its enormous and venerable cypress nearly one hundred feet in height — perhaps the loftiest tree in Europe. It has wit nessed many stirring events, and has cast its shadow over many a deed of love and war. Cas- tello Visconti, fifteen miles from Arona, was built in 1448 by the brothers Francesco and Guido Vis- " VERBANO " 45 conti. The workmen they employed were mem bers of a bodyguard of twenty adherents who were as weU able to give a good account of themselves in defence of their masters as they were to labour for them in peaceful projects. Francesco, at the end of the century, laid out the spacious gardens which are stiU the glory of the estate. The old church of Sant' Agnese has a fresco record of the marriage of Ermo Visconti and Maria Bianca Scapardona. Fourteen years of happy wedded hfe were vouchsafed this notable couple — a span far longer than the wont in those times of intrigue and frenzy. Richly dowered by her consort, she, however, promptly forgot his love, and within a year of Ermo's death wantonly married Count de ChaUant, a Savoyard gaUant, who took her off to his castle in the Val d' Avola, far from her friends and home. The freedom to which Ermo Visconti had accustomed her was curtailed, and de ChaUant guarded his fascinating spouse so closely that she was httle better than prisoner at his wiU. This life of captivity was not a bit to the liking of the Countess, and within a year she fled to Pavia, where were many old friends, and where she had inherited a considerable property. Among her intimates were Ardizzione Valperga di Masimo, Pietro Cardona, and Count Roberto Sansovino. Not tiring of married hfe, although it had brought 46 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES many sorrows as well as joys, the impressionable fugitive was sought once more in marriage by Valperga, whilst Cardona undertook to make things agreeable with de ChaUant. Never was there a worse bargain struck, for bravi in de Chal- lant's pay seized the weU-meaning go-between, and instead of despatching him with their knives, — as they were pledged to do, — they popped the captive into guard to await their patron's torture- pleasure. Cardona refused to disclose the where abouts of the errant couple, and for his faithfulness to his friend he lost his hfe, for de ChaUant con veyed him to Milan, and there had him beheaded. What happened to Bianca and her husband number three, chroniclers have failed to record. Perhaps their course of true love was rosy ; had it been thorny, probably we should not have lacked information ! Not very far away from Castello Visconti, and west of Milan, was another Visconti mansion, — the CasteUo di Benguardo, — built by Fihppo Maria Visconti, near Abbiategrosso, where the Duke enclosed a deer-park and erected a garden- pavilion for the entertainment of his mistress, Agnese del Majne, and there he spent much of his time divided between devotions to St. Hubert and to " St. " Cupid. It was ever so among " Lords and Ladies." AU field-sports were Love's " VERBANO " 47 favourite opportunities ! Francesco Sforza rather brusquely turned out the charmer Agnese, and gave the castle to Matteo Bolognini, who passed it on to the family of his wife, the Tolontini. The Leyraldi bought it in 1490, and then the Tolontini reacquired it in 1648. Many such vicissitudes fell to the lot of lordly pleasaunces in those times of change and barter. The Melzi family had among their many estates a viUa at Somma Lombardo. It had been originaUy a rehgious house of Fran ciscan friars, founded by Francesco Maria Visconti, who on his deathbed made a bequest of twelve hundred scudi " for the good of his soul." One hundred years later the cloister and the chapel were destroyed, and the Rehgious dispersed, and then Giuseppe Giusti bought the estate on behalf of the Melzi d' Eril family. Succeeding generations of lordly owners were apparently both secular and given up to frivohties, and regular and devoted to Church functions. WeU, in life the evil and the good are blended and inter changeable, — and thus this sublunary existence is a pageantry of humour and pathos, and inter esting beyond the dreams and realms of trashy fiction. We must not, however, suffer ourselves to par ticipate in any more diversions by the way, for Arona and Angera have opened their gates to 4 48 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES admit us to their joint and severed stories. The former is the most ancient township on Lake Maggiore. Its name is Roman, but its fame Dominican. Then came the warring Visconti and Duke Gian Galeazzo II. ; both destroyed and built anew the castle. In 1439 the Borromei became possessed of Arona, its castle and its port, and bore bravely and judiciaUy their title of Counts of Arona. The most famous scion of that great family was born in one of the towers. The room was caUed the " Chamber of the Four Lakes," for thence might be discerned Maggiore, Monati, Comabbio, and Varese. Carlo Borromeo was born in 1538 — he who became the saintly and courageous Archbishop of Milan. His story is too weU known to require extended notice here. He is one of the heroes of the Church at large, — the Renaissance patron of Milan. Of the Castle of Arona only ruins covered by evergreen ivy now remain, — but the memory of the great Cardinal fives in what is caUed " the most eloquent and remarkable work in Italy. The world of Christianity could not wish for a nobler memorial of perfect charity than the splendid statue of Saint Carlo above Arona." Erected in 1624, — along with two fine buildings, — a seminary for priests, with a notable library of rare manuscripts and books, and a church where precious rehcs of the Saint are treasured — a cast PALAZZO BORROMEO, ISOLA BELLA : GALLERY OF TAPESTRIES From a PJwtograph To face page 43 " VERBANO " 49 of his head in wax, his pocket-handkerchief, and pastoral cross in iron, not of precious metal. His primatial cross of rare goldsmith's work and precious gems he sold for the relief of the plague- stricken people of Milan. One of the most notable works of the great Cardinal was the visitation of aU the monasteries and convents of Lombardy immediately after the Council of Trent. He found faith, practice, and morals subverted, and hcence, lust, and extrava gance unchecked. Among the articles of the Visita tion were : — " Each ceU shaU have a simple crucifix of wood, an "Agnus Dei," not of precious metal, one devotional picture, a few religious books simply bound, a table bare of cloth, a wooden bedstead and a hard mattress, a Prie-Dieu without adorn ment, no carpet on the floor, no utensils for drinking, eating, or writing. . . . Nuns are not aUowed to keep pet animals, except poultry for their eggs ; they are forbidden the use of mirrors, scents, and essences, — and each must occupy her ceU alone. ..." These strict but salutary regulations were not held in estimation long, for Giorgio PaUavicini, at the end of the eighteenth century, a clever satirist, records that " sumptuous beds with embroidered window-hangings, and thick expensive carpets, were commonly in use, and the ceUs were adorned 50 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES With silver vases filled with flowers or with hang ing lamps of crystal and sensuous pictures of ' Venus,' ' Satyrs,' and other irreligious fads and fancies." Canonized in 1610, San Carlo Borromeo speedily vindicated his right to saintship in miracles wrought by his efficacy. One, known to aU the lakeside dweUers and throughout Lombardy, had imme diate attestation. On the evening of December 17, 1630, the house of Signore Giovanni Battista Cadolino at PaUanza was the scene of a notable visitation. A smaU picture hanging in the family room representing the Saint with hands joined together, kneeling before a crucifix, suddenly exuded a copious shower of tears ! The first member of the assembled family, — they were gathered for their midday meal, — who observed the phenomenon was the youngest daughter of the house, Maria Elizabetta. Jumping up sud denly, she cried aloud, " Uno Miracolo /" and, taking down the picture from the waU, she showed it to each in turn, the while showers of water ran over her hands to the ground. Among the assembled children and guests were her brother Bernardino, her sister Marta, and her Aunt Madonna Bernardina di Magistrio, her father's sister. All feU upon their knees and prayed to San Carlo for instruction what to do. A strange " VERBANO " 51 voice, coming whence they knew not, but at a distance, whispered, "Alia Cappuccini /" whose monastery adjoined the parish church of San Leonardo. Young Bernardino, reverently wrap ping a silk scarf of his mother's around the weep ing picture, bore it reverently, foUowed by his parents and the rest of the family and their domestics, to the monastery. The Father Su perior at once recognized this astounding circum stance as an interposition of San Carlo in answer to devout prayers on behalf of the plague-stricken citizens of the town. Assembhng his chapter and the rehgious communities, a peregrination of the town and suburbs was conducted, he himself carrying the stiU dripping picture beneath the great processional canopy. Stations were made before every house marked with the dreaded black cross, prayers were said, and hymns were sung, and the fragrance of sweet incense was wafted over the beds of the sufferers. Immediate rehef was experienced, and not only such notable people as Signore Massimihano Viani, Signora Costanza Innocenti, and Madonna IsabeUa, wife of Tommaso Cadohno, were cured, but the plague was stayed in the most densely populated and most squalid quarters of the town. A festa was appointed, and communications were addressed to Rome. The Sacred Congregation approving the testimony of 52 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES the Cadohno family and the witness of the clergy, ordered the erection of a chapel in connection with the parish church for the worthy conservation of the miraculous picture, and imposed upon the family the honourable task of maintaining the building and the altar in perpetuity. The devout citizens and country-folk flocked in thousands to render homage to their new treasure, praying humbly and gratefuUy to San Carlo Borromeo, and also to Saints Maximinio, Ippohto, and Boni- fazio, whose bones had been buried beneath their altars centuries before. San Carlo Borromeo was not the only Saint who came to the aid of plague-stricken towns upon Lake Maggiore. In the year 1344 a venerable priest lived as a recluse on one of the spurs of Sasso BaUaro, now called Santa Caterina del Sasso, from the simple sanctuary erected where the good hermit prayed and ruled. His name was Alberto Besozzo of Arolo, belonging to the rich and noble family of that name in Milan. He had been for years busy smugghng goods and robbing folks by excessive usury. One day he was returning from the market of Lesa, some miles down the lake, in a smaU open boat, when a fierce tempest tossed the water into deadly whirlpools. The frail barque was wrecked upon a sunken rock, and Besozzo, the only survivor, found refuge on a small island " VERBANO " 53 far from land. He took this as an intimation that Heaven's will required him to renounce his evil ways, turn penitent, and remain where he had been cast. Before settling on his island, he re turned home, sold aU his property, and distributed the proceeds among the poor. Very soon the holy man's fame for sanctity reached the farthest limits of the lake, and penitents thronged his ceU for spiritual counsel. For ten years he remained in his narrow hermitage, and then, owing to the influx of visitors, he removed to an inaccessible peak of the mountains, and there spent his time in prayer, interceding especiaUy for the sick and dying of plague and famine. His prayers were so efficacious, and withal so profitable in a worldly sense, that with the offerings of the faithful he built a httle chapel near his mountain ceU, and dedicated it to Santa Caterina di Alessandria, the special intercessor with Heaven for such as were victims to pestilence. On the day of dedication, and once every year upon the anniversary, re hgious processions scaled the lofty mountain to pay honour to the holy man and to ask his inter cession with St. Catherine. This procession, though curtailed in numbers and less enthusiastic than at first, stiU visits the mountain sanctuary year by year. Blessed Alberto Besozzo died in 1385, passing, as pious souls said, " in mano degV 54 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Angioli." His epitaph may be read in the moun tain chapel : — " Qui giace il penitento grand' Alberto, Romito di tai merto Che vivendo godena qua qui in terra Fra gl' Angioli quel ben, che' 1' ciel riserva Vive, ma dormira sino, che' 1' sole Cingera questa E poi desto, fra quelle puro forme Del ciel volgera l'Orme." Under the wooden roof of the gateway of the God's acre are frescoed scenes from the " Dance of Death," wherein the personages are portraits of weU-known people of the lake, and the back grounds of the pictures reproduce the various towns. The story of Angera is quickly told. Its castle has been a bone of contention hard and sore. In the thirteenth century the Torriani were its overlords, but that bellicose Archbishop, Ottone Visconti, dispossessed them in 1276. Giovanni Maria Visconti I. puUed the castle down in 1350, and, — with the hke incontinence, that Duke Gian Galeazzo II. displayed at Arona, — rebuilt it imme diately. There ought to have been a method in this madness, but nobody has yet discerned it. One hundred years passed, and witnessed many notable events and entertainments within those frescoed waUs, and then, upon the passing of the Visconti, " VERBANO " 55 the ambitious Borromei obtained the stronghold. Vitahano Borromeo assumed the rank of Count ; the Rocca d' Angera is theirs to-day. With rare discernment and munificence the ancient appear ance of the castle and its confines has been retained, — antique furniture and ancient curios adorn the rooms, and frescoes and textile hangings present scenes of conflict between the rival Torriani and Visconti. The windows to the west give upon the lake, and in particular upon the islet of San Giovanni, where a holy deacon in early Christian days, Arialdo, was done to death by the heathen Ohva Valvassori, " The Scourge of Angera." Among the " Lords and Ladies of the Lake " who have passed in and out of those massive gateways was Queen IsabeUa of Spain, one of the iU-fated beauties of the Milanese Court. By the chief portal is a stone incised : — " Camillus lo : Baptista. — Hon : Romei," and here we have the derivation of the patronymic Borromeo. Taking our way somewhat erratic aUy before giving ourselves away to the alfresco dehghts of the Borromean Islands, we may pass a pleasant time by the waters of two minor lakes of Lombardy, strictly of Savoy ; and very beautiful they are — Mergozzo and Orta. The former has, alas ! lost much of its beauty and renown on account of the quarries and lime-pits which have made its banks 56 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES utihtarian feeders of the commerce of Lombardy and Piedmont. What repute it had was as the backwater retreat of Maggiore smugglers, for originaUy Mergozzo was a bay of its greater sister. Orta, — sometimes called " Lago Cusio," on the other hand, has preserved its ideal beauty and seclusion. It reposes in a dehcious basin bordered by verdant hiUs, a land of fruit and flowers, a scene of pathos and romance. In addition to natural and historic interest, the banks of the lake are busy with the works of clever craftsmen — wood-carvers, metal-workers, and paper-makers. Being secluded from the general run of business, the workpeople, as weU as their masters, are noted for their scientific study of industrial questions and problems, the outcome of their studies being invention and adaptation, difficult to realize in crowded cities and in busy townships. Omegna, Orta, and San Maurigio are the chief places on the lake. The first and last are almost entirely operative and around Orta, — Orta-Novarese, as it is caUed by many, — gathers the story of the lake. The romance of Lake Orta starts historicaUy in the fourth century, upon the picturesque islet of San Giuho, opposite the town. The ancient bastion of San Giuho was founded by a Greek missionary in 379, who wandered thus far in search MYSTIC DANCE MICHELINO DA BEDOZZO Palazzo Bonardo, Milan To face page 56 i: VERBANO " 57 of heathen converts. He brought with him precious relics, among them a smaU portion of the Cross of Calvary, which, at Milan, he had caused to be inserted in the apex of his long-stemmed metal cross, from which he flew the narrow banneret of the Agnus Dei. The saintly man placed in the crypt of his primitive House of God the vertebrae of a deadly dragon, which he slew, — after the pattern of other saints, — in a cavern's mouth on Monte Mottarone. Centuries came and centuries went, until GiuUia, the amazon wife of King Berengario, of Lombardy, took refuge, in her husband's absence in Southern Italy, where Otto, afterwards the first of her hne of Emperors, sought, first to woo and then to slay her, and usurp the Lombard throne. She threw Up hasty ramparts on the island, and subsequently built a stronghold, remains of which are stiU to be seen, and they are stiU caUed " Muri della Regina." Otto made Lagna, across the lake, his head quarters, and laid siege to the fugitive Queen, who, after two months' stout defence, was compeUed to surrender herself and her castle to the usurper. It appears Otto made a vow that if he should succeed in capturing GiuUia, he would render up the island as an offering to God, and he bestowed it upon the Bishops of Novara — hence its current name. A curious story is told about the siege. 58 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES A child was born, it was said, of GiuUia, whom she name Guglielmo, and dedicated him to the Church. The lad hved, became a priest and the Apostle of Burgundy, and dying in 1031, left splendid monastic foundations at Orta and at Dijon. A very beautiful viUa now adorns the island of Orta, built by Signore Ottavio Pio, after the patterns of the Moorish Palaces of Ziza, and Cuba near Palermo. III. Baveno, Stresa and PaUanza dance merry measures with the islands Madre, Superiore, and BeUa — ghttering sirens in their cerulean gold- flashed bay, and reflecting in the crystal mirror of its waters the snowfields of Monte Rosa and her afterglow. Mingling with the decoying vocal echoes of the fabled "Ladies of the Caves" and Shores are human sonnets of the Rehgious, of the fisherfolk, and of nobles proud and fair. As the wavelets lap marble steps, or pitter-patter on rolling strand-stones, their titiUations keep time with ghostly footsteps of the pageant figures of the past. To name the Borromean Islands is to arrest the ear and start the mind off in an ethereal dream. Not even the Biblical Paradise had anything half so fair ; indeed, the eye shares with the heart the " VERBANO " 59 impressiveness of iUimitable dehghts. In the gay cotiUion danced by nymph and form, by mermaid and merman, Baveno gives her hand to the picturesque fishermen, Stresa to the palace courtiers, and PaUanza to the merry monks. The weU-matched couples gyrate on shore or dive to depths profound, and we who watch and wait have as much as we can do to take our cue and join in the merriment. If we are caUed upon to give the award of Paris to the fairest of these islets, we have a problem hard to solve. Each has a special charm, equal, if not better, than the rest. Stresa has always been an aristocratic place ever since the lordly Visconti picnicked there in the long ago. The CasteUo, now a ruin, of course, dates from the eleventh century, and now we have the twenty-first not very far ahead. A thousand years are a goodish span for any locahty to keep up its reputation, but Stresa to-day is still the resort of " Lords and Ladies of the Lake." She is a congeries of viUas and gardens as fuU of gay romance as of sweet flowers. The Royal House of Savoy, — sovereigns of " Italia Unificata," year in, year out, here enjoy their villeggiatura. At the ViUa Ducale the Queen-Mother, beloved Mar gherita, recuperates after strenuous exercises around Alpine heights ; and King Vittorio Em manuel comes over from Racciongi, when he is 60 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES tired of sport and study, to visit the home of his grandparents for rest and relaxation. Stresa's partner in the fantastic dance of shore and isle is Isola BeUa ; they are parted only by a very narrow strip of water. Any white-clad hand some young boatman wiU ferry us across and introduce us to one of the liveried custodi, who can teU us what has been told to him about " the beautiful Eliza " — Eliza bella — whose name the island bears. It was Giangiacomo Borromeo, the brother of Count Vitaliano, who, visiting friends at Stresa, rowed over to the nearest island of the group, then occupied by fishermen's crazy hovels and a little chapel very much out of repair. He at once perceived that very much might be made out of the islet, so secure from ahen feet ; indeed, it was just the spot he had been hunting for. The Signore was, as aU Lombardians were, and aU Italians are to-day, a very amorous feUow, and he had a youthful mistress, — a child of Milan, — whom he had decoyed from home. A jealous wife and spying friends surrounded the haison with difficulties ; besides, the girl was not of gentle birth, although pure and lovely as the hly. He dreamed a dream of a beauty-spot wherein to place his sweetheart, and reahzed his vision by the erection of a little viUa upon the islet and by the dismissal of the few inhabitants. In short, the " VERBANO " 61 Signore created an Elysium where he disposed the lovely Ehza and surrounded her with nothing but things of beauty and of joy. Certainly she was a prisoner, but she had nothing to do but to minister to her lover and translate his wishes into facts. Alas for the happiness of things terrestrial, the seraphic dream vanished in cold dust and air, for the beauteous castellana died, from " the excess of love," — so was it stated, — and after Signore Giangiacomo had buried her in the little chapel patch, he left his enchanted island and never saw it more. Then, in 1632, came Vitahano, the lordly brother of our hero, and cleared the ground once more. Giangiacomo's casino was replaced by a very much more beautiful garden of dehghts, and he set to work to build a palace which should have no rival in Lombardy. He cared not one whit for the Ehsa dedication, but inasmuch as the name of his Countess was IsabeUa, — Isabella d' Adda, — the name of the island remained unchanged — Isola Isabella — Isola Bella. No fairer spot upon this wide earth can be found than Isola Bella di Lago Maggiore. The palace, — taken possession of in 1 67 1 by the magnificent Count and Countess, — was never reaUy completed, but its rooms are fiUed with choicest works of art and fashionable foibles. The gardens are unrivaUed. The terrace grottoes echo 62 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES softly, if one hstens patiently, the tales of bygone days, and repeat bashfuUy the passages of love which they have concealed. Sitting there beneath magnohas, camellias, and oleanders, with the aromatic perfumes of thousands of exotics, one requires the use of a meagre imagination only to people those alcoves and parterres with " Lords and Ladies of the Lake " who have clanked gilded swords up and down the marble steps or swept the borders and greensward with traihng skirts of sUk and velvet. Those orange-trees have been robbed of their delicate blossom to crown Borromean ladies ; those laurels have given verdant leaves for wreaths of champions in the games of love. The tragedies of hfe are substantiated in Isola BeUa, for, among the fair women who have been loved, divorced, and evil-treated, none receive greater commiseration than Josephine Beauharnais, the hapless Empress Josephine. To the Isola fled the Cavaliere Giovanni Tempesta for sanctuary, when incontinently he had murdered his worthy wife in order to marry a more handsome woman — a lady of the Borromei. Buonaparte, too, frequented the Borromean Palace, and many a time he sought repose and refreshment amid the amenities of the gardens. In the stem of a giant oleander, — whose flower was his favourite, — he cut on one occasion his initials " VERBANO " 63 and the word " battaglia." It was just before the decisive victory of Marengo. Isola Superiore, — better known, perhaps, as Isola de' Pescatori, — has quite another story. It is approached from Baveno, the fishing-town par excellence of the lake. Their interests are in common, and they are linked in imagery of romance, hke loving partners in the glorious dance of life. Fishing-boats and fishing-nets encumber beach and harbour. No more picturesque or courteous people dweU along the lake ; they are Nature's gentlefolk, ever ready to show kindness to strangers and to support their kith and kin. Perhaps they number three hundred souls all told, and are reckoned citizens of Chignole on the main land. At eventide, when the fishermen race home for food and amusement and rest, you will hear such vocal music as wiU dehght your ears and cheer your hearts. The baritone and tenor of the bar carole, borne by the breeze and ripples, blends in delicious cadence with the women's contralto and soprano on the beach. The songs are Venetian in character, and teU in tuneful numbers of love and death, and hope and despair, with staccato praise of vahant deeds of yore. This island is a smaU Repubhc, and owns no obedience to the lordly Borromei, as do her sisters twain. Baveno, — one of the sweetest spots on earth, — 5 64 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES gets its name from bavero, the embroidered cape of a brocaded cloak— a very apt derivation, for within her boundaries are gathered quite a dozen villages, some on the lake, some off. No beethng chffs or crumbling castle waUs frown down upon the sunny plain. Baveno, like her rival Stresa is a parterre of viUas and villa gardens. The finest, and for Enghsh-speaking visitors the most interesting, is ViUa Clara, stiU so caUed by habituees, but renamed within the last decade Villa Bianca Scala. Built in 1872 by Mr. Charles Henfrey, after designs of English architects, its gables and red bricks give it quite a British character. The grounds, too, are triumphs of Enghsh landscape gardening, and the beautiful Enghsh church within the gates is Anglican outside and in. Good Queen Victoria sojourned here in 1875, and added her august name, with the names of British Royal Princesses — Louise and Beatrice — to the " Libro d'Oro " of the " Lords and Ladies of the Lakes." No more gentle, charming hostess could be imagined than Mrs. Henfrey. Her gardens were open every day to British and American visitors, and when she, from her boudoir window, noted the presence of her country men and women in the grounds, she used to saUy forth, dressed in floating white mushn and a big garden hat of straw, and welcome her visitors cordiaUy. VILLA CLARA, THE LOGGIA, BAVENO From a Photograph To face page 64 " VERBANO " 65 " Come in and look at my pretty things, and have some tea." A deprecatory answer always caUed forth a charming protest, " But you must ; now come along with me !" and, suiting her action to her words, she hnked her arm in that of one of the ladies, and bore the party off to do her gracious wiU. " You admire my flowers, I know. See, my gardener shaU cut you each a bouquet, whilst you chat with me and teU me your news. My hfe is somewhat of a solitary one, you know — my hus band is much away — and there are no Enghsh residents in Baveno. Your presence is a perfect god send, and I thank you greatly for your company." She was a lovely young woman in those days, and as good as she was comely ; but money, and the wiU to spend it discreetly and helpfuUy for the benefit of others, could not avert the crushing grief that came to the lady of the ViUa — caUed after her own name in loving comphment by her fond hus band. In 1890 Mr. Henfrey died. The blank was more than his disconsolate widow could endure. She left Baveno, weeping bitterly, and no one passed those bolted gates for eight long years. In 1898 ViUa Clara was in the market, and the pur chaser was Signora Maria Scala Bianca, who changed the name and the regime. Queen Vic toria's trees — a cedar and a cypress — stiU flourish 66 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES in the grounds where Her Majesty planted them. It was at ViUa Clara that she first indulged in what in after-life became a Royal custom — alfresco refreshments. The Queen loved to pitch her tea kettle under some shady tree in the grounds or beyond upon the slopes of Monte Mottarone, and invite speciaUy honoured guests to partake along with her suite. Our fanciful set-to-partners shows PaUanza and Isola Madre hands-across the lake, but the com radeship is in danger of disaster through the inter vention of the smaUest islet of them aU — San Giovanni. How Isola Madre got her name of maternal dignity two tales may show. The first is of pious origin, and hnks the memory of holy men and women of the past with folks at work and play to-day. The site, it is said, of the earhest Christian church in Lakeland, holy monks and nuns dwelt in security in the wild old times, and ministered to turbulent souls the sweet com forts of Mary, Mother of the Church. When "Pallanza la Craciosa" was in swaddling-bands, and before she began to grow, the mother-island and the mother-Church stood for her weal and healed her woe. Time ran swiftly on, — it ever does, — and men's simple faith and humble practice were no safeguards against pomp and circumstance. The beauty of the island was its undoing as a " VERBANO " 67 sanctuary. Never the prey of marauders, it is true, in the sense of rape and rage, Isola Madre became the apple of the eye of the discerning and enterprising Borromei. Theirs was already the Isola BeUa, the cynosure of artistic girlish beauty, and of Isola Madre they made the exemplar of natural maternal comehness. Likened to a cun ningly woven basket filled with ripe delicious fruit, which Pomona offers to " Lords and Ladies of the Lake," Isola Madre, more luxuriant far than her younger rival, wins the love of aU. The other story of nomenclature assigns to Elizabetta Cris tina, Mother-Queen of Spain, the designation " Madre." She, hke many another Aragonese bride of Dukes of Milan, was enchanted by the vision of the Borromean Islands. " Here," she said, " I could wish to spend my days, and find my grave at the end of them." Alas ! the Palazzo, hke a flashing crystal set in emeralds and gold, has nowadays no occupant. Scions of the noble house occasionaUy pay visits for alfresco dehghts, but their parting footsteps echo and re-echo along empty corridors, and ghosts of gay visitors glide silently through unpeopled rooms. Isola Madre, hke she whose name it reaUy bears — Maria Im maculate, — is undefiled by steamer-smoke and the rough-and-tumble of the world. No more secluded beauty-spot for meditation can be imagined. 68 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES From the Borromean Islands to Intra's smoky eliimneys is quite a short cruise by boat or foot, and yet a greater contrast is unimaginable. Intra is the Manchester of Maggiore — a land of machinery and fumes — strange metamorphosis indeed, for in the fourteenth century her name was Sant' Am- brogio di Intra — a shrine for peace and prayer. The Borromean stronghold is altered out of all recognition ; it is an iron-foundry. StiU, Intra is encircled by lovely country bedight with sump tuous villas. ViUa Frangosini is caUed the " Queen of ViUas." Nowhere are magnolias and camellias so immense, and flowered with so much wealth. Count Antonio Barbo, whose town house is in Milan, is the lucky enterprising owner. There is, however, little or no historical romance at Intra. Romance there is, of course, and plenty of it, but it belongs to the ordinary day and night, and is more or less sordid in its measure and touched with commercial vulgarity. Once round the Punta di Castagnola, — with its bright green chestnut-trees, with almost human hands, and spikes of early pink- white spring bloom, and later on hard nuts of rich autumn brown, — Lake Maggiore assumes quite another aspect, and her story thenceforward to her head is unhke the romance of her southern moiety. Minerva of the shores of literature and femininity, her brilhant " VERBANO " 69 golden casque laid aside that men may be fasci nated by her autumn locks and flashing eyes, now assumes her brazen helmet and grasps her weapon tightly, for she needs aU her reserve of powers to withstand the pirate crew. Purple flow the lake currents — coloured by the crimson gore of men mixed with aqueous blue. A cold wind from the north and a broken sea of foam bid the lookout keep his post. Nature as weU as history has dif ferentiated Maggiore north and south. StiU, there are beauty-spots hidden away in pretty coves, and the sternness of Vulcan at times relaxes in a love-liaison. Ruined castles and dismantled towers meet the eye with marteUo-hke frequency, but their stories of rapine and deadly feud have vanished into dust. As we gaze on these tokens of a sanguinary past the terrifying cry of " Le Mazzarditi ! " seems to sound in our ears, — the feU pirates of the lake from whose clutches there was no escape. They were the irreconcilable offspring of an early race or races of marauders. In Milan, in the year 1275, there culminated the blood-strife of Torriani and Visconti. The former were for the people, the latter for the lords. AU Lombardy was torn in pieces by war, robbery, and lust, and the waves of savagery roUed back the southern culture cur rents of the lakes. The LomeUini fell before Arch- 70 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES bishop Ottone Visconti ; " Torriani to the rescue !" drove the Visconti out of the castles they had seized, leaving them only Arona and Angera. Then the fortune of war changed, and the Visconti re- occupied Quassa and CasteUsepiro, to be expeUed with grievous loss once more, until the mihtant Archbishop was in full retreat to Cannobio. There, raUying his forces, he was joined by the Signore of Locarno, Simone Rusca, and Marchese Gugliel- mo di Monferrato, and they pushed the Torriani back. Battles fought on land and lake decimated the lacustrine population and impoverished the lake lords. In 1358 Duke Gian Galeazzo IL, for the permanent glory of his house, dismantled the strongholds of Arona, Invorio, CasteUatto, Mia- simo, and many others on the banks of the lake, leaving, as he said, not " a goat foothold " for adherents of the rival faction. The next Duke, — Giovanni Maria Visconti, — the most cruel of his race, — not content to let matters settle graduaUy, let loose once more the dogs of war, — to speak metaphoricaUy, — and alongside of the metaphor actual savage dogs, great mastiffs, to hunt out, drag forth, or devour all fugitives and men marked as dangerous. Those were days of Guelph against Ghibelline, GhibeUine against Guelph, and no man's hfe and land were safe. Holding with the Ghibelhnes in " VERBANO " 71 the first decade of the fifeenth century, at Cannero, were the five brothers Mazzarditi, doughty cham pions in work and strife, sons of Pietro, a black smith of Roneo, near Locarno : Giovanolo, Beltra- mino, SimoneUo, Petrolo, and Antonio were their names. Incited by Simore Rusca, a descendant of the hoary-headed aUy of the Visconti, — they began to harass the unfortunate Guelphs, who happened to be in the vicinity. Their depreda tions grew in boldness and dimension. At length, in 1403, theyfeU upon their peaceful neighbours at Cannobio, plundered their houses, and slew aU who opposed them. The two seneschals of the town — the brothers ManteUi — they despatched with their daggers. Their sister Bianca, rather than lose her life, entreated Petrolo Mazzardito to marry her and do with her what he would, in ex change for the goods of her murdered brothers — not a very heroic hne of action, to be sure, but perhaps excusable under the circumstances ! The wife of the Podestd was carried off for ransom ; he, good man, escaped — Giacomo Pozzo di Vezevano. Then the miscreants set off upon their cruise of piracy. Locarno, Ascona, and even far-distant Angera, were laid under contribution. PaUanza, Intra, and Arona alone repeUed them ; Angera suffered terribly ; taken unawares and in the dark by a crowd of savage brutes, the greater number 72 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES of the men were massacred, and the young women carried off to feed iU-conditioned lust. Returning from the foray, the pirates found arrayed against them the united and armed fleets of fishing- vessels of Laveno and Belgirate, with a great flotiUa from PaUanza, on its way to join her neighbours. Daringly and successfuUy the corsairs of Cannobio ran the gauntlet of grapphng-irons and artiUery, sinking instead of themselves the boats of their aUied enemies. Back once more in their home waters, the ruffians set to work to fortify them selves against the vendetta at their heels. They compeUed the poor disheartened men of their viUage to build, laboriously and almost unpaid, two castles upon two rugged rocks projecting above the lake at Cannero. One they caUed "Trafliume" the other " Carmagnola;" but those who wrought and those who watched in derision dubbed them " Castelli Malpaga" — No-pay Castles ! AU trade and industry were at an end so far as the northern portion of the lake was concerned, and the robber brethren were ever ready to saUy forth to destroy any useful peaceful movement in the south. Their example and encouragement made many an honest man a rogue. Bands of highwaymen haunted the vaUeys and the shores hand-in-hand with the pirates of the deep. At ARRIVAL OF KING CHRISTIAN AT THE CASTLE OF MALPAGA GIEOLAMO BOMANINO Fresco at the Castle of Malpaga. (See page 280) To face page 72 " VERBANO " 73 last, in 1414, Duke Fihppo Maria Visconti, hearing of the distress and anarchy, determined to subdue the Mazzarditi and their foUowing. Capitano Giacomo Lonate, one of the Duke's most trusted commanders, was despatched with a strong force, manning many battleships at Arona. The expedi tion was a triumph of order over riot. The Maz zarditi were caught, hke rats in a trap, in their two castles at Cannero, but, hke brave men, they fought and refused surrender, until six months of starvation had lowered their courage and their vim ; they paid the death penalty for their mad ness and their crimes. Lake Maggiore now breathed freely after twelve years of bloodshed and misery. The two robber castles were thrown down, and happier days came to Cannobio. One hundred years after the feuds of Torriani, Visconti, and Mazzarditi had been put to silence, other Lords — not war-Lords — assumed the ownership of both communes — the aU-per- vading Borromei. On the ruins of Traffiume, in 1519, Count Lodovico Borromeo built his CasteUo Vitahana, but it became a ruin, too. Where "Ladies of the Lake" flirted, fished, and feasted, nowadays the simple folk of Cannero foregather yearly in harvest-time, and make the battered waUs, clothed in richest ivy, re-echo with hilarity. Between Cannobio and Brisago is the Swiss 74 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES frontier,— for the head of the lake belongs to Switzerland's canton of Ticino,— with its custom houses. ToU is taken, too, of water-craft saihng over the imaginary hne. Brisago has belonged to Switzerland since 1520 ; she was weary of the bloodshed of Torriani, Visconti, Rusca, and Maz zarditi, and she loved her hberty. The delta of the torrent, Maggia, portentously increasing during each decade, separates Ascona from Locarno at the head of Lake Maggiore. The crown of Lo carno, and, indeed, of the whole lake, is the Madonna del Sasso, which conspicuously pro claims the triumph of rehgion over other forces. The town has been famous from Roman times, but Celts baptized it Loc-ar-no — the Place of the Lake — and so Locarno is the soul of Lake Maggiore. With feet at Arona and Angera, and hands at Stresa and Baveno, her graceful form reposes in the deep vaUey Nature has formed, and her head hes on the breast of the Madonna del Sasso. It is a notable sanctuary, built by the devotion of Locarnese noble families — the Muralti, Orelli, Magoria, Rusca, and a host of others. AU feuds and passions are laid low at the feet of " Maria Stella Maris," now The Virgin of the Rock ; and a story must be told. Upon the glorious Feast af the Assumption in August, 1480, a pious brother, Bartolommeo " VERBANO " 75 d' Ivrea, a monk in the Franciscan monastery at Locarno, was honoured by a supernatural visit from Christ's Mother. It was midnight, and a brilliant harvest-moon silver-plated lake and land, — when the brother beheld, whilst reciting his early " Prime," a vision of glory in his ceU. The Mother extended her hand, and pointed up the hill, and said : " TeU the men and women of this place to buUd me a sanctuary yonder !" Frate ^Barto lommeo sought the Prior, and told him his story, the while heavenly voices chanted the sweetest " Ave " mortal ears had ever heard. This sign was the token of absolute truth and command. The httle church was consecrated in 1483, and then the holy brother retired into a grotto he had scooped out of the mountain-side, and hved there in piety, prayer, and poverty for nigh twenty years, and when he died, the same angehc choir chanted over his bier the Nunc Dimittis. San Carlo Borro meo loved to dweU there, and to preach to the fisherfolk and the dressers of the vines. Due to his initiative, a greater church was built, " with room," as he indicated, " for aU who love Mother Mary." The church is reached by a winding path under the shade of trees, and the devout pUgrim finds four teen " Stations," at aU of which he may rest and meditate. These Stations are chapels with altars and their appurtenances, but are chiefly remarkable 76 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES for the painted terra-cotta groups iUustrative of the life and death of Christ. These figures have a speciahty all their own ; they are not merely ideal reproductions of humanity, but are portrait studies of " Lords and Ladies " of Locarno and the neighbourhood, and are quite starthng in their reahsm. The " Lords and Ladies " of modern Locarno are cast in another mould — men and women, of course, hke their predecessors. The cult of rehgion yields in them place to the cult of fashion ; and where cowled monks and veiled nuns four hundred years ago crept laboriously on knee to pray, weU-groomed visitors of the health-resorts make the hiUs ring with merry laughter. CHAPTER II " CERESIO " THE LAKES OE LUGANO AND VABESE " Cebesio," the Home of Ceres ! What more de lightful or appropriate name could be wished for the harvest-field of the gods which surrounds the sickle-shaped lake of Lugano ! WeU and cun ningly did those old Romans and Greeks, who colonized barbarous Europe, give names geograph ical where they hsted. Lugano is the Lake of Ceres, the goddess Earth's riches, mother of Per sephone, the gatherer of flowers, whom she lost awhile, but again recovered with the help of Mer cury, much as spring and autumn succeed each other in the yearly round. There is a further conceit anent this divine patronage of the luxuriant Ticinese lake. Zeus and Plato, it was said, were privy to the rape of Persephone. Giant mountain gods and guardians of " Ceresio " are Salvatore and Generoso, rocky monuments of the two deities, and aptly named. The return of Persephone to Ceres produced 77 78 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES amazing fertihty, and the mother-goddess had as much as she could do with her golden sickle to gather in the harvest of the earth. i. — LUGANO. The social conditions of the canton of Ticino and of the inhabitants of the lake-shores of Lugano are very different from those which obtain generaUy in the land of the Itahan lakes proper. Strictly speaking, there are no " Lords and Ladies " of Lake Lugano, and none have there been these four hundred years or so. Before the time of Francis I. of France the history of the canton and of the lake ran concurrently with that of the neighbouring Piedmont-Lombard lands. BeUinzona, the ancient capital of the canton, is a thoroughly Itahan town, quite Venetian in character, with three most picturesque castles — Gorbe, Picile, and Gian — but it gives place to Lugano as the most populous and best-known place in Ticino. Some maintain that Lugano is of Roman origin — the castrum, or headquarters, of a legion. Be this as it may, in the year 1000 the Emperor Otto II. made a grant of the whole dis trict to Adelgiro, Bishop of Como, with the right to levy market toUs. The election to the see of one of his successors, Landulfo Carcano, a Milanese monk, was the occasion of a fierce conflict. The " CERESIO " 79 rival Popes, Gregory VIII. and Urban IL, each nominated a Bishop. Carcano was the choice of the former, but the people of Como would not accept him, and drove him from the city. Car cano took refuge in the Castle of San Giorgio at Agno at the head of the Maghaso bay of the|lake, some three miles from the town of Lugano. There he intrigued with certain Milanese clerics and nobles, and the castle became the headquarters of a strong army hostile to the orders of Carcano. The Comacine forces took the fortress by storm, and put Carcano and his Visconti allies to death ; this was the beginning of the hundred years' war between Como and Milan. The partisans of Guelphs and GhibeUines carried on the feud of blood in that fair lakeland, and the families of Vitani, Rusconi, and Torriani, and many another were opposed to, and at grips with, one another. Lugano became the prey of Como, Milan, and Venice turn and turn about. Spanish, French, and Teuton swept the lake and its shores with warning sails and warhke hosts, but aU the while the thew of the mountaineers and fisherfolk was hardening, and in the fulness of time patriots foregathered to the undoing of the invader. Under their leader, Johann von Wippingen, the men of Ticino gained their inde pendence. After the decisive battle of Men- 6 80 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES drisio midway between Porto Ceresio and Como, Francis I. of France, in 1516, signed a treaty which left his patriot foemen to manage their own affairs. Von Wippingen caused landowners and peasants ahke to swear an oath of fealty to the new Re public, safeguarding individual rights and com munal privileges. Each adult Ticinese was the equal of his brother, and famihes, which dated their nobihty back to a distant ancestry, dropped their titles and prerogatives, or migrated into Lom bardy. Ticino joined the League of the Twelve Cantons, and was blessed by weUnigh three hun dred years of peace. Then that upheaval of aU Europe -the French Revolution of 1798 — made itself felt in the Swiss-Italian cantons. Lugano again resisted the makers of the Cisalpine Re public, and the patriots affixed their motto — " Liberi e Svizzeri " — upon their banners and their buildings. The town of Lugano played a conspicuous part also in the struggle for freedom of her mighty neigh bour state Italy in the year 1848. She became the headquarters for nearly twenty years of Giuseppe Mazzini, the " prophet " of Itahan unity, which Cavour and Garibaldi carried to success. If there are fewer tales to teU of titled famous people of Lugano than of their kind about the other lakes of the Southern Alps, the folklore of CORNER OF THE " SALITA." PORTRAITS OF LADIES OF THE MARTINENGO FAMILY ALESSANDBO MOBETTO Martinengo Palace, Brescia. (See page 302) To face page 80 " CERESIO " 81 " Ceresio " yields to none in fulness and fascination. The Tradizioni Popolari Ticinesi are abundant, and their hold upon townsfolk and country people is stiU emphatic. Go where one wiU — off the beaten tourist track, of course — quaint sayings and quainter customs are dehghtfuUy in evidence, and the dialects are most interesting. Let it first be said, however, that the temperament and personal characteristics of the people are dissimilar from those of their Lombard cousins. The promptings of liberty, defence, and responsibihty have marked the men and women, and even the children, with a measure of seriousness which is unlike the abandon of the Itahans. Gaiety, too, be sure they have, but one detects easily a sense of restraint in every class. The Luganese say of themselves, " In disposition we are Itahan, but in action we are Swiss." Ticino is comparatively a very prosperous canton, and the peasantry are weU-to-do and comfortable. No Swiss-Itahan race has anything like so great a love of home and homely things as the Ticinese. They are law-abiding people, addicted to rehgious exercises and generous to their own, whUst they perhaps ruthlessly despoil the foreigner. Passing in review the seven ages of mankind as exhibited around the Lake of Lugano, childish 82 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES words and ways first arrest us. In the district of Bedano the children's morning orisons are recited in the words which foUow : " A letto mi vagh, Quatordas angiur che ma cumpagna, Diiii da pe, Diiii da co, Diiii dra mau drizza Diiii dra mau sinistra, Diiii da indurmentam, Diiii da dessedam, E diiii da menam. A ra santa gloria du Paradis." A mother nursing her baby on her knee sings or croons : " Trik, trok, cavalott, Tre stera d 'u me morott, Pan cald, pan cidk Trik e trok, ciapaciok." When parents note pugnacious prochvities be tween their young offspring the fathers at least look on approvingly, but the mothers check the infantile combat with dulcet words : " Tira via quel piign Parche ? Parche 1' e cent' ann ch 'u gh'e. Chi ch'e mangiad ra carua du lavigioo ? Ul gatt. E'l gatt induva el nacc ? In d 'u tecc. Alprim che palla ga tirum i urecc." " CERESIO " 83 It is easy enough to understand the meaning of these nursery rhymes ; they are hke our own, and the quaintness of the diction appeals to aU. To pronounce the odd-looking archaic words is quite another matter ! The children of Ticino are strenuous youngsters. The richness of the air and of the soil greatly aid the natural vigour of their parents. Their games are aU of a pushful character, though often trained in a theological direction. At Arbedo they play " Angiulin vegu via." The boys and girls place themselves in a row one behind the other, ready to advance, and then they separate in two divisions, one headed by " La Madonna," the other by "II Diabolo"— the rest are caUed "Angels" and " Devils " respectively. The girl caUed " La Madonna" chaUenges the boy, "II Diabolo": " Angiulin vegu via /" — Let the angels pass ! To which " II Diabolo " rephes : " €P o pagina che 'I didvul ma porta via /" — Only those may pass me who pay my price ! Then he blows a whistle, and aU rush peU-meU to a point pre-agreed, the "Devils" trying to catch the "Angels," and kissing those they capture. Another very popular game, in which adults love to join, is caUed " Fare al bel galante " — Good luck to the bravest ! The players form a ring ; one enters and takes his or her place in the centre, 84 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES and then aU dance round and round singing, merrily : " Bel galante entrate in ballo, Innamorato senza fallo, Ghe qualcuno che vi piace ? Degh la man, tirell in pas." Then the leader in the centre chooses his or her sweetheart from the ring, and they dance together round about, making what steps and grimaces they choose, whilst the other players dance round again and sing : " Eccola gui che I'd trovata. Granda e grossa e ben levata, Eccola qui che la balaben Che la sumeja un miigg da fen Degh un gir, intorno, intorno Degan un altro, amora amora Mora, mora, lassela auda Mora, mora, lassela scapa." The couple in the centre kiss and then part hands, and each chooses another partner, — and so the game goes on. The couple who look, and dance, and kiss the best is accounted victorious. The game is quite the favourite in every part of the canton. There are many variations of the game under different names, but in each the daintiest figures and the prettiest faces win the day, — and so it should be, of course ! " CERESIO " 85 Satirical songs and greetings mark aU arts and crafts, professions and conditions. An old maid is saluted thus : " Ra prestinera la ga trii goss, Viin pinin e viin 1' e gross ; E viin la gra in dra panera Trik e titrak ra prestinera." Which may perhaps be Enghshed : " An old maid is always known, Whether thin or fat she's grown ; Be her bucket light or weighed, Trik and trak, poor old maid." Masons upon bufldings are chided : " Mastru " Master Impiastru, Plaster, Stopa b8cc ; Eat your tow ; Mazza piocc." Take a blow." As in other countries so in Ticino, the church beUs have the imputed righteousness, or the reverse, of articulation. The Cathedral peal at BeUinzona sound : " U e or-argent-azzal-metall- tolon-V e fer-Vi pioomt." The campanile of San Lorenzo in Lugano echoes the foUowing : " Fra Martino campanaro Suona sempre le sue campane. E ton — li ton — ti ton — li to"n, Li ton — li ton — e li ton — e ti toon." 86 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES At Magadino there is a very quaint saying : " A gh e un animal Che a la matin el va cun quatar gamb A mezz di cun do E ala sera cun tre Induvina cosa 1' e." It is in the form of a riddle, and the answer is : " Man, who, when a baby, goes on all fours ; in middle age on two legs ; and when old, supports himself upon a stick !" There are very many such amusing conundrums, — and most of them are uncomplimentary, — throughout the lakeland of Lugano. The Tavernese, near Lugano, have a septet — "La Settimana degli amanti " — The week for lovers : " Liinedi 1' e '1 di di spus, Martedi 1' e di murus, Mercoledi di poch da bon, Giovedi 1' e di strion, Venerdi di desperad, Sabat di invemurad, Dumeniza di passionad."* The people of Ticino hold many beliefs in signs and auguries. Thus, in order to win at the ever- * " Monday — prepare. Tuesday — speak fair. Wednesday — take hold. Thursday — quite bold. Friday — despair. Saturday — repair. Sunday — the day for Love." " CERESIO " 87 popular lottery, it is a desirable practice to get hold of a hzard with two tails (not, one would suppose, a too common lusus naturae !), and place it in a box with two compartments, with a fuU feed of corn. Next day open the box. What grains have not been consumed represent the winning number. Should the lizard devour the whole feed, then place a double feed in the box, and examine as before. Sahva is made the vehicle of good augury. To spit is the correct thing if one meets a hump backed person, or beholds a spider running quickly up a waU, or if one finds a clover leaf in quatrefoil. To see a white moth flying round a hghted candle or lamp is a presage of good news on the morrow. If the first person we meet out of doors on January 1 is a boy, one may look for a good harvest ; if a girl, then there may be trouble at home. On the other hand, there are signs of iU-fortunes : — If a hen crows hke a cock, then there wiU be an immediate death in the family ! One must never leave the knife in a loaf of bread, because it wiU hurt the heart of the Madonna ! Never beat a boy before a girl, or vice versa, or they wiU marry unhappily ! When a woman combs her hair, she must be careful to burn the hairs which faU. Should one fix itself upon another person, it is an indication that misfortunes are in store. We 88 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES might quote scores of such expressions on the popular behef in portents, but these will suffice to iUustrate the simple character of the people of Lugano and Ticino. There is an amusing story about a mule, which ate the grass off the church tower of Isone — a viUage a httle north of Lugano. ViUagers one summer noticed a particularly luxuriant growth of greenery upon the tiles of the Campanile, which died down in the autumn, and presented a very untidy appearance. Not knowing quite how to remove the disfiguring mass, they took counsel with a wise woman of the district. She advised them to attach a rope to the coUar of a mule, draw it over a puUey, and fix it to the highest loophole of the tower. Then they were to raise the animal gently, and let him feed on the dry leaves. Almost strangled (as we may weU sup pose), the mule was got as far as half-way up, when, giving vent to a lusty salutation, he ad dressed, like Balaam's ass, his comrades on the ground : — " Be of good courage, children ; puUthe rope tightly, or I shall laugh at your stupidity, and leave you to eat the grass by your selves !" By the viUagers of Bre, and of other hamlets upon the slopes of beautiful Monte Bre, — a favourite excursion from Lugano, — May Day is " CERESIO " 89 celebrated in the singing of a very delightful " Maggiolatd " or spring ditty : " Sem vegnii stasira, Sem vegnii da via, Per dar la buona notte A vostra Signoria. Belleben del maggio, L' e fiorid el magg." " In alto, in alto. Come l'erba al praa, Sem rivaa al palazz Dal scior ciiraa. Belleben del maggio, L' e fiorid el magg." " Quella finestrella Che garda vers al pian, Viva al scior ciiraa Quand al va a Lugan. Come '1 sa mai de bon Ul fiur da la viola, Viva al scior ciiraa Quand al va a Castagnola. Come '1 sa mai de bon Ul fiur dal gelsiimin, Viva al scior ciiraa. Quand al va a Pascialin." The quaintness of the language attests the antiquity of the rondo, and the union of Lom- bardian and Swiss-German phraseology — " Beloved be the May and the flowers of the May." Carlo Cattaneo, the thinker, philosopher and writer, spent many happy years at Castagnola, 90 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES which, on account of its beautiful situation, he caUed, -" A bit of Paradise dropped on earth." The sun shines on this " sweet alp of Bre " the winter through ; its back is to the North, its face due south. ViUas, villini, and every sort of tenement encroach upon flowering trees and evergreens. Jealous of the amenities of Castag nola, the level ground above and behind the town of Lugano has associated to itself the title " II Paradiso." Its rising background is " II Monte $ Oro " — very high-sounding sobriquets to be sure, but admirably appropriate. The road from Lugano to Ponte Tresa, whence traveUers pass on to Luino for Lake Maggiore, skirts the exquisite little Lake of Muzzano, which shares with the Durensee, near Cortina, the renown of being the most perfect natural looking-glass in Europe. Photographs of either lake look quite as well upside down, the reflections in the never ruffled water being absolute. The natives have from all times,— perhaps from the fabled days of Venus, — made the mirror of Muzzano their gazing crystal. The surface reproduces accurately every object projected thereupon, whilst the re markable clearness of the water reveals every detail of the lake bed. "Go and look in Muzzan !" is a common solution for questions of the future or the past. Maidens see in those THE MIRROR LIKE LAKE OF MUZZANO From a Photograph. To face page 90 " CERESIO " 91 placid waters their lovers, the lads their sweet hearts, whilst the craven viUain's guilt is brought home to him by those teU-tale depths. On Sun days and hohdays the sedgy banks are thronged with hopeful devotees of Fate. "I saw Zuan (Giovanni) in Muzzan." " BeUa kissed me out of Muzzan," and suchhke are the convincing verdicts of those silent pools. Fishing, boating, and bathing were at one time aU forbidden in Lake Muzzano, lest, unhappfly, disastrous con sequences should foUow the breaking of the sanctuary. The peep over and into the lake in the fuU moonshine is an astonishing and bewitch ing experience. It has something of the same weirdness of effect as gazing through and through endless nules of glacier ice as one lies helpless in the abyss of an alpine crevasse. The Lake of Lugano is surrounded by lofty mountains, weU sheltering her shores and border lands from every wind intemperate. For aU the world it might be the Bay of Uri, part of the Lake of the Four Forest Cantons — Lucerne. Their names seem to betoken giants of a noble ValhaUa, — Generoso, Salvatore, Bre, Boglia, Camoghe, Tamaro, Pizzoni, and Bernardo, the loftiest. Whereever mountains run up into the sky there caves and caverns explore their bases, and so around the lake are many eerie openings into the 92 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES bowels of the earth. The grottoes of Osteno and Rescia, with waterfaUs and ravines, are happy resorts in summer days ; they have had their tragedies also. The picturesque cascade of Santa Giulia is named after a lovely maiden escaped from ravishers — Giulia da Lanzo d' Intelvi. Her lover slain before her eyes, herself thrown anyhow over mad Ramponio's saddle, stumbling, the steed threw man and girl to the ground; he being stunned, she flew and hid herself in the spray of the water- faU, and there she died, for she dared not issue forth. Lanzo d' Intelvi is the birthplace, and has been for many a generation, of noted archi tects, sculptors, and pavement-markers. Adamo d' Arogno, Lorenzo de' Spazzi, Ercole Ferrala, and many others, left their humble cottages, full of abihty and enthusiasm, and having built cathe drals and castles in Trent, Como, Florence, and Novara, returned as " Lords of the Lake," to enrich their native viUage with the fruit they had gathered everywhere, and to lay their bones in the cemetery of Santa Magherita di Belvedere. The Val d' Intelvi is one of the most exquisite valleys of Lombardy — a very worthy cradle of the fine arts. From Lanzo d' Intelvi the summit of Monte Generoso is easily reached on foot in a couple *' CERESIO " 93 of hours : thence is gained the most splendid pano rama of alp, and lake, and town in aU Lakeland. It is one of those rare experiences which bring the best heart -blood bumping in one's temples, to transport the soul and intoxicate the senses. The whole plain of Lombardy is at one's feet, and seated in a dry mossed stone, the grand pageants of Milan and her sister cities pass before one's eyes, from the warhke times of BeUovesas, the Gaulish chieftain, six hundred years before our present era, to the strugghng days of Garibaldi, the " Liberator " of yesterday. Around and about Monte Generoso have marched Celts, Romans, Carthaginians, Goths, Lombards, Moors, Spaniards, French, and Austrians. Rehcs of those mighty warriors are brought to light daily by the busy plough; many are treasured in the Lugano museum. Quite near Lugano town is Campione on the lake, the nursery of families of masters in stone, and wood, and iron — the celebrated Campionesi of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, rivals and compatriots of the Comacine masters on the other side of Monte Generoso by Lario's lake. Below Moreoti, with its noble church and campanile, — another Madonna del Sassor— the imaginary water frontier-line between Switzerland and Italy is crossed, and then the Itahan Custom-house officers on board the steamer begin to trouble travelling 94 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES "Lords and Ladies of the Lake." They are especiaUy interested in the subject of cigars. By a comical coincidence the author, without any introduction, one day chanced upon a doganiere in a very accommodative tobacco shop in Lugano. Both purchased boxes of the seductive weed, and exchanged agreeable salutations in the door way. In duty bound, the officer made his rounds of examination among the passengers on the Porto Ceresio steamer, and in turn greeted his chance acquaintance of the Tabacchierie. Embarrassment feU on both ; the customary interrogations were checked whilst four eyes took in the situation. The official had erred, as had the traveUer, and a mutual elevation of hats ended the episode ! Porto Ceresio, the southernmost viUage of Lake Lugano, points the way to Varese — a delightful walk of six or seven miles along the banks of the pleasant murmuring Brivio, between spurs of Monte PiambeUo and PraveUo. The granite quarries of Cuasso al Monte, somewhat mar the suavity of the landscape, which here has gained the title oi" II Deserto." Right on the top of the workings is a solemn-looking building exactly hke a monastery : it was, indeed, originaUy a cloister of barefooted Carmehtes. The friars came to Varese in 1676, and first established themselves at Brenno Superiore, just above the town. Their " CERESIO " 95 emigration to Cuasso was purely tentative, for after they had developed the estate and erected their refectory and ceUs, they cast about for a wealthy purchaser, presciently knowing that an evil day was coming for aU conventional institu tions in Lombardy. " II Deserto di Cuasso " was the name given in 1702 to the monkish retreat of its new proprietor, Count Vincenzio Dandolo, a lineal descendant of the great Venetian crusader Doge and Admiral Arrigo Dandolo. The culture and the chivalry of the Crusades became hereditary traits in that famous family, and Count Vincenzio exhibited aU the charm of the " Perfect Courtier " in his treatment of the Rehgious. They were permitted by his bounty to retain the chapel and four cells, that they might say Mass daily for the benefit of his soul and the souls of his ancestors, and might also share the good things of his table. UnhappUy, but perhaps naturaUy, the worthy friars presumed greatly upon their patron's clemency in respect of their conduct. ViUage matrons and maids preferred complaints against breaches of the vow of chastity. Episcopal in dulgence proved inoperative, and at length the brown habits and bare heads and feet were sent about their business. " II Deserto " became a for saken shrine, and remained unoccupied for many years, until a widowed Countess of the noble House 96 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES received the estate as a mortuary bequest — Eliza betta Morosoni-Dandolo, herself a Venetian of lofty and renowned descent. From the windows of the viUa, — a reformed monastery, indeed, — the eye looks right over the rising ground of Pogliana, right on to the white viUas which peep out of the beautiful boskets of Bisuschio — the fashionable suburb of Varese town. It is a land of ohves, magnohas, vines, and pomegranates, a land, too, of buxom mothers and graceful daughters. The menfolk, plain and simple, are noble in their bearing, and industrious and peaceful in their habits. They are weU- to-do. II. — VARESE. " Le Belle del Varesotto !" is how natives of Varese and the visitors speak of the lovely scenery and delightful chmate of the lake casket of Varese, with aU the other enchantments of its treasures. It is perhaps a little difficult exactly to place the orthography of the place-name, but in the mytho logical conceit of the patronage of the celestial goddesses, which is so clearly indicative of her sister lakes, great and smaU, no better nor more attractive cult may be found than that of " Astrsea," and the milky way of the gods. Varese is, indeed, not the only starhke expanse of " CERESIO " 97 hquid moonshine in that fair plain of shimmering waters — three other lakelets, hke the Pleiades for lustre, lend their brilhant charm to the scenery. Biandronno, Monate, and Comabbio — they form a flashing aqueous consteUation, as though portions of the starht sky had been detached and fixed in verdant landlocked frames. The Romans had an alternative designation for the seven brilhant stars — " Vergilice" — perhaps Varese is a corrupt form thereof ; anyhow, it is sufficiently near in derivation to iUustrate the conjunction of the stars and planets in the Pleiadesian corruscation which flashlights the Varese plain of lakes. Very quaint is the description of this chain of charming lakes in the " Encyclopaedia Brittanica " : " South of Varese are two small lakes, — hke Erba and Pusiano, between Como and Lecco, — of similar character, and scarcely worthy of notice !" But those who know the Varesian Lakeland think and speak very differently. Three nnles south of Porto Ceresio, in the lovely Val Brivio, is the picturesque commune of Bisu- schio, with weUnigh countless viUas and gardens of the " Lords and Ladies " of Varese, and beyond, Nature and Art have entered into partnership to create and enrich a terrestrial paradise, which is hardly surpassed by other beauty spots. One of the most charming of these country resorts is 98 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES undoubtedly ViUa Cicogna-Mozzoni, belonging now to the Counts of that twice ennobled family, with its superb views over Lake Lugano and the surrounding country. The viUa, which is in the somewhat severe style of Tuscan architecture, and for aU the world might be a Medici residence wafted over the hiUs and far away from Florence, is not without historical interest. In the twelfth century a monastery was founded upon the site by the Papal See for the purpose of affording seclusion to ecclesiastical dignitaries and other persons of position who had misused the world to their own undoing, and, euphemisticaUy speaking, were cultivating hohness in retirement. When the Dukes of Milan began to stretch themselves abroad, the vaUey and fruit-covered hiUsides of Bisuschio attracted their attention, stocked as they were with bear and deer, and many more wild things. The monastic buildings at length were seized by the Sforzas, and Duke Giovanni Galeazzo converted the cloister into a very com modious hunting-box ; and through those haUowed haUs and courtyards trooped sportsmen with their dogs. Their hunting cries and the music of the hounds quite drowned the echoes of the chants^of Holy Church. The mountain streams and rivulets, which danced gracefuUy down the flowery slopes of the Campo di Fiori into the vaUey, were broken VILLA CICOGNA-MOZZONI, NEAR THE LAKE OF VARESE From a Photograph To face page 98 " CERESIO " 99 into httle pools stocked as fuU as full could be With trout and other toothsome fish. The monkish rule of catching their Friday's dinner on Thursday gave way to the constant whipping of the stream, and the trout of Bisuschio rivaUed that of Garda in the estimation of lordly epicures. The dehciously shady-sunht artificial fishing lake of Fraschirolo was formed by Antonio de' Medici, the friend of Giovanni Galeazzo Sforza, and there ladies fair and ladies frail joined the sportsmen with rod and gun, with hawk and hound. In the middle of the sixteenth century the estate, or at least the hunting-box, passed into the possession of the family of Mozzoni of Milan. Francesco and Massimo Mozzoni built the viUa and employed the Campi brothers, and other Lombard artists, to decorate the waUs of the cortili, and open loggie with frescoes in the grace ful manner of Leonardo da Vinci and Bernardino Luini. The Mozzoni intermarried with the Cicogne, who were descended in the female line from the Sforzas. The fairy-like gardens are due to Ascanio Mozzoni, whose order to his garden- architects was : "I wish to hear running water everywhere, and to behold trees growing on terraces." Hence is due the erection of what was strictly caUed " il castello tfacqua," where one walks under and over fountains of water, with water 100 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES spurting and springing on aU sides. Hanging woods and pendant arbours deceive the eye, for the floral trees and fragrant shrubs appear to grow right out of marble balustrades and sculptured basins — a Renaissance Babylon of delights ! The thriving town of Varese, which is at some distance from the lake, is of ancient origin. Etruscan, Roman, and Lombardian rehcs keep cropping up ; but its preferential history dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century, when the fief was held in chief by the Archbishop of Milan. When matters went hard with the Guelphs, and with churchmen generaUy, the powerful family of the Torriani acquired it under Fihppo deUe Torre. Then chance of feud and war gave it to Fihppo Visconti, whose family in turn relegated it to the Cani, in the person of Count Facino Cane, The Church of San Vittore was built by the Sforzas in 1580. Varese has always been an especiaUy favourite villegiatura of wealthy Milanese, whose villas peep out on aU sides of the town from under the weU-grown chestnuts and limes. Charles V. bestowed the " Seigneurie " of Varese in 1768 upon Duke Francesco Maria d' Este of Modena, who kept royal state in La Corte, — as his huge palace was caUed, — for twelve busy years, with the honorary title of Governor of Lombardy. La Corte, in the Square of San Giovanni, in Via Luigi Sacco, was " CERESIO " 101 acquired by the Duke along with its grounds from two wealthy inhabitants of the town, Tommaso Orrigone and Pietro Talamone, together with a considerable extent of land in the Val de' Nicogni. The Duke had married many years before, — for he was a septuagenarian at the time of the purchase of the estate, — Renata Teresa, widow of Prince Antonio Maria Melzi, by whose wiU she obtained the hfe interest in an immense property. Francesco Maria d' Este married her, of course, for her money, for she was of unequal birth, and a foreigner, — an Austrian of the middle-class family of von Harrach. Whether she accom panied the Duke to Varese, or whether she was dead, appears to be uncertain. At any rate, she was not at La Corte when the Emperor Joseph paid a memorable visit to the Duke at Varese in 1769. The viUa, — it was, indeed, a palace, — amazed his Imperial Majesty. He had never beheld, as he admitted, anything so magnificent. " I thought," said he, " when I approached the Duke's stables I was at the palace, and I wondered what the ducal residence would be like if the housing of his stud was on so grand a scale." To do the honours during the Emperor's visit, Duke Francesco had the assistance of his daughter, Beatrice d' Este, — the child of a former marriage, — 102 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES and of the most beautiful and most brilliant woman of the Modenese Court, the Countess Teresa Trivulzio-Saluzai. The ducal suite was as numerous and as dis tinguished as that of any reigning sovereign. His Master of Horse was Count Clemente Bagnesi ; the ControUer of the Household, Count Giulio Cesare Vezzani ; the Ducal Keeper of the Purse, Count Gaspare Sanseverino ; the Chamberlain of the Court, Marquis Gianpietro Amori ; the Marshal of Ceremonies,Marquis Sebastiano Tibaldi; and the Governante, Princess Maria Melzi, sister- in-law of the Duke's wife. Equerries, pages, footmen, and all the ranks of princely attendants were more numerous than at the Emperor's Court. These and a fuU staff of domestics re quired commodious quarters, and consequently the original viUa was quadrupled and more in size to house them aU. The Varese people looked on amazed at this magnificence, but shrewdly tapped their pockets, for the presence of so many " Lords and Ladies of the Lake " meant oof and pelf for them. During the Imperial visit, and frequently enough afterwards, the Duke kept open house : every individual who ventured through the park gates was sumptuously entertained and his cattle foddered. Never were there such doings and such junkettings in all that country-side. Operatic " CERESIO " 103 performances, musical parties, hunting breakfasts, picnics in the woods, fites galants in the gardens, baUs, banquets, and masquerades made time pass madly and merrily. The Duke himself, though past the time when vigorous men divide their time betwixt love and sport, flirted with aU the fair damsels of the com pany, and rode forth at the head of his hounds. Few could fly hawk or hook fish more deftly than His Highness ; but the younger sparks grumbled at " an old man stiU juvenile," and behind his back sneered, grimaced, and cracked untimely jokes. The appointments of the suites of rooms and of the convivial boards were rare and costly. The Duke spared no expense in cultivating gaiety and extracting joy. To say he kept a harem would not be very wide of the mark ; at aU events, there were no prudes at Varese ! In person Francesco Maria was very presentable — taU, weU-made, shm, active, and enthusiastic. He dressed weU, usuaUy in a white and gold Austrian uniform, but without orders, except on State occasions. One foible at least he had — indeed, he had many — the wearing of finger rings. DaUy he changed them, but usuaUy he wore rings together, ah of the same description — diamonds he wore on Sundays and festivals. The day's diary at La Corte was strenuous and 104 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES varied. The Duke rose early, and first of aU received his private physician, Dottore Francesco Grossi, a practitioner of Varese. Mass found him daily as an assistant, and then to breakfast, partaken of privately in his own apartment. Official interviews, inspection of plans, papers, and personnel, foUowed ; and then, before the midday meal in the state dining-room, the Duke was accustomed to promenade up and down the grounds, leaning on the arm of some pretty, sprightly girl or other. The afternoon was spent in excursions in his cumbersome berhne, drawn by six coal-black horses. The Duke's com panions were, as he called them, " amorose dame e donzelle." Reading, cards and other games passed the time tiU supper was announced. One ever- popular form of recreation was a water-party on the lake, in -a superb gilded and painted state barge — a quasi Bucentoro of Venice. The usual rendezvous were Gozzada, to the viUa of his friend and crony, Giovanni Perabo ; and Bisuchi, the residence of another congenial comrade, Count Francesco Mozzoni. There were always, as a sine qua non, a numerous band of dainty damsels waiting to welcome the gay old man, and entertain him with gossip, dances, and, doubtless, kisses not a few ! After the day's work and play were over and supper ended, coffee, and conversa- " CERESIO " 105 tion, and more cards, and gambling, faro for choice, prepared the company for bed, and none were supposed to be otherwise than within their rooms when the great palace clock struck eleven. On Church festivals the Duke and aU his Court made a point of hearing Mass at the Chapel of San Bartolommeo, at the CasteUanza or Casterino, where he erected his own marble monument ; and then aU listened, devoutly of course, to the affecting sermon of the Capuccini monks. This function was made the occasion of perfervid music ; and the Duke's chief musicians, — Piccinini, Guzzangani, ParseiUes, Cimarosa, and Zucchinetei, — were put upon their metal to compose and conduct novelties appropriate to time and place. In Varese the Teatro Ducale was the home of the Muses, — and between 1779 and 1790, under Duke Francesco Maria's hearty patronage, its fame echpsed that of the famous Scala in Milan. It is interesting to record that the Opera of Barbiere di Sevigho made its first appearance at the Ducal Theatre in 1818. Many other notable premieres found in Varese their start for success and popu larity. The spacious days of the Duke of Modena and Count of Varese closed aU too briefly. In 1780 the splendid master of the revels was laid to his rest in the tomb which he prepared, and other men and manners ruled La Corte. 106 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Midway between Varese and Milan is Saronno, with its wonderful gingerbread and stiU more wonderful Church of Santa Maria de' Miracoli, — the temple of honour of Bernardino Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari, — both strictly " Lords of the Lakes " ; the former born at Luino on Lake Maggiore, the latter at Valduggia, twenty miles from Novara. Both were devout men, pains taking pupils of their common master, and in many ways examples to their f eUows. The church, also known as " II Santuario delta Beata Vergine," is an early Renaissance structure of the years 1480 to 1490, with an imposing dome and a lofty campanile of the first decade of the sixteenth century. Its origin was very picturesque. In 1460 a little distance from Saronno, on the road from Varese, stood a simple shrine with an ancient sculptured figure of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. Much neglected, ruinous, and overgrown with weeds and brambles, few gave a thought to Mary as they passed that way. But the time of restoration drew near. The story runs as foUows : Pedretto, a peasant farmer in the plain of Saronno, bedridden and a martyr to gout, one night, unable to endure his sufferings, cried bitterly to Heaven for the mitigation of his misery. All at once his poor bedchamber was brilliantly iUuminated, and over against the foot of the bed FRANCESCO MARIA D* ESTE, SIGNORE DI VARESE, 176S-17 From a Painting in the Municipal Palace, Varese To face page 106 " CERESIO " 107 he beheld a woman of celestial beauty and dignity, who thus spoke to him : " Pedretto, poor sufferer, if thou wilt be healed, go to the old shrine on the Milan road, — thou knowest weU, for I have beheld thy reverence in passing, — promise there, upon your knees, to bufld a church worthy of Blessed Mary, and means to do so shaU be forthcoming." At this astounding order Pedretto roused him self, shook his painful hmbs> and tumbled out of bed. His gout had vanished ! He sallied forth, dark as it was, and groped his way to the ruined shrine, and spent the rest of the night in prayer. Next morning he wended his way, without any pain or difficulty, to the viUage, crying, as he approached the houses, " Uno Miracolo ! Uno Miracolo!" People ran up and asked him what he meant, and how he had been cured. The cry was taken up, and "La Madonna deUa Via MUanesi " was acclaimed as their benefactress. Throngs of country people gathered around the shrine, sick and hale, and aU who foUowed Pedretto's prayerful example went home sound and saved. Everyone tossed a copper or two to the poor old feUow, and there he very sapiently took up his abode in a hut he built behind the shrine, and held his hand out daUy for contribu tions to the buUding fund. The old shrine was repaired and railed in, — the iron trelhs is stiU preserved in the portico of 108 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES the new church,— and in 1498, amidst universal rejoicings, the foundation-stone of the sanctuary was laid. The ancient statue of the Virgin was carefuUy guarded until, on September 10, 1581, San Carlo Borromeo personaUy removed it to its present position over the tabernacle of the high altar of Santa Maria de* Miracoh. To-day the sanc tuary church attracts hosts of pilgrims who leave behind pathetic tokens of their cure. Ex-votos have encroached upon the frescoes of Luini and Ferrari. The Madonna del Monte over against the town of Varese, attracts countless pilgrims annually, who make the " Stations of the Cross " from chapel to chapel of the Sacred Way. The fourteen chapels have seventeenth - century groups and frescoes iUustrating the mysteries of the Rosary. Bernabo Visconti in 1371 endowed the Cappellano a hermit priest. A century later, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, mauled when hunting bear in the surround ing forests, was carried to the Sanctuary to hear Mass and register a vow for recovery. Lodovico il Moro frequently made the sacred mount his retreat from strife and worry, and when Duchess Beatrice died, he endowed five hundred Masses for the repose of her soul. He and she had made many costly offerings to the altar — rich palli, altar frontals, and altar vessels. Some of these gifts are stiU treasured by the clergy sacristans. It is certainly rather a tour de force to descend " CERESIO " 109 from these sublimities to things of modern days. StiU, Italians are nothing if they are not go-ahead. One of the most sumptuous of the villas of Varese is that of Marchese Ponti, — who, by the way, has just vacated the post of syndic, or mayor. The origin of the family and the foundation of its fortunes form a romance of financial possibilities. The grandfather of the present Marquis was an obscure tradesman in Varese — a saddler and job master — but quite in a smaU way. Reading his weekly journal, his eye caught news of the " cotton corners " in America and England. Tempted to speculate, he corresponded with an agent in Milan, through whom he acquired shares in the cargoes of blockade-running cotton ships. Be ginning quite modestly, he at last achieved a record, for he became the holder of fifty thousand bales of best qualities, and was thus enabled to hold up the market. He sold his stock at a huge profit — some said as much as five hundred doUars per bale ; at aU events, Signore Ponti was able to set up in his native town as a wealthy landowner, and exchanged the style of commoner for that of Marquis. He buflt the ViUa Ponti, and there entertained King Victor Emmanuele IL, whose friendship he enjoyed through hberal gifts to patriotic objects. To-day the Marquis Ponti is an honoured friend of the third Italian King, and a generous benefactor of his native town. CHAPTER III "LARIO" THE LAKE OP COMO " Lario," — first named by traveUed, warhke Romans Locus Larius, — is Venus of the Lakes. The very conformation of the lake sets forth the goddess's beauteous form, and the sights and sounds and scents of her shores proclaim the artifices of her boudoir. The name, it is said, comes from Etruscan sources, and implies primacy, and in Latin times Como was the premier lake in Italy. One other derivation, maybe too fanciful, connects " Lario " with " Lares," and indicates the Latin pendant to Greek Olympus, the stately Court of gods and goddesses — the happy retreat of pleasures unaUoyed. The name " Como " may, after all, be more antique than " Lario," for a considerable authority, Count Benedetto Giovio, — one of the city's most famous sons, — sees the derivation in the Greek word " Kome "¦ — The Town — and Greeks may quite as weU have reached " the most beauteous banks of aU " as they did the " banks of marshy Rhone." 110 "LARIO" HI " In seno i sacri Vasi celando, sugli ignudi scogli Nuova Patria fondava, e dell' autica Da Varenna scorgea l'ultimo fumo."* In his letter to Rufus, Caius Pliny writes thus effusively of this lovely lake : " How fares Como, our common joy ? How is the charming villa, the vernal portal, the shady avenue of planes, the waterway ever green and jeweUed, the path ways soft yet firm, the sun- warmed bath, the arbours both for company and for seclusion, the quiet nooks for siesta and for sleep ?" And yet Como is not for dolce far niente only. " It is," a writer in the eighteenth century says, " weU known that every lake is the fruitful mother of industries, but there is no instance in which any other has produced so many or so famous." No lacustrine people of to-day are more busy and more enterprising than those of Como. Great sailing barges drop leisurely down the lake ; heavily laden market carts on shore creak with weighty loads, and women's heads bear up colossal burdens. Fish, flesh, fowl, fruit, foliage, and forage — such form the staples of the trade. Fisherfolk compete with country peasants in daUy profitable toil, and * " Conceiv'd in the heart — ark of sanctity A new country forth comes right gloriously ; Of the old world and its grand moods and manners Is wafted the fame beyond Varenna." 8 112 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES every native is at any moment quite free to earn the stranger's gold and render pleasant service. No other lake anywhere offers so many attrac tions and inducements for boating, but the boatman must be untrammeUed by directions. Recline at ease, and look and list and smeU, and worry not for train or meal or bed. Floating upon the emerald glory, each vision is a miracle — dreamy distant peaks, near forest and precipice, inviting grottoes and ravines, with casteUated crags and ensconced viUages, white churches and campanUes with sweet-sounding bells, and aU the dehcious scents of the rarest potpourri are treasure-trove for aU. At sunset or at sunrise angels' robes and wings, ever whirling in graceful dance, float in coloured pageantry across the sky, and all the prismatic tints are shot hke rainbows everywhere. There is an unseen world, it is true, and on the Lake of Como things are made clear to human vision which are dim and obscure elsewhere. " A thing of beauty is a Joy for ever." Before exploring the stories and beauties of the Lake of Como, the city claims the attention of students and lovers of romance. Greeks, Romans, and Lombards in turn laid and destroyed its "LARIO" 113 foundations and its prosperity. The blood of martyrs crimsoned the lovely Monte BaradiUo, but when St. Ambrose consecrated St. Felice first Bishop of the See, the land had peace. The "choral Father" had, too, a ready wit; for, when Felice sent him one day a goodly basketful of toothsome truffles, a speciality of the Larian woodland, herephed epigrammaticaUy: — "Beware, my brother, lest you find truffles of sorrow, — for the word has a double meaning, — pleasant enough as a gift, — for which I thank you, — but disagree able as regards our bodily and spiritual infirmities." In the twelfth century fratricidal war between Como and Milan made of the former a second Troy — albeit we lack the name of a Lombard " Helen." Then a triangular contest sprang up between Papal nominees for the bishopric, and the Monte and the city were again baptized with blood. Fleets of warships, bunt by Como, Lecco, and the Tre Pievesi, — the three northern lakeside parishes, — strove for mastery of the deep. The great Como ships, "Lupo," " Scorrobiessa," and" Schifo," were sunk, and the sacred floating " Carroccio " was lost, with its precious guard of comely youths. The Torriani, the Visconti, the Lecchi, and others carried over the smihng waters of " Lario " the torch of war. Napoleone deUa Torre and his three brave sons were captured and thrust into iron cages in 114 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES the CasteUo di BaradiUo. Bereft of hope, de voured by vermin, and insulted by the common folk, the gaUant but unfortunate leader dashed out his brains against his cruel bars. The story of the first recorded heroine of Como is told by the elder Pliny, — with his nephew Caius, — a citizen of Como. " Sailing," he writes, " lately upon our lake with an old acquaintance, he caUed my attention to a mansion above the shore by the city. ' From that room,' he said, pointing to a lofty chamber, ' a woman threw herself and her husband. He suffered with a terrible cancer, which caused intolerable agony. Finding no hope of recovery, she advised him to put an end to his life, but when he demurred she encouraged him by her own fortitude, for, tying herself and him together, she plunged with him into the deep water.' " Pliny was not only a romancer — he was a benefactor, too, and initiated, perhaps, the earhest Free School in Lombardy, standing surety for a third of the cost. From Pliny's day to Garibaldi's is indeed a wide, wide span, and yet woman's grit and self- sacrifice is as conspicuous now as it was two thousand years ago. There came a day when the " Liberator " was in danger of capture at Cavel- lesca, a mountain viUage above the city of Como. When the menfolk dared not communicate with "LARIO" 115 Garibaldi and teU him of his peril, " Bianca," — as she was caUed in the viUage on account of her fair hair, — feared not to extricate him from his danger ous position. When a truce was signed the hero rode over to thank his protectrice, and then, by one of Fortune's unexpected happenings, an accident caused his detention in her father's house. Three weeks' delightful ministry could only have one result — a proposal of marriage, which " Bianca " reluctantly accepted. A wed ding was hastily arranged at Varese, but before the nuptial day closed the bride, — so much younger than her hero spouse, — eloped with her viUage lover, who had foUowed the pair from CaveUesca. " Bianca " hved to repent of her breach of troth, and became the ardent admirer of her one-day groom. It was said that she pressed Garibaldi to acknowledge her in spite of her lapse, but he refused ! The situation of the city of Como is exquisite. She is hke a costly jewel set in a rich casket. Her viUas, her churches, and her gardens are aU en closed in a splendid amphitheatre. Nature and Art have combined to make theLarian capital a beauty- spot, and then her outlook on the lake is a dream of lovehness impossible to put in words. The story of her people, — nobles and citizens, — is reflected in the deep green water and upon the 116 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES verdure of her shores, for out of her came most of those builders who have decked her outskirts with paradises in miniature. Of aU the viUas and their stories which embellish the Larian " Court of Venus," perhaps, to English- speaking traveUers and students, ViUa d' Este at Cernobbio presents the greatest interest. It was erected by members of the Comacine fanuly of Galli : Cardinal Tolomeo GaUio, in 1568, completing the work. He died in 1607, and bequeathed the estate to his nephew Tolomeo, Duca di Vito, who in turn gave it at his death to the religious Order of Jesuits. The Fathers held it for one hundred and sixty years, and then let the viUa to Count Mario Odescalchi. The famUy of Marriani took up the tenancy until General Marliano bought the property right out, greatly improved it, and restored the viUa. The next owner was the Marchese Calderara, who, dying in early manhood, left the delightful possession to his young widow, Marchesa Vittoria, who caUed it ViUa d' Erba. Her tears and regrets were many and sincere, but youth and beauty cannot long wear widow's weeds, and the Marchesa gave her hand, — we must hope her heart as weU, — to General Count Do- menico Pino, — one of Buonaparte's lieutenants, — and they added to the villa a convent for Benedic tine nuns. Again widowed, the Marchesa, after "LARIO" 117 much pressure, in 1815 sold the viUa she so greatly loved for 150,000 hvres, to the representatives of the Princess of Wales, and she changed the viUa's name to ViUa d' Este. The story of the Princess's life at Cernobbio has been told and often, but a good story does not suffer by repetition, and there are points in the narrative which stand in need of just appreciation — biographical history is the most prejudiced form of literature. Having nothing whatever to do with mere stodgy facts of history, nor with party views of politics, we can at once take up the story of Princess Caroline at the point when it first ap proaches the pageant ground of the Italian Lakes. Upon August 9, 1814, the Princess embarked at the port of Worthing in the frigate " Saxon " on her way home to Brunswick. She had been separated from her Consort eighteen years, and, although her character was completely vindicated and she was declared innocent of all scandalous charges, the Prince refused to have anything more to do with her. She was very unhappy at the gossipy httle German ducal Court, and set off to see some thing of the world and find comfort amid new scenes. Her steps were first directed to Naples, where the smaU suite of Enghsh attendants left her, and she was obhged to fiU their places with Italians, and of these Count Antonio Schiavoni 118 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES became her secretary. Her itinerary took the Princess to Elba, Corsica, and SicUy. Thence she sailed to the Barbary coast, to Palestine, Greece, and Malta, and returned to Naples, and on to Terracina in the Pontine Marshes, and so to Rome. Everywhere she went she acted as the proverbial good fairy — visiting sick and poor, and distributing largesse. At Agosta in Sicily her name is stiU spoken with reverence — " La buona Principessa." TraveUing north, she sojourned at Leghorn, Genoa, and Milan. From the latter city the Princess made excursions through the plain and the lakeland of Lombardy, with a view to renting or buying a residence. The Lake of Como charmed her most : "Its delicious chmate, the surrounding country, varied and lovely." Quite fortuitously she learnt that the very viUa, which more than any other upon those delectable shores attracted her, was available at Cernobbio. " Its garden seems almost suspended in the air, and forms a scene of complete enchantment," so she noted in her diary. Almost the first improvement of the property undertaken by the Princess was the planting of a double avenue of limes and horse-chestnuts along the lakeside past the viUa Tavernarola, beyond the mouth of the Breggia, to within two miles of the city of Como. The idea in her mind was to QUEEN CAROLINE AT VILLA d' ESTE SIB THOMAS LAWRENCE Victoria and Albert Museum To (ace page 118 "LARIO" 119 rival the famous avenue in Bushey Park. The Princess greatly enlarged the villa, laid out an Enghsh garden, made marble landing-stages for her barges and canoes, and annexed the ViUa del Garrovo, buflt by Count Resta at the end of the eighteenth century. She established a Court, and surrounded herself with appointments suitable to her rank. Her chief lady of honour was the Contessa Oldi of Cremona — estimable alike for her amiable quahties and her heroism under misfor tunes. Doctor Augustino Mochetti of Como, — formerly Professor of Botany, Agriculture, and Natural History in the University of Pavia, — she appointed her physician-in-ordinary ; Captain Robert Hannam of the British Royal Navy and Knight of the Brunswick Order of Caroline, shared Count Schiavoni's duties as Enghsh secretary to Her Royal Highness, — a man she praised as " remarkable for his high principles and undoubted devotion." A gaUant young Knight of her Order, Monsieur AUonse GuiUanine, was named Equerry, and Signore VaUotti Pergami, — formerly under- Prefect of Cremona, — became ControUer of her Household. The Princess further attached to herself many notable men of letters — Cavaliere Giovanni Tommassia, a well-known writer on philosophy and political economy ; Conte Giro- lamo Volta, Cavaliere Filippo Vassalli, with Signori 120 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Fernando Confighadro and Enrico CavaUetti — men of erudition and of good fame. As legal adviser Signore Giuseppe Marocci of Milan, — weU known in legal circles of Lombardy, — joined the princely suite. The Princess's first Chamberlain was Cava liere Bartolommeo Pergami of Cremona — he it was whose name was linked with that of his royal mistress in the banal gossip of the Enghsh Court. It may be well here to take up this slander, and vindicate both the Princess and the Cavaliere. He was said to have been of low origin, impecunious, but fascinating in appearance and manner. It is true that he had lost much money and had to seU his famfly property in consequence of military exactions, but he was weU connected and had married his three daughters weU. He had himself been on the staff of General Count Pino in the campaign of 1812, 1813, and 1814. Caroline named him Knight of her own Order, and pro cured for him a barony in Sicily. Upon his daughters she conferred many favours, and they and their father enjoyed her fuUest confidence. She chose the Cavahere to accompany her in her equestrian exercises, and at aU times treated him with unusual famUiarity, which, be it said, he never attempted to abuse. " Upon the arrival of the Princess at Cernobbio rumours were circu- "LARIO" 121 lated," writes Madame De Mont, a devoted attendant, " unfavourable to her private hfe. Signs of levity and inconstancy were noted in her innocent pleasures. Her affability and generosity were stigmatized as indehcate and corrupt. Her simplicity of conduct and dislike of ostentation were said to screen caprice and secretiveness. She was accused of surrounding herself with base- born Italians, who might the more readfly pander to her perverted tastes. On the other hand she is accessible to aU, she has no affectation or caprice, she is gentle towards everybody irrespective of rank or circumstances, and she knows not how to be a great Princess except in doing good." This amiable writer of " The Journal " goes on to say : " Many persons pretend to be astonished she does not receive the nobility of the neighbour hood. ... It is true she has not sought a wide acquaintance : she prefers to devote herself to the members of her household and to the poor of the district. StiU, any who wish to be presented are always received with distinction and courtesy. A society of persons of estabhshed probity, a table where gaiety and hospitality always preside, musical entertainments and private theatricals, walking, riding, and boating — such are her innocent pleasures." The Princess dehghted in nothing more than in 122 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES popping in and out of peasants' cottages on the hiUsides and fishermen's huts along the lake, conversing with the simple-minded mothers and caressing the smihng babies — all swathed in their yards and yards of coarse linen. Her visits were as unconventional as possible. Dressed very plainly in a loose robe of muslin or alpaca, with a light silk Como scarf thrown across her shoulders, she loved to wear upon her head a coarse brown straw sunbonnet, untrimmed but for its bow of ribbon or its knot of poppies. Her graceful arms and hands were covered by long undressed kid gloves, and she wore low shoes to match. Upon her arm she invariably carried a biggish reticule filled with kitchen delicacies for the sick and poor, and her lady carried just such another basket. Those roomy receptacles ever returned empty to the viUa. What the Princess looked like one may judge from Sir Thomas Laurence's well- known portrait of her. If her face was bonnie, her heart was just as good. Old crones told their children stories of " La graciosissima Princi- pessa," and such stories linger stiU in every home in and around Cernobbio. Shortly after Dr. HoUand took his leave of the Princess, in 1815, an infamous plot was laid against her person and her honour. There is not a shadow of a doubt but that it originated among the evil- "LARIO" 123 conditioned toadies who fanned the self-conceit of the Prince of Wales, and he, shame to his memory, took no steps to stop the slander nor to shield his wife's character. The " accomphce in the Princess's misdemeanour," so it was said, was a fascinating young Enghshman — a Mr. WiUiam BurreU, travelling for health and pleasure in Lombardy. Caroline first met him during an ex cursion upon the lake when accidentaUy her barge and the young man's skiff came into collision. A favourite spaniel, which was upon the Princess's lap, was thrown into the water, and, to rescue it in response to its mistress's cries, BurreU jumped overboard and saved the pet. The episode took place quite near the shore, and Caroline insisted upon the gaUant rescuer changing his clothes at the viUa. He was as accomphshed as good- looking, and the Princess, doubtless weary of the monotony of her life and of the want of brilliancy, perhaps, in her immediate attendants, persuaded the attractive youth to join her in excursions, attended by the very proper Countess Oldi. One brief month saw the romance ended, for young BurreU became iU, and, with his valet, made his way home to England. At Brussels tales first were rife of a royal liaison : the valet had been paid by someone to watch his master and the Princess, and at the Belgian capital he was not proof 124 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES against a considerable bribe to make heavy de mands upon his imagination. These confidences came, as they were doubtless intended to do, to the ears of the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, — then on their way to England, — and the gossip filtered, with exaggerations and distortions, through the mouths and ears of the royal servants. Lord Castlereagh, — that most despicable of Cabinet Ministers, — ever seeking for materials for the manufacture of repressive measures against the Princess, seized upon the slander greedily. The Prince of Wales at first refused to hear the chitter-chatter, but Castlereagh so inflamed his prurient mind against his outraged Consort that the Minister's brother, the Lord Charles Stuart, was sent to Milan to make inquiries on the spot. His coming was entirely unknown to the Princess, and he carefuUy avoided the neigh bourhood of Cernobbio. At Milan he found a viUain ready to hand for any dirty work, Baron d' Ompteda, formerly Minister of King Jerome Buonaparte at the Court of Vienna. For betraying State secrets and for irregularity in his adminis tration of pubhe funds, the Baron had been dis missed, and, mortified beyond expression, he turned his eye and ear to any iU-savoury employ ment against exalted personages. Lord Charles Stuart interviewed the Baron, and placed his "LARIO" 125 brother's wishes before him, giving him carte blanohe as to ways and means. At the time of this despicable conspiracy Princess Carohne was travelling through Lombardy with a limited suite, and, upon her return to MUan, she was amazed and indignant to find that she was an object of close police surveUlance. Baron d' Ompteda had weU used the absence of the Princess from her viUa. He had been there not once but several times, had conversed with the Itahan servants left in charge, and by large offers of money sought to enhst them in his nefarious enterprise. Every man and woman with indignation resented the miscreant's sug gestions ; they were the staunch and devoted retainers of Her Royal Highness. In the Princess's stables, however, he discovered a German groom, Moritz Crede, who had been entrusted with the convoy of two Hanoverian horses, — a present from royal sympathizers of the Princess, — and had been, by her generosity, aUowed to remain and enjoy himself at Cernobbio. This feUow yielded to the tempter, and undertook to introduce the Baron into the Princess's private apartments by the aid of false keys. As chance would have it, almost the first thing the Princess heard, upon reaching the viUa after her travels, was a com plaint made by one of her dressers, Annetta, — a 126 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES German maid, — in which she accused Crede of attempting to seduce her. Caroline sent for the man, and, having confronted him with the girl, who relented of her confidence, — so like the sex, — dismissed him. In hopes of retaining his post in the royal service and of gaining the affections of his sweetheart, Crede made a fuU confession of his part in the Castlereaghian plot. Writing from Como, November, 3, 1816, Crede gives away the case against the Baron. " I suffered myself," he says, "to be seduced and to betray the best of mistresses. It is about a year ago, and just before the departure of the Princess, that Baron d' Ompteda took steps through the intervention of a certain Ambroggio Cesati, who came to me in Como, to discover the place where my mistress slept, what apartments were conti guous, and to procure false keys. I persisted for some time in refusing to have anything to do with the matter, but, when the Baron told me that I should be a ruined man if I did not listen to him, and offered me a large sum of money, I was corrupted, although I was fuUy persuaded that there was no foundation whatever for his infamous suspicions. ..." The Princess immediately sent for the Governor of the Province, Count Sauran, and told him about the transaction. Baron d' Ompteda was "LARIO" 127 ordered to quit the dominions of the Emperor at once on pain of arrest and imprisonment. Every one of Caroline's suite stood firmly and indig nantly for their beloved mistress ; indeed, Captain Hannam chaUenged the disreputable Baron to a duel, but he evaded the issue and sneaked off. If a motive were desired for the wish to locate the Princess's sleeping apartments, it must, alas ! be sought not in the assignations of lovers, but in the designs of assassins. This seems fuUy proved by a strange circumstance, which occurred at Genoa during the Princess's sojourn in that city. Some masked men one night actuaUy penetrated as far as the door of her bedroom ; there they encountered her faithful valet Teodoro Majocchio, who fired on them as they fled. What capital the Enghsh Ministry made out of this cruel persecution it is impossible to say, nor can one divine the condition of the Prince-Regent's mind in face of the f aUure of the foul plot. Any how, the Princess continued to reside at Cer nobbio, but her seclusion became aU the more complete, and no strangers were admitted to her presence. Four years later Carohne, — now Queen of Great Britain and Ireland,— returned to London upon the accession of her husband as George IV. She was, however, refused admission to the royal coronation in July. Broken-hearted, she sought 9 128 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES a refuge at Hammersmith — what would she not have given to have regained her beloved ViUa d' Este ! — and there she died quite unexpectedly at Brandenburg House on August 7, less than three weeks after her rejection at Westminster Abbey. The viUa of the Queen of England is stiU an attraction to British tourists. It no longer shelters a royal Court, but it has blazoned forth as the Grand Hotel ViUa d' Este et Regina d' Inghil- terra — one of the most comfortable caravanserais in Europe. The visitor may wander, as did good Queen Caroline, for hours through the spacious park, and traverse, as she did, its weU-made roads. ShaUops, like hers, are at the disposal of aquatic parties, and the blue water laps her marble steps as musicaUy as when the royal Princess tripped up and down. The great syca more, — said to be the finest in aU Italy, — under which Carohne and her courtiers picnicked, stiU claims alfresco merrymakers, and, above aU, the blue, blue sky of Italy casts its lofty vault, — that vault pierced by the prayers and protesta tions of a persecuted wife. The sun, which burnt her fair skin brown, and the cool moon stiU make the ohve-trees glitter with gold and silver ; and the storm and rain whioh drenched the land a hundred years ago still work havoc around the Queen's vUla. Her body lies in Brunswick, but PRINCESS OF WALES'S (QUEEN CAROLINE) ENGLISH PARK Villa d' Este, Cernobbio. Fro, a a photograph. To face page 128 "LARIO" 129 her soul hovers over Cernobbio, and, if you, my reader, are in a mind for reflection, you may lie in a hammock among the roses and magnolias and meditate upon the strange freaks of royal fortune. II. From Cernobbio the richly-wooded promontory of Torno seems but an arrow's flight across the glittering lake : round the point is the picturesque little bay of Molina, with the historic ViUa Pliniana. The palace stands by the waterside, open to every passer-by, but secluded by the dense shadows cast by dark towering cypresses of ancient growth. The high cliff at the back projects a rainbowed cascade of intermittent splashing water, and this gives its name to the villa. We have imbibed the pathetic atmosphere of the royal residence at Cernobbio, and have learned something of the uneasiness which rocks a modern sovereign's crown. Here we are environed by enthraUing memories of " Lords and Ladies " of ancient days. The actual viUa was built, indeed, comparatively in recent times, for its founder was Count Giovanni Anguissola of Pia- cenza, in the year 1570, and his career and asso ciates marked romantic tragedies of the late Renaissance. 130 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES The younger Pliny loved Molina and its shores, and dwelt there in happy guise. In a letter to his friend Caninius he describes the lovely scenery and the attractions of his retreat. " Do you," he asks, " seek to study, to fish, or to join the chase, or aU these and other delectable pursuits together ? AU light pleasures and joyous occu pations can be enjoyed on this our Larius with the greatest ease and satisfaction." He speaks in another letter to his frequent visitor at Torno, Licinius Surra, of " the spring which rises in the mountains, runs down among mossy rocks into an artificial grotto, where one can lunch most pleasantly. Three times a day it waxes and it wanes with utmost regularity, very interesting to watch. Reclining by its brink our friends can enjoy their repast and coUect coohng draughts of ice-cold water in golden goblets. . . ." Just as Caius Pliny and his company of sympathetic souls loved to feast alfresco, so to-day there is no more popular spot for merry picnic-parties along the " Lake of Lakes." Pliny's ecstatic love of Lacus Larius was a counterfoU to his hatred of Rome — the lake and its shores were his Elysium, and he peopled it with briUiant personages at play and study. On Punto di BalbianeUo, — or Avedo, — he built a villa, to which he gave the name of " Comoedia," "LARIO" 131 and in his mind connected it with the spirit of the perfect calm from terrors which characterized the proverbial smoothness of the Zocca deU' Olio — the Bay of OU. On the Punto di BeUagio, — the countervailing promontory, — the celebrated his torian placed another residence, and this he caUed " Tragcedia," the unrestfulness of the dividing waters of Como and Lecco suggesting deeds of turbulence and horror. " On the shores of Lacus Larius," he wrote to Romanus, " I have several viUas, but two of them give me most pleasure, because I hke the thoughts they give me best. One of them, planted high on rocks after the fashion of our Baise, overlooks the lake : the other, no less hke Baiae, touches its waters. I am in the habit of calling them ' Comedy ' and ' Tragedy ' — one resting upon the comic slipper, — so to speak, — the other tossed upon the tragic shoe. Each has its charm for me and aU my worshipful company. . . . From the one we look down upon fishermen below toihng with their nets ; from the other we can catch fish ourselves, casting our baited hooks from our slumber cham bers, — aye, from our very couches, as one does in a boat. . . ." The Tragic Muse claims our attention more especially at VUla Pliniana, and links the era of the Plinys with our own. The Pope of Rome, 132 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES Paul III., with dastardly effrontery, had made his natural son, Piero Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza. Uncomely in person and moraUy depraved, the parvenu drew upon himself the detestation of the nobles of the two duchies. Five men of mark in Piacenza — Girolamo and CammiUo PaUavioini, Agostino Landi, Gianluigi Gonfaloniere, and Giovanni Anguissola — agreed to do away with the monster. On September 10, 1547, the confederates gained access to the Duke's cabinet, and despatched him with their rapiers. The Emperor acknowledged this patriotic deed by bestowing honours upon the five brave men. Count Giovanni Anguissola was named Governor of the Province of Como and granted a substantial subsidy, which he spent upon his new viUa at Molina. All the same, honour did not bring him peace of mind, and his deed of blood rankled in his soul. Perturbed also by repeated attempts to assassinate him, his life was robbed of aU happiness. He retired to the seclusion of the ViUa Plinian,*— there at least hoping for repose and security, but there he died, a victim of remorse and misgiving. Alas ! " conscience doth make cowards of us ah." Among the " Ladies " who have graced the lawns and haUs of VUla Pliniana, none were more remarkable for beauty of person, potentiality of "LARIO" 133 inteUect, and exuberance of spirit than " the conspirator, wit and heroine, — whom aU Europe admired and Austria feared," — Princess Cristina Trivulzio-Belgiosioso. Born in Milan in 1808, at the splendid family palace, rich in art treasures and literary wealth, the young girl was the joy of her parents and the pride of the whole city. Urged on her majority, greatly against her will, to contract what would no doubt have turned out to be a very unhappy marriage, the Princess determined to eschew aU matrimonial complica tions, and devoted herself to the distractions of frenzied political strife. She identified herself with the party of progress against aU the con ventional canons of her family and order. Marked down at last as a dangerous individual, she was warned to quit MUan or recant her apostasy. She fled to Paris, and there indulged to the full her democratic proclivities. " Citizen Cristina " — she renounced her title of Princess — returned to Lombardy in 1846, and entered most enthusiasti- caUy into the popular movement against the hated foreigner — Austria. She personaUy enlisted, equipped, and commanded a battalion of intrepid volunteers, which unfortunately suffered severely for the cause of Charles Albert. Sentenced to exUe, and her property confiscated, she joined a force of Garibaldians in the heroic campaign 134 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES against France. Then she traveUed far and wide, gathering hght and leading by the way, and adding classics to the literary treasures of her native land. Her speciahty was the future of Italy, and, after the peace of VUlafranca, she edited that notable review " U Italia." Restored once more to the land of her birth, under the Austrian amnesty of 1850, " Citizen Cristina " was aUowed to recover much of her property, and thenceforward, under the inspiration of the great Cavour, she advocated convincingly the sacred cause of Italian unity. She died in 1871, leaving behind her briUiant fame in the heroic annals of patriotism. The ViUa Pliniana in quite recent times changed hands, and once belonged to Count Scipione Visconti, — a descendant, of course, of the cele brated ruhng family of Milan. Another famous aspirant for the ownership of this historic vUla was no less romantic a personage than Percy Bysshe SheUey, the poet-phUosopher. In his " Letters from Italy," in AprU, 1818, he writes : " The finest scenery on the lake is that about VUla Pliniana. . . . The house, which was once a magnificent palace and is now half in ruins, we are endeavouring to procure. . . . The apart ments are immensely large, but iU-furnished and antique. The terraces, which overlook the lake "LARIO" 135 and conduct one under the shade of noble laurels, are most delightful." The viUa to-day contains Uttle enough to attract the curious, but the por traits of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his proud and dashing consort IsabeUa d' Arragona appeal to all who know the story of MUan. The quaint and quiet httle town of Torno, hard by the ViUa Pliniana, is rich with glad and dismal memories of famous " Lords and Ladies of the Lake," and of plainer folk beside. It was Lodo- vico Sforza " II Moro," who caUed the French to Italy, — a fatal step indeed, — to aid his ambitious schemes, and they made Torno one of their head quarters. His far less able son, Francesco II. , appealed to Spain to cast out the invaders. Spaniards raided Como, its city and its viUages, and spent their strength at Torno, where every Frenchman was massacred, and the whole country side pUlaged and defaced. Whilst the men were butchered, the women were outraged ; but one of them, Alicia, — surnames never were of any consequence in Lakeland, — leaped from her cham ber window right into the lake. Death was nobler than dishonour, and her name hves in the mem ories of the peasantry, for her self-sacrifice has surrounded it with the halo of sanctity. You may read her story, and aU about the dark deed of 1521, if you ask permission to visit the splendid 136 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES library, formed by Conte Giovanni Passalacqua, in his stately marble viUa at Moltrasio, opposite Torno. In the church of San Giovanni Battista, — dating from the eleventh century, — at Torno are two precious Christian relics — a Nail of the Holy Cross and a leg-bone of one of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem. A German Bishop, returning from the Crusades, was weather-bound in his barge at Torno, but, after depositing his treasures in this holy shrine, the winds died down and the lake was becalmed, and so he fared homewards, a wiser but a poorer man. There is one little spot of whoUy free soil, — the only one in all Lakeland, — you may almost see it looking right up the lake between the jutting- out points of Torriggia and Cavagnola, — which has ever maintained its pristine freedom : it is an island — the only one in " Lario." What the fabled Garden of Eden was to mankind in general, the Isola Comacina has been to Lombardy and beyond. CaUed by the country-folk Isola di San Giovanni, one's thoughts connect this alter native designation with the daring deeds of the Lombards of old times, who hailed the " Baptist " for their own. The story goes that, when King Alboin and his army overran aU Italy, the Governor of Como, Francioni, retired to this secluded islet, which he strongly fortified and amply pro- "LARIO" 137 visioned, holding aloft the standard of the Roman Empire. The island became the refuge of more people than it could maintain and treasures of all kinds were borne thither for safety. Peace and security were of short duration, for another war-lord, Autaris, elected King of the Lombards in 584, surrounded the island with his fleet of warships, and, although the defenders stood their ground heroicaUy for many months, the prize was his, and rich it was in gaUant men and maidens fair, with booty galore. The menfolk of the Isola were, however, not aU warriors, for Francioni had welcomed and sheltered many cunning craftsmen, who became known as " Magistri Comacini." Their story is a moving romance of industry. Autaris, " the Long Haired," was not only a warrior in the Camp of Mars, he was also a suitor in the Court of Venus. Away across the Enga- dine Mountains, — the Eastern Alps, — upon the Teutonic throne of Bavaria, reigned a strong King,i — Garibald, — who had a lovely and an only daughter. Tales of the Princess's charms had found their way across peak and glacier, and in Autaris's mind had created visions which he was determined to translate into substantial fact. The King despatched from his camp ^ above Menaggio an embassy to his royal brother's castle, demanding the hand in marriage of the beauteous 138 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Theodelinda. Chafing at delay in the expected response, Autaris, incognito, accompanied another embassy to the Bavarian Court. With the chief envoy he was admitted, — of course quite un recognized, — to the royal presence, and there feasted his eyes upon the bewitching Princess. Like the Queen of Sheba's praise of King Solomon, " one half her charms had not been told," and he determined to make her his own whate'er bechanced. Advancing to Garibald with due courtesy, he explained that he had been speciaUy attached to the embassy that he might convey to his master, who was his intimate friend, a particular description of the personal charms of Princess Theodelinda. The royal maiden was bidden to let down her hair, bare her breast, and pose gracefully before the visitors. Cupid's conquest of Autaris was complete ; he assured Garibald that the Lombard King required no further testimony, and that he was empowered to offer his daughter the Queen-Consort's crown of Italy. Then, gaUantly kneeling to the Princess, he offered her a splendid goblet, which he asked her to fill with good red wine and hand round to her new subjects. When his turn came to quaff the loving-cup, he touched the Princess's hand with hot pressure, and at the same time signaUed her to silence. Theodelinda, already smitten by "LARIO" 139 the grand physical attributes of her father's guest and by his noble bearing, with a woman's un failing intuition guessed his identity, and, to her father's inexpressible astonishment, knelt and kissed the sandal of Autaris. Discovered in this deed of daring-do, the Kings embraced, and the Princess's gentle hand was placed within Autaris's massive palm. The marriage ceremonies were at once set in order, and the next day King Autaris and Queen Theodelinda rode off together on their way to Como. In the popular mind Queen Theodelinda lives stiU as the gracious fairy of Lake Como. On hiU, in dale, on shore, afloat, stories of her and her worth are told in folklore ditties, and sung in rich barracole. The noble road from Menaggio to Gravedona is stiU caUed " Strada Regina." Queen Theodelinda made it that she might the more comfortably be borne in her Utter to Bagni di Val Masino in the ValteUina country. Alas, for the joys of married fife, the captivating Queen was widowed within the year ; but Autaris's people, — hers, too, by ardent love and gratitude, — besought her to seek a second partner. Whoever he might be they agreed to accept as Lombard King. Many suitors naturaUy wooed the Queen in weeds, but she turned her face from aU but one, — a heathen prince ! Her choice was fixed upon the 140 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES most valiant Prince in Italy, — spouse of the Conqueror Autaris. She could only wed a hero- warrior, — iEgilulfo, Duke of Turin. One condi tion only did the Queen require — the Duke's con version and baptism, and he yielded generously, as a slave of beauty should. Together the new King and his Consort buUt the Cathedral of Monza, in pious memory of this victory of the Christian faith. iEgiluLfo was on the point of leading an army to attack the Holy City, but Theodelinda at once stopped the expedition, for which act of grace a generous Pope, Gregory the Great, sent to the Queen at Monza a token of his approval and gratitude. This was a very unique and precious gift — no less than a finely beaten fiUet of iron to fit her royal brow made from a naU of the Crucifixion of Calvary, — and now the famous Iron Crown of Lombardy. The " nail " to be sure, is nowadays seen encircling a coronet of pure gold and jeweUed with four-and-twenty superb precious stones — the age at the time of its presentation of the saintly Queen. At Monza her portrait, — an ancient bas-relief, — is over the great west door : she is represented at the Baptism of Christ bearing a cross and wearing a crown ! There are two accounts of Queen Theodelinda's death and burial. There is, first of aU, a weU- supported tradition that, after she had buried " LARIO " 141 King iEgilulfo at San Lorenzo in Milan, — its most ancient church, — she retired humbly to the Castle of Vezio, which dominates Varenna on the Lake of Como, and there ended her days happily in pious exercises and charity. Our Tennyson has caught the spirit of Queen Theodelinda's romance in his nocturne on sweet and dreamy Como : " The Lariano crept To that fair port below the castle Of Queen Theodelind, where we slept Or hardly slept, but watched awake A cypress in the moonlight shake, The moonlight touching o'er a terrace On tall agave above the lake." The poet's inspiration was that of the folklore of the country-side of Varenna, which relates how that, when the rising moon, topping the Monte Grigna-Settentrionale, glints down the shadowy Val d' Esino a sflver beam, the cypresses around and below the ruins of the Torre di Vezio, swaying in the evening breeze, aUow the brilliance to flash upon the tasselated head of a lonely agave, which for the moment assumes the verisimUitude of the gracious, vigorous Queen. The dayhght con sistency of the scene is no less eloquent of the fragrance of saintly deeds, for the rugged stones of Theodelinda's last resting-place are covered by luxuriant growths of grapes and peaches, whilst gay flowerets of the field perfume the air. In the 142 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES deep gorge below churns the frothy Fiume di Latte, as it tears itself over rock and ruin, rushing impetuously to the lake. Murmurs of its tragic music rise up with its vapour and spread them selves peacefully over the velvet moss upon which Queen Theodelinda trod. Very different is the Monza story of the Lombard Queen. Buried in a massive tpmb of country stone, in the north chapel of the Cathedral choir, San Carlo Borromeo, when on his purifying visita tion of the Lombard churches, marked the tomb for ejection — because the Queen had not been canonized ! Too unwieldy to be moved, the tomb was uncovered, and its contents were duly identi fied. The corpse, or what remained of it, was untouched, but Theodelinda's comb, her fan, her cup of sapphire, a crystal cross, — Saint Gregory's gift, — and the gold-embossed cover of her missal were transferred to the Cathedral sacristy, and there they may be seen to-day. Whichever story may be true, one thing is certain — no shadow of tragedy cast its baneful influence over the romance of Queen Theodelinda's hfe and love. But to return to the picturesque Island of Comacina. After the faU of valiant Francioni the islet became the sanctuary of many outraged fugitives — penmless and hopeless. Its umbra geous trees and the eaves of its ancient church "LARIO" 143 gave shelter to the Duke of Bergamo, Goldulo, after his rebeUion against King iEgUulfo. Cuni- pert and Ausprando, driven from their govern ments, at Comacina laid plans to recover what they had lost. The people of Como, ever jealous of the enterprise and the wealth of the Comacinesi, waged destructive wars against the island, and devastated it with fire and sword. The van quished, however, appealed to Milan, and with MUan destroyed the turbulent lake city. The epic poem of the Ten Years' War thus speaks of Isola Comacina : " Insula non dormit, nee jam tenit ilia quidem, Gogitat et vigilat, ver sat furiosa quid agit." i So much for the mediaeval " Lords and Ladies " of Lake Como. So placed is the Zocca deU' Olio — the Bay of OU — and so distinctly clear upon its smooth mirrored surface are the reflections of island groves and mainland boskets, with buildings flashing white and boats of many hues, that it seems but a handshake between the quaint church of San Giovanni and the glittering VUla Arconati. Beautifully situated at Campo, upon the Punta d' Avedo, — the slowly accumulating delta of the torrents from Monte Tremezzo and Monte di Lenno, — this exquisite vUla appeals to aU who hurry past on the silvery waterway to slacken saU 10 144""*feQRDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES or draw in the oars. There, upon the sculptured terrace of the little port, hard by the viUa, stands a statue of St. Francis d' Assisi, delicately chiseUed and lifehke, and ever holding out his hands in benediction — those holy hands stigma- taed by an approving Christ. Simple-hearted and devout fisherfolk accept the saintly blessing with uncovered heads and crossed breasts, and are aU the better for the momentary pause from labour and for the passing holy thought. And then belated boatmen and peasant folk across the narrow strait from Cavagnola to Loppia take heart of grace when they behold the flare of St. Francis's night-cresset flickering over the shadowy waves. Though the curfew has bidden men to well-earned sleep, " Ben San Franzese, ben not" — Good St. Francis, good-night, — comes whispered through the gloom. This saintly signal is due to the devotion and munificence of a worthy peasant-Cardinal, Bal- biano Durini. He purchased the villa and a factory near his native hamlet, whereat to end his days in peace. He called his habitation " II BalbianeUo— the little grot of Balbiano,— and he founded therein a Convalescent Home for sick brethren of the charitable Order. The estate carried with it the title of Count, and, by an odd caprice, he addressed each inmate of the hostel "LARIO" 145 by the title which he himself refused. The villa itself was built by another Cardinal of Holy Church, — from designs of PeUegrino PeUegrini, the lordly lacustrine architect sobriquetted Tibaldo, — in 1596, Tolomeo GaUio — a notable spiritual " Lord of Como," a famous benefactor all around his cher ished Lario. From Gravedona in the North to Como in the South, churches, villas, and institutions abound, aU looking to him as restorer or founder. Campo and its viUa are associated also with the name of another famous Larioan family, the Giovi — or Zobii in the vernacular. Somewhere about the time that Norman WiUiam conquered this fair island of ours, Giacomo Zobii obtained the unique privilege of naming both the Prefect of the viUage of Stabio, — opposite the Isola Comacina, — and the priest of its early Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The church, stiU earlier, and again later, members of the Giovi famUy have endowed richly, so that, under the auspices of the rector, all sick and needy wayfarers may eat and drink and rest, and be doctored too. The Ospedaletto de' Zobii is stUl a benevolent institution, and the Torre di Zobii stiU marks the spot where the good men and women of the family dwelt and helped their feUow- men — worthy " Lords and Ladies of the Lake." Benedetto and Paolo Giovi, both born in the 146 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES city of Como, were among the most celebrated " Lords " of their famUy. Historians both, perhaps the younger, — as is usual in most families, — rose to greater fame. The elder brother was a devout and simple-minded scholar, who, although his feet never carried him farther than to the utmost shores of the lake he loved, — and he knew nothing of the great world of Milan and of Italy, — contrived to excavate a valuable mine of most truthful fact and most amusing fiction. His labours he dedicated to the city of his birth, under the happy title " Historia P atria " ; to him is due the most succinct precis pen ever wrote — piquant and epi grammatic too. Translated, it teUs the fifteen hundred years' story of the city and its people : " A Greek colony of Orobii first settled here. Gauls took it, Rhcetians, an Alpine tribe, des troyed it. C. Scipio Pompeius, and Caius Csesar restored and colonized it. Warlike men of Milan burnt it. Frederic I. rebuilt it. Twice destroyed by civil war. Discord of rival famihes plunged it in calamities. With Charles V. came new hope of prosperity." Born in 1471, Benedetto Giovio died in 1544, and Paolo, — twelve years his junior, — survived tiU 1552. Paolo was very much more ambitious than his elder brother. A man of rare genius and vast erudition, he earned the title of " II Varro di Lorn- BENEDETTO GIOVIO PAOLO GIOVIO From Illustrations in " Fomiglie Celebr? Ito.lio.na" by P. G. Litta To face page 146 "LARIO" 147 bardia." A famous poem of his " Quattrodieci Fontane di Como," sings the beauties and the excellences of the vaUeys and the hills of Lario. Paolo Giovio took Minor Orders in the Church, and rose to the eminent post of Papal Secretary under no less celebrated a Pontiff than Leo X. Thirty-seven years of his life he devoted to his masterpiece in literature — a history of his own times. This remarkable composition has been made the butt of derision. Taking his cue doubtless from the weird gaUery of celebrities in the Palazzo del Banco di San Giorgio at Genoa, whose Sola del Consiglio is filled with statues and busts of Genoese worthies in various sizes, the size and prominence of each worthy being accur ately gauged by the amount each Signore paid the mercenary sculptor ! Paolo's contemporary narratives also differentiate the sums paid down ! He used, it was said, two pens, a golden one with which to laud his most generous patrons, and a pen of iron for bare, cold notices ! His biographer makes an amusing skit on this eminently business-like method : " He was," he says, " no greater a sinner than the rest of his profession, but he had the saving grace of not denying his perversities." Wideawake Mon- signore Paolo was never at a loss for an excuse for inaccuracy or exaggeration. " Never mind," 148 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES he laughed, " it will no doubt be quite true in three or four hundred years !" There was, indeed, a method in the romancer's economy, for, when Francis I. of France ceased his patronage, he heaped adulations upon the new Pope, Clement, and his family, the Medici, and gained in acknow ledgment the fat see of Nocera and a hatful of preferments besides. Another characteristic work of Paolo Giovio was his " Descriptio Larii Lacus," engineered also upon " the poor or much-pay " principle. Its publication, in 1558, six years after its author's death, was due to an amusing circumstance. One, Dionisio Sommentino, a notary of Novara, was sent to Bellagio to investigate a charge of murder among the tenants of his patron, Conte Nicolo Sfondrate. The beauty of the situation and the splendour of the villa, now Villa Ser- beUoni, enraptured the man of law. Upon his return he recounted the delightful impressions he had received. The Count smUed sardonicaUy and asked him whether he would like to dweU in the permanent contemplation of so many attrac tions. With enthusiasm Sommentino responded. " Go, then," said the Count, " and fetch me from my library table a little pile of manuscript marked ' P.G.' There, "said he, handing his companion the bundle, you will find every feature which has "LARIO" 149 struck you noted ; take it home, and dream you are at BeUagio !" The notary took the gift and with it the determination to publish to the world the charming narrative. Still another Zobio made his name famous as a " Lord of Como " — Gianbattista Giovio, — the very pleasant writer of " Letter e Lariane." He belonged to the eighteenth century, and so did Napoleon Buonaparte, — and to the nineteenth, — the great war-Lord of Lombardy and the Lakes. In 1810 Napoleon dissolved the Italian monasteries and other semi-conventual institutions, and with them went the Hospital of Zobio, aU purchased by a Como nobleman — Count Porro. His tenure, however, of the Villa at Campo was short, for he was compeUed to go into exfle for his pohtical opinions, and settled in Brussels, spending the end of his days with Marquis Arconati Visconti, a feUow refuge. By his wUl he bequeathed his estate to his friend, who, being restored to his native land, gave his name " Arconati " to the villa. The Marquis died in 1880, and then his widow splendidly restored the villa and refurnished it, and occasionally visited it. Among the " Lords and Ladies " who have grimaced and smirked, or, of sterner stuff, conversed and plotted at Villa Arconati have been Silvio PeUico, Giovanni Mazzini, and Princess-Citizen Cristina Trivulzio- 150 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Belgiosioso. They and many more made pious pilgrimages to the shrine of the famous Madonna del Soccorso, high above the lake upon the Dosso d' Avedo. The legend of the Madonna del Soccorso is as pretty a story as any of the thousand and one which scintiUate above the seven briUiant stars of St. Mary's coronal. Many, many years ago, say the goody gossips, — there was a little deaf and dumb peasant girl of Isola, who tended her father's smaU flock of goats and sheep in the pastures above the village. One day she wandered with her charges somewhat off the beaten track, and, lo and behold ! found herself in a land of rocks and grottos. One little cave in particular attracted her. for^ by it grew the very biggest cyclamens the child had ever seen, and at the same time the most deeply crimson dyed. Stretch ing out her hand to grasp some of the fragrant blooms she was astounded to behold, within the cave's mouth, the Madonna with the Child Christ in her arms. The Holy Mother smUed upon her, and made a movement which Nania misin terpreted, and, startled, she fled from the spot, nor stayed her steps tiU she feU weeping in her mother's arms. To the consternation of her fond parent and her sisters, too, Nania' s tongue- string was loosened, and she uttered the first "LARIO" 151 articulate sounds they had ever heard : "La Madon / La Madon ! Col Bimbi ! Bimbi Qesit, /" Recovering from their surprise, the chUd ex citedly told them what she had seen, and where. The Madonna Adeliza caUed her menfolk from their toU and, led by little Nania, the whole village ascended the steep slopes and reached the spot where the flock of sheep and goats stUl nibbled the succulent grasses. There, sure enough, within the grotto stood, not, indeed, a living Maria Vergine, but a sculptured figure. With the utmost reverence the pious peasants knelt upon the rocky pasture, and recited all the prayers they knew, whUst the' women, shedding copious tears, folded in turn the hitherto mute chUd to their breasts. " Miracolo ! miracolo /" was upon the mouths of all, and forthwith the whole company ran hastUy down the declivities and made straight for the pievano's house. With cross, candle, and beU, the good priest saUied forth, attended by his viUage acolytes, sprinkling holy water and tossing clouds of incense smoke before the grotto and reciting many prayers. The devotions of Holy Church were rendered, and the congregation then set to work to lay the first stone of a hiUside tabernacle, wherein to guard and venerate the Holy Image. A chapel and an altar were very soon upreared, and then, with great 152 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES ceremony, the Bishop of Como and a goodly gathering translated the miracle-working Madonna to the church at Isola, and fixed her upon a splendid shrinelike bracket. This removal, how ever, was not at aU to the liking of the Madonna, and one night she returned mysteriously to her grotto shrine. It was a way the Madonna of the cinquecento had, and characterictic of her bene- ficient sovereignty ! Thrice was our Madonna carried, with penitential litanies back to Isola, and thrice she hurried back, at last to be allowed by her devotees to assert her wUl and pleasure. In 1537 the present chapel, on its grassy, stony platform was erected, and since then " La Madonna del Soccorso" has rested contentedly. Very many miracles have, these four hundred years, been wrought upon that lovely mead for the relief of suffering humanity, and very many mutes have there cried out with little Nania — "La Madon! La Madon!" An annual pilgrimage was ordered by ecclesiastical authority. It is still held on September 8, and attracts thousands and thousands of pious folk. Few, perhaps, of the " Lords and Ladies of the Lake " join those fervent bands — Society has another level, another cult — maybe a worse and certainly a more sordid. Would that some of the pristine simplicity of faith and practice marked our own day's work ! "LARIO" 153 In times of stress the country-folk of Lario and its viUages cry aloud to the Madonna of Isola, visit her hiUside shrine and deposit their little offerings, leaving, in memory of their pilgrimage, little spluttering tallow candles. The approach to the chapel has become a foot- polished pavement. By the " Via Sacra," in small shrines and chapels, are fifteen coloured terra-cotta groups, — Biblical and historical, — teaching more vividly than book-lore the great epic of Christ and Mary. If you ask the cassocked custode of the church at Isola, he tells you the Madonna has been nothing but a blessing ever since Nania first proclaimed her. III. From the scene of sweet reveries of rehgious fervour over Isola, it is but a short course by land or lake to the modern elysium of Lake Como — a triangular sheet of deepest blue water pointed by BeUagio, Cadenabbia, and Menaggio — each brim full of interests, chiefly modern. A httle way back from the well-worn stone landing-steps at Tremezzo stands a villa, rather inconspicuous and lacking in renown — " Villa Scorpione " it is named. A velvet, verdant sward stretches from the garden-gates to the borders of the lake, where 154 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES some ancient, much-gnarled olive-trees lend weird charms to the mise en scene. One glorious summer's evening, in 1873, — when the Lombard sun, beating hotly upon the ice-fields of the glowing crimsoned Alps was reflected, with the refraction of its ardour, upon the green pastures and blue waters of the North Italian lakes, — a gondola shot out sUently from the pier at Cadenabbia. The sky was of chameleon opal, and the trees of the wood had taken on a golden sheen of bronze. Butterflies and moths, — gay-hued or sombre, — worsting one another in daring flight ; honey-bees, — their thirst for nectar not yet quenched, — and dragon-flies, — spiking everywhere in sunbeams, and jealous of more humble glow-worms already kindling their lamps of gold, — were holding revels with the busy, noisy crickets in the superheated grass. The craft drew near the landing-stage — in it a quartet of Enghsh traveUers — their object being a friendly visit to the hospitable owners of the ViUa. " Zitto /"—Hush !— passed from lip to lip, for the raised vocal ecstasy, the sweep of oar, or the creak of rowel would have utterly disturbed a marveUously charming idylhc serenade in view and hearing of the water-party. Slung from two hoary, widely separated arms of an ancient ohve giant was a red-knotted, netted hammock, and "LARIO" 155 from it traUed the white laced petticoat of a salmon sUken robe. One dainty shoeless foot of the fair form reclining there, — with her gay Japanese umbreUa stuck up against the golden sun, too hot to bear, — was swinging gracefuUy and rythmicaUy to and fro. The face was in shadow — her form weU shrunk in the meshes made recognition difficult. Below the dreaming, rocking damsel, reclined upon a couch of moss and flowers, an apple - green - velvet - costumed suitor ; his head, long flaxen haired, was bare ; at his throat he wore a yeUow silk cravat ; his knee-ribbons, gaily-bunched, matched his tie. His face, turned away from the direction of the lake, was fixed upon the object of his song, — for he was eloquently strumming a much - decorated guitar, and he was softly drooning his melody of love. Through the glittering, animated leaf- sprays of the trees stole sUvered visions of a crescent moon — just rising to greet the peeping stars. Bats were aU the whUe incontinently faring here and there, whUst nesting-birds were cooing soft good-nights to one another ; aU Nature was in harmony. The lovers were Henry Brockett and Georgiana Bernal - Osborne ; he the son and heir of the owner of the viUa over there1 — she, the youth's fiancee, as good as she was fair. Now they are 156 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES man and wife together, and have been many a year. Probably they have forgotten the idyll they created for the delight of their fellow-country folk ; perhaps they did not realize it at the time. Love is often very blind and very deaf ! Villa Carlotta claims notice further on at Caden abbia, from the water-wayfarer, and from the lover of the beautiful. Its name is very recent, for, not till Duchess Charlotte of Saxe Meiningen came as a bride to Lario in 1850, did " Carlotta " supersede " Sommariva "—the loveliest bank of all — the name of the first noble owner, Conte Sommariva. The original villa, indeed, was quite an unambitious edifice, built by the Marchese Clerici of Como, in the middle of the eighteenth century. Princess Albrecht of Prussia bought it and the estate for £29,000, in 1843, and gave it to her daughter, upon her marriage with the Here ditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen. "Regina del Logo!" is the unanimous verdict, — native and foreign, — when it is sought to balance vUla rivalry on Lario. " Carlotta " yields to none ; her throne is the highest, her crown the rarest in the realm of Nature decked by Art. Be it softly whispered, however, she holds no Court of romance ; and her story is void of tragedy, but her treasures are eloquent of human passions and the joys of man. All the world knows some- -><- KING CHRISTIAN HUNTING WITH CAVALIERE BARTOLOMMEO COLLEONE SIKOLAMO BOMANINO Fresco at the Castle o Malpaga. (See page 280) To face page 150 "LARIO" 157 thing, at least, of the loves of Cupid (Eros) and Psyche ; but reading mythology is somewhat duU work in comparison with the contemplation of the almost speaking, breathing group of sculpture in the Great Saloon of ViUa Carlotta, which tells so convincingly the sweetest tale of human mesmerism. This lovely "bit" of purest Carrara marble, — flashing white as the crystal snow, — is not the creation of a passionate Buonarroti, nor of an impetuous CeUini ; no sensuous Sansovino nor gaUant Giovanni da Bologna chiseUed those ex quisite young forms. A serious son of Italy, a re cluse indeed, born in Tyrolean Possagno, — through whose veins stiU coursed at fifty the fire of love, — gave to mankind, in 1800, this thrilling version of the old, old love story. Youngest of three lovely sisters, Psyche incurred the jealousy of Venus, who condemned her to love the most hideous and contemptible of mortals. Eros, — ever wide awake, — determined to make her his own, and conveyed her mysteriously, whUst she slept, to a nuptial bed, upon a lovely mountain-top. His visits were at night-time, and he vanished ere the dawn. Searching one early morning for her beloved companion she came on him pinioned by the dew. Flashing upon the prostrate, god like youngster, her golden, flickering, lamp, she 158 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES beheld no monster but the comehest youth in Paradise. Butterfly-like she hovered over him, not daring to touch him, though thirsting for a stolen kiss. Down by his side she laid, but he, bashful, instantly arose, — brushed by her gossamer-like winglets. Appealingly she extended her ambrosial arms to retain her lover, but he winged away his flight and left poor Pysche fixed with a sUver dart right through her heart. Venus chanced to pass Psyche's couch of love, and overheard her weeping bitterly, and caUing Eros distractedly. Instantly she seized the love-lorn deity, — no daughter-in-law should she be, be witching though she might be, — and clapped her in a noisome prison. Psyche was love-sick for Eros, and so was Eros for Psyche, and the gods of Olympus granted their desire, and Psyche entered the Court of Heaven, escorted by Mercury. The offspring of those amours men nowadays caU " Pleasure I" Canova has most cunningly con- f ected the awakening of the blessed pair, — f ated to part in the first rosebud of their love — a perfect human allegory in marble. In the same saloon of the ViUa Carlotta is another convincing creation of the same master-hand, a more complete contrast to the Eros and Psyche could not be imagined — " The Magdalen." Sunken, broken-hearted and penitent upon the ground, she silently proclaims " LARIO " 159 the bitterness of illicit passion. Her story is enshrined in the life's narrative of Christ,— its echo reaches, and wiU reach, to the utmost limits of human sympathy. Centrally placed in that viUa boudoir of the "Loves" is still another marble group, — not by Canova, but by Acquisti,— "Mars and Venus." If the goddess had to relin quish her beauteous boy to Psyche, Mars she held in thraU — woman, the " Superman " in celestial cult as weU as in matters of the world ! This, too, is an inspiring work, for the sculptor has made his marble think, and plot, and counter plot, and aU but live and move. In truth, this very captivating salon at Caden abbia is a precious casket, like Pandora's, wherein are found imperishably preserved the human passions which have inspired the lives and fortunes of the " Lords and Ladies of the Italian Lakes " whose romances fill these pages. There are more things of deep interest in the viUa, and its gardens are unmatchable for beauty and for rarity of plants and -trees. Within the beautiful httle chapel of Sommariva, by the lake, is a very chaste "Piita," in costly crystal marble, too. Its contemplation in that haUowed fane brings the mind of busy mankind, intent on pleasure, to view the scriptural expression of the mystery of Love— the dead Christ lying across his 11 160 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Mother's knees. So, when the human heart has thumped out aU its fierce desires, there remains nothing for the lifeless body but to lie prone along dear Mother Earth ; but, after all, " Cupid " is stronger than death, and "Psyche," the soul, never dies ! We pass out into the shadow of the giant- leaved plane-trees in the avenue by the lake, and behold the garish glories of the shimmering heat contentedly, for at Cadenabbia LongfeUow is close by — the sweetest Enghsh singer of the simple life, and we read him thus : " I pace the leafy colonnade, Where level branches of the plane Above me weave a roof of shade, Impervious to the sun or rain. " By Sommariva's garden gate, I make the marble steps my seat, And hear the water as I wait Lapping the steps beneath my feet. " The hills sweep upward from the shore, With villas scattered one by one Upon their wooded spurs, and lower, Bellagio blazing in the sun. " And dimly seen, a tangled mass Of walls and woods, in light and shade, Stands beckoning up the Stelvio Pass Varenna, with its white cascade. " I ask myself, ' Is this a dream ? Will it all vanish into air ? Is there a land of such supreme And perfect beauty anywhere V "LARIO" 161 " Sweet vision ! Do not fade away ; Linger until my heart shall take Into itself the summer day And all the beauty of the lake : " Linger until upon my brain Is stamped an image of the scene, Then fade into the air again And be as if thou hadst not been !"* Longfellow loved Cadenabbia, and there he wrote many of his idyllic poems. He loved to gaze across the glittering water at BeUagio in its magical effulgence, — a dream land of fancy and of fact. BeUagio caUed to the poet ; she caUs to the prosaic, too, as weU as to the romantic among her many visitors to-day. The caU of Bellagio is to cross over and pick up acquaintance ship with some of the " Lords and Ladies," who there have hved and died, and who haunt the viUas of her crown ; to cross the cloud-hued wavelets ever gyrating in briUiant ballet, and heed not siren's cry the while. But willing, very willing, though we be to raUy to the signal, another cry arrests us as we step aboard our awninged gondola — a cry from the heights above the Villa Carlotta — a cry from lofty Griante to climb up to her viUage green and behold her beauties and listen to her story. * From a poem in manuscript, written by Longfellow at Cadenabbia, and preserved in the office of the Hotel Belle Vue there. 162 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES It is the first Sunday in September, and the whole viUage, with its pretty church, withal ancient though it be, is en fete — "La Festa d£ Canestri" — the Feast of Baskets — in fact, the Harvest Festival. AU the countryfolk, great and smaU, foregather at the parish church for very early Mass, bringing with them their offerings to Christ's altar, most tastefuUy arranged in big new wicker baskets. An amazing variety of firstfruits is presented to the parish priest for benediction and acceptance, — living animals and birds, fresh-caught fish, fruit from the orchards, grain from the fields, and roots, newly crushed oil, and freshly trod juice of grapes ; with sugar-loaves and loaves of bread, butter, cheese, and eggs, side by side with tinned meats and stuffs, and sausages and tasty jam-tarts. As heterogeneous in dress as in their offerings, the peasants and the farmers and their chfidren, with gay banners and quaint crucifixes and lighted lanterns in honour of the Host, with exuberant grimace, gesticulation, and rush of noisy words, caU forth echoes and reflections from green woods and pohshed stones. The men and boys, bare-headed and be-clogged, have covered their weU-stitched gathered smocks with coarse linen surplices and scarlet capes ; the women and girls, in highly coloured stuffs and calicoes, are discreetly veiled in black " LARIO " 163 veils and white, and aU wear posies of natural fragrant blossoms at breast or by way of coronal. They are aU members of rehgious communities ; mostly of the "Buona Morte," and carry their Prayer-Books with rosaries, and badges of their guilds. What heaven-lifting voices those lusty sons of agriculture possess : the old men and the young vie with one another to drown the sweeter cadences, if nasal, of their womenfolk ! AU know, word by word, the oft-sung litanies ; all recite the weU-remembered prayers ; all march with swinging strides decorously through lane and pasture-land, in and out of rocky corners, and around quaint house-ends, the Pievano at their head. Halting here and there for ritual acts of thanksgiving, until the whole district has been weU traversed, and the processionists squat themselves down about the church once more and await the excitement of the auction. This is a remarkable competition, joined in by " Lords and Ladies of the Lake," personified not only by descendants of romantic forbears of the past, but by sympathetic visitors from afar, Americans for the most part. The profits of the sale are pocketed by the Pievano, for the maintenance of the fabric of the church and for its functions. When aU is over the country - people quietly return to their farms and hovels to resume the 164 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES year's toU and to bear their burdens stoicaUy, whilst overseas visitors carry away pleasurable impressions to store in head and heart. BeUagio, indeed, still caUs us over the fabled, fairy waters, and we fain would go, but other voices caU, — voices out of fathomless deeps, — sirens of the lake. Psyche-like they yearn for lovers ; vampire-like they crave men's blood. For the nincompoop and moUy-coddle care they not one whit : their lust is for the beauty of Adonis, the culture of Apollo and the energy of Mercury. They count their human prey by hundreds — submerged never to reappear. A finer oarsman than Edward Royds never stroked for his Uni versity ; a noble life was his, and full of promise ; daring beyond his fellows, and resourceful, too. A summer's morn tempted him to swim .in the cool water ; many such had charmed him. He took his wonted plunge, right in the middle of the lake ; his friend, — who now sets down this record, — regained the boat in safety, but Royds never scaled that stern. Somewhere in a mysterious cavern under the dissimulating flood his body rests till the crack of doom, shrouded by the floating strands of hair of cruel lake- maidens. It was a double tragedy for Cadden- abbia. Cupid's gentle arrow became a poisoned dart in the stricken heart of a lovely English girl. A TYPICAL FORMAL VILLA-GARDEN AT VILLA BOZZOLI From a photograph To fane page 104 "LARIO" 165 She drooped and died within a twelvemonth of her lover's loss. One other domestic tragedy is connected in the writer's mind with the mirrored whirlpool of the lake-maidens twixt Cadenabbia and BeUagio. Decorated for valour upon the field of battle by the grateful King of Prussia, — first German Emperor, — young George Lampson was a vahant medical volunteer, although an American, in the ranks of the allied Teuton armies. Gifted very greatly with physical and mental attributes, the world and its successes were his apparently to command at will ; he was a pet Fairy Fortune. Caddenabbia was the sana torium for his wounds and the arena of his pleasures. He ministered skilfully to many an ailing sojourner by that beauteous lake, putting by his up - to - date methods the hoary mis- wisdoms of local medicos to shame. He treated most successfuUy, — when she was suddenly taken very iU, — the dear one, to whom in part I have dedicated these romances of the Italian lakes. Two years passed, and then the hero was hailed before a (>iminal Court, tried for murder, con demned, and hanged ! At Wimbledon, in Surrey, dwelt a dehcate youth, Valentine, George Lamp- son's cousin. In England for his health and education, and heir to countless doUars, his was the only life between the testator and his cousin. 166 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES A devil entered the sunny heart of the young doctor, now the husband of a charming English girl. Visits to Valentine became the order of the day, but the youth grew feebler and whiter week by week. Nothing that his cousin brought him gave more delight than boxes of rich choco lates. The post-mortem proclaimed the presence of strychnine — strychnine in the chocolate — this was George Lampson's crime ! His untimely and unworthy end was not the end of tragedy. A young wife, soon to be a mother, brought forth prematurely, through the shock, a stiU-born child, and was, alas ! buried in her offspring's grave. These were like other tragedies of the Italian lakes, which count their victims by a lengthy roU, but the great world beyond knows little of such hap penings. Perhaps chance conventional para graphs in some journal are aU the record. The prime function of creation is destruction ; life is but a complexity of contradictions, and Providence, so misnamed, is a vendetta ! Many viUas now consteUate around San Gio vanni di BeUagio, but they are modern in their vogue, yet some of them have links with a romantic past. Melzi, — the most conspicuous among them, — is of very recent date. BuUt by Count Fran cesco Melzi d' Erile, Vice-President of the abortive Cis- Alpine Republic, in 1814, it is a link with " LARIO " 167 the most shining genius of a century. Buona parte created Count Francesco Duke of Lodi, and on him showered numerous distinctions. Local tradition has it that the great Corsican spent many a strenuous hour in the delightful retreat, working out his mighty schemes. When on campaign he gave himself little or no time for relaxation and pleasure. Duchess Josephine Melzi - Barbo, — the Emperor's goddaughter, — decorated the viUa pretty much as we see it to-day. The chapel is remarkable for an un conventional and unique figure of Christ, — a youth in meditation, — and for two frescoes, which are sure to strike the eye and set the mind inquiring. They are family memorials of an earlier Francesco Melzi d' Erile, and of his dear friend and master the great Leonardo da Vinci. One represents Leonardo imparting instruction to the young Count ; the other, Francesco receiving the master's last bequest — his studio at MUan. Between master and pupil existed an impassioned friendship. The family of Melzi possessed a beautiful country house at Vaprio in the vaUey of the Adda, some twenty mfles from Milan. Thither Leonardo fled for repose, or when harassed by the attentions of the French soldiery. When the master went, in 1576, on his way to Paris, at the bidding of King Francis I., his boon com- 168 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES panion was his young friend, Count Francesco, more like a son or a younger brother. Three busy years only were vouchsafed to Leonardo, grown old but still ineffable, and then death took him. Broken-hearted, Francesco carried the news to their royal patron, who appointed him exe cutor of the wiU and a chamberlain of his royal person. Writing to his father from the Castle of Amboise, where the comrades had resided, he concludes a sorrowful epistle thus : " He was the kindest of fathers to me. . . . Nature will find it hard to produce such another great man." In the grounds of ViUa Melzi are marble busts by Canova of Buonaparte's mother — Madame Letitia — and of his first Empress — Josephine Beauharnais. The name Josephine has how been handed down for three generations in the family of Melzi d' ErUe. The Villas Trotti, Giulia, Serbelloni, and Tri- vulzio are aU hard by Melzi. Their gardens are contiguous, each one a vision of Paradise. There is not much that may be told of some of these, but the Serbelloni, — now caUed Villa CreveUi- Serbelloni, — has romances not a few ; and we must put back the scene five hundred years to get at the beginning. In the fourteenth century the towering promontory of Bi-lacus was un clothed with gracious foliage ; it was a rocky head- "LARIO" 169 land, dominating, from its impregnable fortress, both lakes — Como and Lecco. Within its walls and bastions stood armed to the teeth men of blood and human devils, — desperadoes flying from the hand of justice. In 1375 Gian Galeazzo Visconti subdued the outlaws, and destroyed their stronghold, and ordered henceforth no man to dwell there. The Marquis Stanga of Milan, however, loyal ever to his master, obtained from Lodovico Sforza, — regent and ruler both — the right to plant the eminence with trees and build a family residence. Vain was his handiwork, for, no sooner had he moved his family to his Larian elysium, and his guests had commenced to come and go, — amazing the fisherfolk by their frolics and their follies, — than ravagers once more pounced upon their prey, — the dreaded Cavargnoni, from Menaggio, — and the pleasaunce was laid bare. For two hundred years the HiU of Bi-lacus, or BeUagio, was a waste, and then another noble Milanese — Count Ercole Sf ondrati — rebuilt the ruined mansion and afforested the promontory. His name and his date — 1594 — he stuck up on a wall washed by the split waters of the lake at the point of land. His family became extinct at the end of the eighteenth century, and their property passed to the Duke Alessandro SerbeUoni. At the point of the head- 170 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES land is a ridge of hard sharp rocks, and there, according to the story stiU rife in BeUagio, in a massive castle dwelt a human siren-vampire — one Adeliza, Countess of Borgomanero, who had for her iniquities been exiled from the smihng Val d' Ossola. She set up her Court, or charnel-house, in this inaccessible spot, and set as weU no bounds to liaisons with every passing gaUant — soldier or troubadour. Like bad Queen Giovanna II. of Naples, of later date, she had a very simple way of ridding herself of her lovers when they had given her what she craved. They were expected to commit suicide next morning, but those who shirked this quietus were dropped wiUy-niUy through steel-racked oubhette into the deep lake below — where there were no tale-bearers, and, of course, no return ! * * * * * "Alia memoria di Giulio Mylius " is the dedica tion of a very beautiful bas-relief, by the sculptor Marchesi the younger, upon the waU of a marble temple in the lovely gardens of the VUla Wachs- Mylius at Loveno, a few minutes' walk from the CasteUo di Menaggio. The rehef represents a youth recumbent upon a couch at the moment of death, with a young girl bending over him, bitterly weeping. It is a subject fuU of pathos, and few who look upon it can restrain a sigh or a " LARIO " 171 tear ; it is the tragedy of Giuho Mylius and Anastasie Kreutzner. Giulio lived with his parents, — weU-to-do merchants of Como, who yearly sojourned in their Larian lake-side retreat. One day he chanced to meet, coming out of the cathedral, the most lovely girl he had ever seen. She was the ward of an uncle by marriage, whose sister had married an Austrian noble from Passau, and both had died when their only little girl was stiU an infant. An intimacy naturaUy sprang up between the young people, and guardians on both sides acquiesced in the engagement. Unhappily Giulio was in dehcate health, and his religion, — Jewish, — was a ban to the union. He was sent to travel and recuperate, but at Trieste he lay sick unto death. News, lover-hke, was not slow in reaching Anastasie, and she delayed not to run away from home and join her fond Giuho. He pressed her to marry him, dying though he knew himself to be, in order that his parents might take her under their protection. The girl consented, but no sooner was the marriage-ring placed upon her finger than her spouse feU back dead in her arms. Giuho's parents stood by the young widow, and took her into their house and home. Some two years after, Anastasie, by the wish of Signore and Madonna Mylius, married Lucio Vigone, — a prosperous young merchant of Milan, — and Anas- 172 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES tasie's dowry included the freehold of the ViUa Myhus at Menaggio. Below the bas-relief in the garden temple is this touching inscription : " Sui nor degli anni in stranio lido li' muore Fragli amplessi e le lagrime de suvi Al bacio vola dell' eterno amore E acerbo duolo e cio che resta a noi."* The date of this pathetic romance is 1830. From Menaggio sprang one of the greatest lights of Lario — "II Cavaliere Aretino " — whose real name was Leone Leoni. A goldsmith by profession, he first became famous as a medallist, and entered the service of the Emperor Charles V. His chef- d'oeuvre was a bronze statue of His Majesty in pure white Carrara marble, to which he added, very judiciously, flesh-tints here and there. This figure, — the size of hfe, — he clothed with costly steel armour, which he forged himself, to be removed at will — a great novelty in the art of the sculptor. This remarkable creation is now at Madrid, and on the pedestal are inscribed Leoni's words : " Coesaris virtute furor domitus " — having reference to the chained figure of " Fury " under the Emperor's heel. Ennobled by his much gratified patron and endowed with a splendid residence in Milan, * " In the flower of young life, on an alien shore, He died — caresses and tears for him bore His friends. From the kiss of love to the kiss of God He pass'd, but left us in grief till the last reward." "LARIO" 173 the Cavaliere gave himself up to pleasure and extravagance. No man loved more women, no man fought more duels, than did the magnificent Leoni ; but his career of adventure was abruptly ended when, having insulted Messer Giovanni Trebbio, the Papal jeweUer at Milan, by way of denial of an intrigue with his wife, he was arrested and sentenced to the gaUeys. Luckily at Genoa he had many friends,. — persons of wealth and influence, — among them the veteran Ruler of the city — the admirable Andrea Doria. Set at liberty, he wrote a vindication of his conduct to Pietro Aretino, — one of his most intimate correspondents and admirers, — wherein he humorously attacked the clergy for their interference with his liberty. " I pass my time," he wrote, " in snapping my fingers at their reverences, trusting that Providence wiU one day cause such bad men to burst !" There are many other tales about this boisterous Cavaliere, pointing him out as a boon companion for Torrigiano — the smasher of Buonarroti's nose ! One of these is characteristic of the rest. Thrown into company at Venice, — whence he fared upon his hberation from durance at Genoa — with Titian, he invited the great master's son to accompany him to his native place Menaggio, that he might admit its greater charm over the Dolo mite viUage of Cadore. His guest had about 174 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES him a considerable sum of money, which the Cavahere claimed, and when young VeceUio acknowledged the superiority of the Larian domi cile, not content with a mUd request, he foUowed up pretensions by a chaUenge to fight it out. The young man only yielded when he had felt more than once the sharp pin-pricks of his adversary's steel ! Quite aptly here a quotation from James Addington Symonds comes into mind : " So extra ordinary were the social circumstances of Renais sance Italy, that almost at every turn, on her sea board, in her cities, from her hiUtops, and by her lakes, we are compeUed to blend our admiration for the loveliest and purest works of art amid the choicest scenes of nature, with memories of execrable crimes and lawless characters." Looking from Menaggio, or Loveno, to BeUano, the lake is at its widest, and as we row across in a stout market-boat, the snowy giants of the Alps stand out of the azure sky in gaunt rehef — a notable panorama. BeUano is a very busy little place, — she always was, — and ambitious too. Here, in days long passed, the feuds between the Torriani and the Visconti, — which devastated almost every part of Lombardy, — raged savagely. The former at first had the upper hand, for Napoleone deUa Torre conquered the ValteUina, and led the viUage maidens, — after the manner of the Latin Lombard "LARIO" 175 conquerors, — tied behind his war-chariot. He died in 1278, and then the Visconti drew con clusions with his adherents at the bidding of the outraged viUagers. The Visconti retained BeUano for their own ; Azzone of that ilk made the port a pendant good work to the church erected by his uncle Giovanni, Archbishop and Lord of MUan. Upon the stone pier, jutting out weU into the lake, is a monument, not of a Visconto or of a Torriano, but of a gentler " Lord of the Lake "— the poet Tommaso Grossi, born at BeUano in 1791. He graduated in law at Pavia, and then in Cupid's University at Milan, where it is said " he made the women cry." They cried their eyes out for grief at the wrongs he told in his tragic poem, " Ilde gonda," put forth in 1820. The sex went mad indeed over this touching story — Hdegonda veils, Ildegonda kerchiefs, Ildegonda bonnets, Ildegonda shoes, and Ildegonda stays were aU the mode. And who, pray, was fair "Ildegonda"? The visionary daughter of the ValteUina chieftain, whom a Visconto had wronged in the long-buried past. She was a mediaeval maiden, whose father dwelt at the lofty Castle of Tegho, this side of Tirano, where he kept in awe his vassals. Consigned to the charge of the nuns at Sondrio, whUst the war-dogs were let loose, gaUant young Rizzardo of the hamlet of San Giacomo discovered his loved 12 176 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES one's retreat. They fled together, heedless of danger and of consequences, but Cupid had not taken Fortune into his confidence, and, alas ! the fugitives were captured. Ildegonda, parted from her lover, was carried back to Sondrio, and Rizzardo relegated to a dungeon at Teglio. There, after a manufactured charge of heresy, the love lorn lad was burnt for a heretic, and poor little Ildegonda fretted out her sweet young hfe, and joined her swain in Paradise. Tommaso Grossi died in 1853, leaving, besides his lovely epic, other poems and stories of the good old times. The last year of his life he spent with the patriot poet- writer, Alassandro Manzoni, the graceful author of "I Promessi Sposi." And now our tales of " Lords and Ladies " of the Lake of Como are weUnigh told, but before we bid adieu to the " Glass of Venus," we must speed over the dancing wavelets, and find out what Gravedona and her neighbours have to teU us. The head of Lake Como bristles with fort resses, now mighty ruins, significant of warring times — Rezzonico, Musso, and Corenno, and the restored Palazzo del Peco, with four great towers, at Gravedona, wherein : — " In the long while of times of yore, When slain men lay in crimson gore, And maidens fair, the prey of rape, Were had to view within the gate." "LARIO" 177 The name of a Mediceo chngs to the stones of Musso — Giangiacomo de' Medici, " II Medeghino " — the Trimmer, we may caU him. His father was a cousin of Giovanni deUe Bandenera, his mother a SerbeUoni of Milan. Giangiacomo came into possession of the Rocca di Musso surrepti tiously. In some way or other Franesco Sforza, — the last of that ruling House, — was beholden to " II Medeghino," and to square his account he gave over the fief of Musso which had faUen to him to Giangiacomo, with an emphatic proviso — that he should undertake to kiU Martino Visconti, who was a thorn in the Duke's side. This deed was promptly executed, and in 1525 Giangiacomo de' Medici became Lord of Musso and Captain- General of the Lake. He maintained a fleet of armed vessels, and a fighting force of several thousand men. In turn he served himself of Frank, Spaniard, Milanese, and Swiss, and when he had set them fighting one another, he became the arbiter with the laurels all his own. Plunder, intrigue, and murder reigned unchecked, and it is marvellous how the astute Capitano kept his head, his castle, and his purse. At last prudence gave way to impetuosity, and he arrayed himself against his quondam patron, the Duke of Milan, who was only too pleased to place his heel upon the Condottiere's neck. In 1529 favourable terms 178 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES of peace were made, whereby Giangiacomo was despoiled of his Castle of Musso, and his titles of Marquis of Musso and Captain-General of Lario and Lecco were merged in the less romantic Marquisate of Marignano, in the plain of Lodi. The rest of his days he spent in the service of intriguing Dukes and Marquises, his weapon ever ready to stab an undesirable to the heart, and few soldiers of fortune have as many victims upon their list as had he. A splendid monument covers his remains in Milan Cathedral, erected by his brother, Pope Pius IV., who was a cordial patron of his viUainies. It was said that aU Milan mourned for the Marquis of Marignano, It was a work, indeed, of supererogation, but perhaps, like most base men, he had his good points, and they appealed to the populace. People do not probe too deeply the private life of their heroes ; if a man is masterful and successful it is sufficient — details are matters of indifference. Thus the world judges its idols. The Palazzo del Peco attracts the eye of aU who pass by Gravedona. It is, perhaps, the biggest building on the lake, and certainly the most imposing. Built for that Larian benefactor and potentate, Cardinal Tolomeo GaUio, in 1586, by his protege Tibaldo of Val Solda, his Eminence, "LARIO" 179 marking the zenith of his career, " placed his head at Gravedona, whilst his feet were at Cernobbio." His was the freehold of the Tre Pievi, or three parishes, Gravedona, Serico, and Dongo, and, besides his properties near Campo and Como, he owned estates at Scaldasole near Pavia, at the Bagni di Lucca, and elsewhere. It was said of him that, " travelling seven days direct between the Palazzo del Peco and his titular church in Rome, he never slept out of his own house." Away back in the twelfth century the unruly forbears of the Pievensi gained an un enviable notoriety. " Pardon aU but the per fidious men of Gravedona !" was the sentence of an outraged Emperor, Frederic Barbarosa, when at Constance he granted peace and privileges to the defiant Lombardian rallies. Two years later these turbulent f amihes gained the freedom of their lands, but another tyranny, far more deadly than the Teuton scourge, settled down on Gravedona and her sister Repubhcs. In less than a single century the Holy Office of the Inquisition was set up in the Tre Pievi under Peter of Verona — St. Peter, Martyr. His zeal for persecution first broke out at Florence, where, smarting under a scandal of his cloister at Como, he resolved upon revenge. He first pounced upon, as Inquisitor- General of Pope Honorius III., the harmless 180 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES benevolent institutions of the capital city — " The Brethren," " The Band of Love," " The Disciples of Chastity " — and other such dogmatic societies, who, beside being lukewarm in their love of Rome, were accused of being favourable to the GhibeUine cause. For nineteen years this " Scourge of God " relentlessly ploughed lake and land, tracking to their doom luckless and inoffen sive countryfolk and folk of higher grade. Burnings for heresy were seen in every hamlet on the lake, and at Gravedona the fires of persecution devoured whole families. At length the deep rancour of the survivors found vengeance for their wrongs, and on April 21, 1252, Peter the Inquisitor, — with another brother of his Order, — were decoyed into a wood at Barlassina, midway between Como and Milan, where terrible sword-thrusts clove their skuUs in twain. Canonized by Innocent IV the foUowing year, St. Peter Martyr's shrine in the ancient Church of Sant' Eustorgio in Milan, — a very splendid monument, — became a holy place for pilgrims from afar. The Saint's head, with its great gashed wound, and the blood-covered blade, used to be ex hibited to the curious and devout on payment of a fee. Gravedona contains many interesting monu ments of the earliest Christian days, and miracu- THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. PETER "THE INQUISITOR ' GIOVANNI CARIANI National Qallery, London To face page 180 "LARIO" 181 lous Madonnas not a few. Among quaint epitaphs upon forgotten worthies one runs as follows : " Grande patentia hio portava perffa ohe 1' arma sia Salvada. Per l'avarixia ohe a abinda 1' anima mia a son perduda."* The saintly figure to which this is inscribed is that of a man who wears across his breast a scroll bearing the single word " Gravedona." The women of the Tre Pievi still wear their distinctive dress, a brown Benedictine smock, without sleeves, reaching to below the knees, and girt about the waist by a leathern strap. The bodice is of white linen, and a woollen petticoat is worn below the scapular. This costume is the record of a vow made by the whole community, when in 1450 pestUence, flood, and famine, in quick succession, devastated the northern shores of Lake Como. The ruined Castle of Fuentes, — once the key to the vaUeys debouching upon the head of the lake, — a few mUes beyond Colico, was built by the Spanish invaders in 1603, and its destruction dates from the triumph of the French in 1796. It gains its name from Count Ignacio del Fuentes, the Spanish Governor of Lombardy, and its reputation as a terror-spot from the atrocities practised upon its unhappy prisoners. One of these was the * " Patience great I exercised my soul to save. Lost my soul ! — to avarice myself I gave." 182 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES celebrated Antonio Maria Stampa of Gravedona. The only ostensible reason for his seizure was that he was " an outlandish sort of man, given to much musing and the study of evil things, and a suspect." He wrote during his captivity an imaginary history of his time and town, fuU of extravagances. His unfortunate family also felt the sting of persecution ; their goods were con fiscated, and they were compeUed to undertake menial offices for the garrison. Over the rude blocks of tumbled masonry of the old fortress kindly Nature has spread her carpet of greenery. Walnut-trees grow in courtyards where mailed warriors strode, and grape-bearing vines cover secret chambers where sorrowful maidens wept, and each poured out " a woman's soul, most soft, most strong." Perhaps Venus after aU had such a second self when she had conquered Mars ! The fascination of Lake Como is indescribable ! CHAPTER IV LECCO LAKE OF LECCO — BRIANZA — CASTLE OE MILAN Lecco is the wiU-o'-the-wisp among the North Itahan lakes ; not, indeed, that she aqueously is here and there and everywhere, but her name betokens her character — the coin of echo, the acme of daintiness, the blush of temptation — in short, Diana of the Gods ! Artemis of mytho logy was sister of ApoUo, goddess of the chase, and protectress of the young and the suffering. Her love, Endymion, she kissed in sleep, and the loves of this weU - matched pair iUustrate the association of Lecco and the Brianza. By in version of the metaphor — the pleasure-grounds of the " Verdant Land " enshrine the sportive deity, whilst she looks out languishingly upon the mirror-face of the beautiful sleep-dowered lake. Diana is the fascinating inspiratrix of the Brianza. The Lake of Lecco is her bath ; a bevy of bewitching Bacchantes encircle her with 183 184 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES crystal-emerald lakelets, — each a water-nymph of rare enchantment — Annona, Pusiano, Segrino, Alserio, and Montorfano. The resplendent pen dant Diana wears on her pulsating bosom is metaphorically the diamond jewel of Lake Garlate, with its pearl-drop of Olgiate. The chaste feet of the fascinating goddess, — perfect in shape, elegant in step, — rest, or pitter-patter as she wills, within the Sforza Castle of Milan ! " Che qui tra gioghi Briantei primiero, II colle Gernezian erge le cime, Come ite belle fanno, arte e natura. Ricco per l'acqua del Pusiano, il Lambro Contortuoso giro in due lo parte, Ora tente sorrendo — ora tra sassi Con un ingrato mormorio spumando."* (From "II Gemetto," poem by Abbate Lodovico Polidori). This stanza was composed within the lovely gardens of the viUa of Conte Giangiacomo della Somaglia — caUed "II Gemetto," which belonged originaUy, in the middle of the fourteenth century, to the Milanese family of Rozzini. The prospect from the terrace embraces the whole * " Would'st gain Brianza's sweet enchantment? Speed thee to Gernezian's escarpment, Source whence, embellish'd by Nature and Art, And enrich'd on sweet Pusiano's part, The Lambro wanders — now tortuously, Now softly murmuring, — now noisily Rolls ungrateful rocks, smooth and froth-fretted." LECCO 185 gorgeous " Pian d'Erba " — the Plain of the Verdant Land — a delicious title for the whole Brianza." The Lake of Lecco has something of Scandi navian grandeur ; five majestic mountains, hke giant fingers of a colossal hand, enclose its deep green waters — sleep-rocked and echoing. The " Resegone di Lecco," — brother to the Rohzahne of Bozen, — resembles a great saw on edge, its teeth piercing the azure sky. Nature has been some what harsh to Lecco' s lake ; but its firs and brambles are attractive by their strength and boldness, and hide as many gay romances as do the sentimental acacias and nuptial myrtles of idylhc Brianza. Rugged natural buttresses and dark mysterious chasms re-echo the sounds of mountain storms. Avoided by superstitious rustics, they shelter mountaineering " Lords and Ladies " and chamois-hunters up to the line of everlasting snow on great Monte Grigna. Upon the eastern side of the lake scarce can man or beast find foothold ; great precipices hang over the water. On the west are sun-kissed shores and shady coves, with luxuriant vegetation — Limonta, Vassena, Onno, and Malgiate. Lecco itself is an unimportant town, but is one 186 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES of the great gates of Lombardy. A sohd stone bridge, strong to stand for centuries — the Ponte Grande a' Visconti— spans the narrowing waters of the lake. Built in 1335, by that mighty warrior, Azzone Visconti, it was one of the wonders of the world, with its bastions, towers, and draw bridges. The Sforzas destroyed and then rebuilt this link with the cities of the plain. Restored when aU but a relic of a desultory past, in 1609 by Conte de Fuentes,; — he who built the Spanish castle by Riva at Cohco, — it was blown up by retreating Russians in 1798, but, since repaired, is stiU rugged in its stanchness. Anyone who would know the story of Lecco, as intimately told of the seventeenth century at least, should read Alessandro Manzone's romance " / Promessi Sposi " and his other Lecco tales. He is the Lecco Hare, and those who read and mark his masterpiece find him the best companion in their walks abroad. Born March 7, 1785, at Milan, by mere chance, he belonged to a noble family and an old, of the Val Sassina, beyond the Lake of Lecco. His ancestral home was the castle, or mansion, of Caleotto, overlooking the historic road to BeUano on Lake Como. Pietro Manzone, Alessandro's father, married Donna Giulia, elder daughter of Signore Cesare Beccarii, a member of that famous Lecco family. His PILGRIMAGE CHURCH OF L.ASNIGO From a Photograph. (Sec page 200) PONTE GRANDE (OR VISCONTi), LAKE OF LECCO From a Photograph To face page 1S6 LECCO 187 early years were spent on his father's farm, but, sad to say, a black cloud appeared on the domestic horizon — his parents were at variance. At last Madonna Giuha's patience was exhausted, and, in 1804, she left her home and children, With a friend of her youth, Carlo Imbonati, she went to Paris, where he died the foUowing year. The Madonna brought his body back to Italy, and buried it at Brusuglio, near Milan, and then she returned to Paris. It has been asserted that Signore and Madonna Manzone were legaUy separated in 1792. Anyhow, her seven children knew httle of a mother's care, and yet their love for her was not cold, for Alessandro and his sister Enrichetta foUowed her to Paris. Beginning as a poetaster in 1801, the caU of the " Incantevole del Cielo di Brianza " — the heavenly enchantment of the Brianza — was too strong to be resisted, and back the loving son of Lombardy returned to the country of his fathers. He fixed his temporary home at the hamlet of Costa, near the httle town of Galbiate, high above the lakes of Annona and Garlate. Hence he journeyed to Milan, to and fro, and in 1818 joined the staff of the newly estabhshed " Concialiatore," having for his associates, Lodovico di Bienne, Samuele Biava, GioviUo Scalvini, Tommaso Grossi, and other kindred spirits. The " i" Promessi Sposi ' ' was given 188 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES to the world in 1821, in succession to many other tales and verses. There in Lecco is the scene of his narrative and the Leccoese his heroes and heroines. He speaks of buildings fair and foul, reveals their secrets, and re-incarnates their woes and joys. He gives distressing details of family feuds and of the marches of foreign armies. He teUs again the tales of Sigisimondo Boldoni of BeUano — how the people of the country fled to mountain fastnesses, and how the Teuton hordes swept bare the fair land hke locusts — diseased and verminous. Many victims, beside Boldoni, died from infection, imported from the North. He whispers gently of lovers and their vows, of parted sweethearts, and of the avenging dagger. Famihes he names as becoming rich by brigan dage, and records the insecurity of life, with the inevitable findings of justice. Across the Ponte Grande moved the hfe and fame of Lecco. Floods of wUd waters and of wilder soldiery crashed against arch and buttress, and, across it have fought, point to point, bravi and their prey, and maidens have been deported for the pastime of " Lords of the Lakes " in Lombardy. Pageants, too, of fair " Ladies " have passed serenely where men fought, for Lecco was a principal portal of the great cities of the plain. Alessandro Manzone died in 1873. LECCO 189 The " Archivio Storico Lombardo " has many thriUing stories of Lecco and the Leccoese ; many of them in connection with the bravi and other brigands of the border. The municipal authorities time out of mind held dehberations and passed sentences upon the daring deeds of highwaymen and their kind. Six very deep-dyed viUains, — Claudio, Salvadore, Carlo, and Orazio Zanetti, four brothers, with their cousins, Lodovico and Zambiano Bolognini, having been banished from Venetian territory — the two first also from the Duchy of MUan — for deeds of darkness done, had transferred their scene of operations to the neighbourhood of Lecco, and were at last captured red-handed, and on June 29, 1649 were arraigned for justice, heavily fined, and cautioned. The pubhc prosecutor, — not a very desirable post in those wUd days, — Dr. Ambrogio Arrigone, incurred the resentment of the nefarious brotherhood, and his death was decreed. One evening, when no moon iUuminated the deep underwood, the six defendants in the recent trial crawled stealthily towards the threatened official's dwelling, on the outskirts of the town. They learned that the doctor was detained in Lecco on legal business, so back they struck to meet their victim unaccom panied, in the narrow high-waUed street. Quite unsuspectingly the poor man feU among the 190 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, and then brutaUy clubbed him to death with their guns. The reprobates fled and hid themselves in secret places known only to the peasantry, who, however, dared not expose them. The Sindic and other magistrates of Lecco summoned them to surrender on pain of proscription in every commune, and warned aU the neighbouring States not to harbour them, but to hand them over if they fled across the border. In the end two of the brothers and one cousin, — Carlo, Orazio, and Lodovico, — were captured, and, with out a trial, run up to the gallows, which stood ever ready, as Alessandro Manzone has gruesomely recorded in his " I Promessi Sposi," for male factors. Only one of the six actually escaped— Salvador© — his immunity being, in fact, due to his name, so judged the populace, who had more faith than we have in the protection of patron Saints. Claudio and Zambiano were drowned by the upsetting of a boat on the lake. Even so the end of brigandage was not reached. If bravi are no more a class apart, the brigand pure and simple still shows his masked face in unwonted places ; and the smuggler-poacher thrives in every hiUy district. Almost every cottage by the lake, or on the hill, has relics of the good old days — loot from LECCO 191 lordly wayfarers or sober citizens. Ancestors of peasants and of townsmen of to-day danced measures on the greensward or hard highroad with courtly "Ladies of the Lakes." Curio- hunters have here a rich field unexplored, for Visconti relics are not at a premium in the com mune of Lecco. To be sure some of these tokens of butchery and piUage are in the treasuries of churches, — votive offerings by sinful souls re buked, seeking accommodation with Heaven.. — and here they wUl remain, for clergy in Italy are on their guard now that connoisseur miUionaires are on the prowl ! Everybody who is interested in Lecco, town and lake, and in the lakelet of Annona fails not to toU up the mountain path from Civate, through the Val deU' Oreo, to the hermitage chapel of San Pietro. It was a favourite retreat from the frenzied world for contemplative Benedictines, and it has a romantic history. WhUst foUowing in the chase one day, in 757, through sportive Brianza, Adelicco, — son of Desiderio, the last King of the Lombards, — was struck in the eye by an arrow which glanced from a tree. Know ing that blindness was to be his fate, he, upon the spot, vowed to buUd a Mass-chapel for the service of the holy brotherhood, where daily prayer should be offered for the recovery of his 13 192 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES sight. That dilapidated building is stiU one of the most unique churches of Christendom. Twenty-seven red marble steps, — the age of the afflicted prince, — lead to the entrance. The de votion of " Creeping to the Cross " has never ceased from that day to this, and pious peasants, sightless and seeing, make the pilgrimage with confident faith and ardour. Within the httle fane ancient frescoes, alas ! much faded, still decorate the waUs and vault. Three awesome creatures dominate the shrine, a griffin, a chimoera, and a dragon cut in quaint stone bas-relief: the latter, ready to devour a httle child, gave rise to a superstition, which haunts the chasm over which the chapel hangs. It is of a horned serpent, which devours unguarded and truant children, and " II Dragone di San Pietro /" is stiU named to overawe the disobedient ; although the valiant Saint withstanding the reptile is the conventional St. Michael ! The arrangement of this primitive Christian temple is that of a basilica. In the " Scurolo " or " Confessional," used to be pre served links of St. Peter's Mamertine chain ; these had their healing properties, for bites of mad dogs, touched thereby, were instantly healed. Throughout all the " Verdant Land " of Bri anza, and from beyond the Lake of Lecco, year by year, thousands of pilgrims wend their way to LECCO 193 San Pietro, singing ancient litanies. Perhaps the first of these, and greatly distinguished for her virtues, was the Empress Ermingarda, consort of Charlemagne and sister of Prince Adelicco ; her effigy is to be seen in a bas-relief behind the altar. In the eleventh century another famous personage chmbed the Sacred Way, — Arnolfo de' Capitani, Archbishop of Milan. Tired of a world of faction and a hierarchy of greed the holy man sought the green solitude of Civate for fast and prayer. He it was who stiUed the fierce strifes of Guelphs and Ghibellines and gave peace to embittered partisans. He died upon his wooden bedstead before the altar of the chapel. Two other saintly men among many more found solace in the httle cloister, Liprando da Compito and Leone da Parego ; the former a confessor, for the Christian faith bereft of ears and nose and hands — mutUations of the heretical Nicolaitans ; the latter, the warhke Archbishop of Milan, who strove to stem the usurpation of the Torriani, but in vain, for he died a fugitive. San Carlo Borromeo, in his plenary visitation of Lombard holy houses, chmbed up to San Pietro in 1571, to see for himself what the lonesome Benedictines were about. Their abstinences, their poverty, and their sincerity he gladly acknowledged ; but, when they sought ritual 194 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES indulgences, he quietly remarked to the Prior: " Better leave weU alone, and mind your busi ness !" Other visitors, too, besides ecclesiastics and pilgrims, have been wont to rendezvous in the wild vaUey of the Oreo — huntsmen and viragoes of the chase. The King of France, Henri III., — yielding to the attractions of the Brianza and its lakes, — took up his residence at the Castle of Civate, on the shore of Annona, and thence, one day, he espied a lovely girl. She was wending her way home with a pitcher of water poised upon her head, and the King — his identity quite unknown to the maiden — craved a cooling draught. Xike another Rebecca the maiden's grace and coyness quite enslaved the amorous Sovereign, and, wiUy-niUy, back she went to Paris in the royal train — Agnese da Civate. What became of her at the French Court we know not exactly, but, when, by the tragic death of Marie de Cleves, in 1574, the King's heart was broken, none so daintily ministered to him as the village maid of Annona. II. The Brianza is the picturesque, undulating, and fertile country which roUs away from the gates of Milan right to the apex of the highland triangle, which separates the Lakes of Como and LECCO 195 Lecco. The axis of the configuration is at Erba, Uke the pivot of a fan, — whence an alternative name is derived — "Piano d' Erba" — the " Verdant Land." It is watered by the prattfing Lambro, flowing refreshingly through the Val Assina, which drains that exquisite chain of lakelets — Annona, Pusiano, Segrino, Alserio, and Montorfano — and then runs on to join the Adda below Milan. It is an ideal Eden, for nowhere in all fruitful Lom bardy does the generous sun ripen sweeter grapes and mulberries, or paint magnoha, oleander, and pomegranate blooms with more fragrant hues. The scintiUating leaflets of the olives are brilhant gold, the berries of the verdant laurels shining coral, and the dewdrops within expanding roses, lilies, and carnations are opal-tinted pearls. The thin-as-air meshes of great spider webs are silver- gilt strands, shot-silking the morning dew-dress of verdure, and the almost imperceptible brush ing of variegated butterfly wings cast coloured shadows upon the shimmering noon vapours. So much may perhaps be said of many another terrestrial paradise, but the Brianza rejoices in an atmosphere of unrivaUed brilliancy, perfumed with more than the fabled scents of Barbary ; and, when the sun-god has paled before his lunar mistress, then the glint of flying insects' wings excites the diamond fires of hidden glow- 196 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES worms. These are special charms of the " Verdant Land." Where Nature has been so bountiful, Art has not feared to tread, and out of luxuriant coppices of flowering trees and shrubs, — some exotic in their origin, — there peep forth the white or painted waUs of elegant and commodious viUas, each holding a Court hke a Queen in the midst of exquisite gardens. The white campanili of viUage churches vie in loftiness with solemn cypresses, and the melody of their beUs mingles at all hours of the day with the musical cadence of zephyr-moved foliage. One of the most cele brated and perhaps most ancient of these castelli is the ViUa di Tassera, overlooking the viUages of Erba, Carcano, and Alserio. There Federigo Barbarossa spent many a happy day in the far away year of 1160. In 1500 it became the property of the Ospidale Maggiore, in Milan, through the munificence of Duke Lodovico "II Moro." One hundred and fifty years later, the hospital funds being low, the estate was sold to the rising Milanese family of Turbonato, who held it for two hundred years. Many times has it changed hands since then, and has sheltered distinguished inmates. Ismail Pasha, ex-Khedive of Egypt, died there in 1878. Not very far from VUla di Tassera, — now LECCO 197 called Villa Adelheida, after the wife of its present owner, — nine miles from Como, on the highroad to Lecco, is Castello di Carimate. Dating from the troubled times of Bernabo Visconti, — who, in 1380, gave it to his bride, Donna Regina deUa Scala of Verona, — it became the dower-house of the consorts of the valiant Visconti. In 1386 Giovanni Galeazzo, of that ruling family, gave it to his wife Caterina deUa Torre — a significant matrimonial contract between the two great factions of Milan. Filippo Maria Visconti, in 1415 made the property over to his wife in due order — the imperious and frail Elizabetta Bor romeo, whose intrigue with Domenico Ajcardi, Master of the Horse to her consort, led to her imprisonment and supposed death at her husband's hands. By a strange fatuity of circumstances Ajcardi earned FUippo Maria's eternal gratitude, for, by his revelations of the conspiracy of Mala testa, ArceUe, and Beccario, — the very year of the unhappy Elizabetta's tragic end, — he saved the Visconti house and fame. For reward he re ceived the dower-house of Carimate, and was created Viscount of Scaramuzza. Three Dukes, in turn, of the supplanting Sforza dynasty, con firmed the gift to the Ajcardi, who in gratitude affixed the name of Visconti to their own, and at the same time added the arms of Sforza to 198 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES their escutcheon. A very splendid ceremonial was witnessed in the castle hall in November, 1493, for the Ambassador of Massimiliano, King of the Romans, married by procuration in his Sovereign's name, Signora Bianca Maria, daughter of the Duke of Milan. The day foUowing the nuptials Duke Galeazzo, Maria, and Duchess IsabeUa, with the Regent Lodovico and his consort Beatrice, accompanied the royal bride to Como, escorted by a very gorgeous cavalcade of " Lords and Ladies of the Lakes." After entering the city a halt was caUed at the Cathedral, where a solemn Te Deum was sung, and then the royal party were con ducted to the Archbishop's palace for a splendid banquet and to pass the night. Next day the Queen and her suite embarked upon four great barges, gaily adorned and lined with men-at- arms, bearing flaunting banners. The vessels were offered for their worthy duty by loyal folk of the town of Torno on the lake. The old adage came true, " winds and waves wait for none," for the flotiUa had much ado to make BeUagio, the crew and passengers aU suffering grievously. There Marchese Stampa entertained his distin guished guests, who after an inauspicious start next day were compeUed to run back for shelter to the hospitable harbour. On the fourth day Queen GALEAZZO MARIA SFORZA PIERO POLLAIU0L0 Ufflzi, Florence To face page 198 LECCO 199 Bianca Maria bade a last adieu to Italy : for at Cohco she entered her consort's Utter and was borne over the Alps towards Vienna. Upon the death of the Duke, in 1494, Lodovico " II Moro " seized the castle and there estabhshed his sweetheart — CecUia GaUerina. Later on the Ajcardi - Visconti regained possession, restored the buUdings, and remained its lords tiU 1795, when Cavahere Lodovico Visconti, — they had dropped the " Ajcardi " — the last of his race, died. Carimate now belongs to the Conte di Pirocco of Como. To go back to the Ajcardi, Marquis Domenico's son Giorgio, by another criss-cross arrangement, — common enough in those times of feud and counter-feud, — married Caterina, the daughter of the plotter Giacomo Beccario, and Fihppo Maria Visconti gave him the estate of Zelada, on the Ticino, not very far from Abbiate- grasso. He rebuUt the old Visconti castle and strictly preserved the forest, where he and his friends were accustomed to hunt bear and deer, — the Marchioness Caterina and her ladies being usuaUy of the party. Zelada passed ultimately to the family of Sangiuhano, whose descendant, Count Antonio, stiU resides in the again half- ruined castle. The highroad from Erba to BeUagio, — a grand stretch of twenty miles, — 'crosses the Lambro, 200 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES and, skirting the narrow green strip of merlin- haunted Segrino, makes up the lovely Val Assina. Nowhere are views more varied as each corner of the zigzag road reveals the scenery. From a broad ledge, looking down, near Asso, through the umbrageous foliage of chestnuts, the whole Lake of Lecco is in view, lying two thousand feet below. A little farther on, at Magreglio, both arms of Lake Como are revealed, and then, near Lasnigo, the Tremezzina, with its sparkling bays and shining villas, attracts the eye. From Cevenna we gaze down over Bellagio and take in the splendours of the northern portion of "Lario" to Domaso, with the grand range of Alpine sentinels aU white with snow arrayed against the blue, hazy sky. At Lasnigo we linger to con template the eloquent solitude of its pilgrimage church. The whole busy world is out of sight and sound, and there is nothing to divert our thoughts or steps. A typical Via Crucis hes before us, and, involuntarily, perhaps, we pass upwards between two rows of fourteen shrines. The story of Calvary is told in stonewrought numbers in a thousand places else, but here the weather- battered " Stations " and the grass-grown steps, — leading up to the lofty, lonely towers,— by the very severity and harshness of it all, become illuminative to the dullest apprehension LECCO 201 of the tragedy of Calvary. Reverie peoples the scene with kneeling, praying devotees, and their folklore hymns and the Latin chants strike imaginatively upon the ear. In the ancient church the reek of incense and wax has cleared away aU mouldy smeUs, and the fire of ecstatic monkish exhortation has left not only echoes, but something of the enthusiastic flame of per- fervid devotion. You may sit in the sweet meadow grass, or upon a ruined, chiseUed stone, and sit and sit, whUst you reahze that the world and its votaries are vanities of vanity — Lasigno is truly a Gate to Heaven, though a rough one visually. Thus are you minded, but, if you like to ascend Monte Cippei, — seen in the iUustration behind the pUgrimage church, — you can look right down the Pian di Tivano to Nesso, on the Lake of Como and on past a shoulder of Monte San Primo, to the wood - sheltered lake-hamlet of Lezzeno with its mysterious "Grotta del Bulgaro." This is the land of witchcraft and cryptic deeds, — tradition has it that in the fifteenth century, this, — the one gloomy spot in a land of everlast ing sunshine, — was the hot-bed of necromancy, and the nursery of vaUey charlatans. The entire province of Como was affected by a wild desire, fomented by the agents of the Holy Office, to 202 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES harry, hunt, and exterminate the witchwives and their werewolf associates. It was believed that their incantations brought distress, disease, and death upon man and beast alike. The visitations of plague, the prevalence of famUy feuds, and the bhghting of marriage offspring and of cattle, and every human iU was assigned to their f eU agency. Proofs were ready to hand with which to flout every wretched and suspected individual. Con fessions of nameless crimes were extorted under the crueUest of tortures, and devihsh punishment far outweighed the miserable victims' turpitude. Depositions of such wretches attested by clerical witnesses, are preserved in the archives of every town and village in Lombardy. A frenzy of blood-thirstiness wrapped the whole country in a monstrous crusade ; the cry everywhere was, " We shaU be better off when the witches are all burnt !" Between 1416 and 1516, it has been computed that more than ten thousand poor creatures were done to death. The memory of those awful scenes has not yet faded in the valleys of the Brianza, whUst endless superstitions still terrify the harmless inhabitants. Almost every body wears an amulet or charm to ward off uncanny influences, and general resort is had to herbs and decoctions as specifics against witchery. Witch- houses and well-marked witch-rings still remain LECCO 203 in and about dark Lezzeno, and up and about the Pian di Tivano — to approach which no man or woman ever dares. Still, for aU this haunting mistrust, no merrier people are there than the shepherds of the Pian di Tivano and the silk- working girls of the Val Assina. Surely here, if anywhere, simple human happiness has reached its zenith : Leonardo da Vinci might at any time have found endless exuberant subjects for his rollick ing peasants ; and Fra Angehco graceful maiden models for his dancer in Paradise. Certainly there are old crones minding goats or gossiping on doorsteps, shriveUed and ominous. With dis taff and spindle they are incarnations of Buon- arrotti's " weird wicked Sisters three." There are yet other stories to teU about " Lords and Ladies of the Brianza," and, first of aU, the pleasant voice of Giuseppe Parini caUs us to his natal viUage of Bosisio, smihng serenely upon the eastern shore of sweet Lake Pusiano — which, by the way, he caUed " II vago Eupili mio." Who would have thought, however, that the exceedingly duU, loutish lad, — as Giuseppe one while was, — ¦ would grow into the most brilhant mimic and most caustic critic of the gay world of MUan ? His " Giorno " is a marvellously lifelike travesty of the men and manners of his day. He imagines himself introducing a young noble 204 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES of Lombardy to aU the gaUantries and foibles of the Milanese. Two modes, divergent and ir reconcilable, divided or united the votaries of fashion — the most scrupulous and ridiculous con ventions of town life, and the burlesque of simple shepherd occupations in the country. Parini's " Lords and Ladies " are excruciatingly funny folks : his dialogue is fuU of subtle irony. No handsomer man than he nor of more distinguished carriage paced street or lane, but smart society was afraid of him, or rather of his skits, whilst everyone roared at caricatures of other men's and women's conceits ! Fortune came to Parini not through the briUiancy of his lampoons and dia tribes, but seriously, through the princely Borro meo and Serbelloni families in the drudgery of tutoring their sons. He was fond of referring to the days of struggle when he was wont to cry out in anguish both of mind and body : " Ch' io possa morire lo ora trovo m' avere al uno comando Un par di soldi, non che due Ure Per domano !"* Hence, perhaps, his sobriquet " II Povere Parini /" When he died in 1799 aU Lombardy * " May I drop if I know Where to look for a sou, Much more for two lire Which to-morrow are due." LECCO 205 was much the poorer for a personal loss and for the loss of a real reformer of cant and humbug. On the highroad and off, between Monza and Lecco are very many viUas, with stories of " Lords and Ladies " galore. Twelve miles from Lecco is CasteUo di Merate, of very ancient origin, the appurtenance of the monastery of San Pietro di Civate. Away in the tenth century Archbishops of MUan, — from Auberto da Intinicardi, — enter tained Emperors — from Corrado to Barbarossa. The Rehgious lost it in the fourteenth century, and then the aU-pervading Visconti set to work to buUd the battlements with men-at-arms and to fill the dungeons with prisoners, bold and fair. Quite near at hand is the ViUa Belgiosioso, built, too, upon antiquated ruins, — the property of Marquis Francesco Ferrante ViUani-Novalta. Perhaps this was the ViUa di Merate where Paul Musset first beheld Princess Cristina Trivulzio- Belgiosioso, and, struck with her saucy contour, her pallid skin, her " Mona Lisa smUe," and the subtlety of an indefinable charm, drew her in cari cature, with a prominent nose and chin a la Dr. Syntax, and an eye looking round the corner ! Be it said, however, for the fair charmer's fame, she inspired fear as weU as admiration in her visitor, and whilst he mocked her behind her back his conduct was perfectly restrained in her 206 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES presence ! Men in face of clever women are arrant cowards ! The name Belgiosioso meets one again at the CasteUo di San Colombano, near Curate on the Lambro. It is a time-worn rehc of the tenth century, arid, later, it became the cradle of the celebrated Landriani family — peers of the Visconti and Torriani. In 1164 Federigo Barbarossa re garded it as one of the keys to Lombardy, and fortified it accordingly ; but, when his time was passed, the Milanese pUlaged it, and the Visconti and Lodigiani struggled with the earher owners for possession. A wUy priest stepped in whilst the rivals were squabbling, and Holy Church as usual gained the guerdon. Petrarca, the friend of Archbishop Giovanni Visconti, spent much time at the CasteUo, and spoke of it as — " Largamenti noto e fortissimo di amore." In 1372 a very beautiful castellana came to San Colombano — Bianca di Savoia, the consort of Galeazzo II. Visconti : she obtained the fief, and set to work to build the tower — stiU caUed "La Cucina di Bianca di Savoia." Once more the Church obtained the mastery, and for fifty years the monks of the Certosa of Pavia farmed its revenues, until Francesco Sforza took a fancy to it, and, in the name of the city of Milan, seized HUNTING IN THE BRIANZA From an Illustrated MS. by Gaston de Foix, 1391. Bibliotheque National, Paris To face page 206 LECCO 207 it and kept it for himself. The property now belongs to Prince Emilio Barbiano di Belgiosioso d' Este — whose very name speaks volumes of romance ! In 1864 the whole property passed to the Trivulzio family by the marriage of Princess Giulia Barbiano. At Olgiate, near the delicious little lake, — hid by deep bending f ohage but glittering through the greenery, — is the ViUa Sala-Trotti — ten miles from Lecco. OriginaUy the nursery of the Vimercati fanrily, the Sale of Treviglio acquired it, and laid out the exquisite gardens : — " Essi diedero mano ad abbellore con grande spesa il giardino, ad eressero V oratorio ai SS. Ambrogio e Galdino." * This dedi cation, so to speak, is characteristic of what one sees almost everywhere in Brianza viUa-land. The ad junc ture of flowers^ and prayers is abso lutely poetic, and the ascription of saintliness to members of the famUy points the quaintest of morals. Wales may present a wholly unearned increment of famfly hagiography, but Lombardy equals the Principality in hidden stores of saintly people ! Very generaUy the addition of the Saint of the family is made plausible by linking in such * " Took in hand to embellish with great taste the garden and to erect the Oratory of Saints Ambrogio and Galdino." (Galdino was a scion of the house of Sala, who had gained canonization for the edification of his family and the illus tration of their pedigree.) 14 208 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES popular patrons as Sant' Ambrogio or San Carlo Borromeo. Would that the fanrily record never knew anything but the high-water mark of the most respectable member thereof ! A family which had not furbished up a Saint thereof was not considered worthy of Society. The dedicatory sentence above recorded was put up quite lately, in 1887, when Signore Gero- nimo Sala was joined matrimoniaUy to Signora Minia Trotti. Royalty has not thought scorn of the charming viUa and its attractive owners. Good Queen Margherita, — King Umberto's gracious widow,— delights to stay there ; and with her, too, are usually Princes and Princesses of the Royal Savoy House. These are, of course, all of them " Lords and Ladies of the Italian Lakes ! " At Cernusco, — almost one township with Merate, — is another historical viUa — that of the Visconti di Sahcito, but built pretty much in its present proportions by the Alari family of Lecco, in the sixteenth century. They were wealthy landowners and eminent vine-growers and wine- merchants, — indeed their name is stiU preserved on labels of a fuU rich red wine, " Alaro," beloved of connoisseurs. Much esteemed by Duke Lodo vico " II Moro," it became a fashionable beverage, until he and his courtiers began to feel the effect of too liberal libations in the form of gout and LECCO 209 eczema ! Happily there was an antidote, — by some esteemed more tasty stiU, if less potent, — quite as accessible — the thin dry vintage of Tivano, which accommodating chief medicos prescribed for willing victims ! The wine of Lezzeno " the Haunted " was somewhat less medicinal in quahty, and therefore, bon-vivants, hke the brothers Giovio of Como, adopted it as their usual beverage. It possessed a delicate bush and an exhUarating colour, and appealed to jaded palates. By many " Lezzeno " was mixed with " Griante " and " Varenna " on the principle that ham and eggs are more to be commended than ham alone ! Those to-day who know their Italy know also what the " Lord and Ladies of the Lakes " knew weU, and drank with gusto ; but one must take heed in moments of seraphic assimUation, for Lombardian wines are stronger far than human heads, though of the strongest ! WeU, to return whence we have much digressed. The Alari were Counts of Tribiano, — famous, too, for generous wines, — and not without Imperial patronage, for that brought stiU more grist to the family mill. Count Giacinto, in July, 1598, was a splendid figure as he rode a magnificent white charger, clothed hke his master in cloth of gold, at the head of the noble cavalcade which con ducted the Archduchess Margherita of Austria to 210 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES Milan to wed Duke FUippo III., the Spanish Viceroy of Lombardy. Something like a century later another Count Giacinto Alari-Tribiano built anew the viUa, and added thereto glorious gardens and orchards. He and his family were sportsmen and sportswomen aU. They revived the glorious hunting-fishing parties of Duchess Beatrice d' Este-Sforza. The eyes of another iUustrious " Lady " were fixed upon the amenities of Villa Cernusco in the eighteenth century. In August, 1771, there came ari Imperial courier with a missive from Count Karl von Firmian, the Emperor's Commissary, addressed to the Count of Tribiano, in which it was stated that the Empress Maria Teresa wished to have the viUa. The Im perial command was on behalf of her son the Arch duke Ferdinand and his bride, Princess Maria Beatrice d' Este. The Count met it in the best way he could, for he knew the transaction meant the absolute abstraction of many, many lire from his banking account ! Chivalrously, even loyally, enough he responded to his Sovereign's request, and placed himself, his household, and the whole estate unreservedly at the Empress's disposition. Alterations and ad ditions were imperative, and all these " the Perfect Courtier " undertook, and then, with the advent of the Imperial couple, the Count and his family LECCO 211 were absolute strangers to their ancestral home for five years of impoverishment. Happily the unwelcome visitors were caUed away to Monza, where they made their home in the new palace, built expressly for them by Giustiniano Pier- marini. Count Giacinto's son's wife, Countess Anastasia, — widowed with no issue, — to whom the estate was willed absolutely, married a Visconti of Saliceto, and hence the name. III. II Castello Sforzesco di Milano — the Sforza Castle of Milan — is one of those world-famous palace- fortresses wherein are enshrined the forges of rulers' fortunes and the looms of peoples' liberties. The original building, — a rectangular edifice, with four great flanking towers and a huge curtain- waU, — was built in the middle of the fourteenth century by Galeazzo Visconti II. , who caUed it Castello di San Giovio, from the adjoining gate of the rising city. Within this lordly building Visconti's daughter, Yolanda, was married, in 1368, to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III. of England. The family was eager to attain equahty with European reigning Houses, and, knowing the financial straits of the English crown, Galeazzo made over- 212 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES tures to the King — offering an opulent dowry with his fair young daughter. Edward appointed Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford, as his envoy to Milan, to judge of the noble maiden's charms and to handle her marriage portion. So very pleasant were the Visconti to their distinguished guest that he did not hasten to fulfil his mission, and two years were spent in dUly-daUying nego tiations. At last a settlement was reached, and Donna Yolanda welcomed her royal bridegroom at the Castle of MUan on June 1. The Enghsh Duke's progress from the French coast had been magnificent. At the Louvre his stirrup was held by the Dukes of Berri and Burgundy, and the King himself assisted him to dismount ; at Cham- bery the Count of Savoy, as Yolanda's uncle,— brother of her mother, Countess Bianca, — enter tained Duke Lionel sumptuously, and accom panied him across the Alps to Milan. The mar riage was celebrated in front of the old basilica of Sant' Ambrogio on June 5, and the festivities which celebrated the happy event baffled the descriptive powers of the chroniclers. Duke Lionel took home to England his fair bride, with her two miUions of gold florins, — a porten tous sum in those days, — together with the revenues of many Lombard towns. In his saddle bags were the title-deeds of the ancestral castle LECCO 213 of Alba, on the River Tanaro, in Piedmont, famed for its rich " Barbaresco " and " Barolo " wine. The royal train included two thousand persons, and many noble Milanese accompanied the bride. There is a story that Lionel, going with his bride first to view his castle of Alba, died there suddenly of poison on October 7, four months after the marriage at Milan. The wedding ceremonies were graced by the presence of two poets, — since then of sublime renown, — Francesco Petrarca and Geoffrey Chaucer — indeed, the latter was one of the official advisers of the English Crown, and knew his Milan well. Whether or no the bride was the heroine of the dehghtful " Story of Griseldis," Chaucer, anyhow, was struck with her beauty, her docility, and her refinement, and he thus gave utterance to his dehght : " Her name is Bountie set in a woman heade, Sadnese and Youthe, and Beautie pridelese, She's Pleasaunce and Governance and Drede." Petrarca, first a guest of Milan in 1348, with his bibliophile friend Guglielmo da Pastrengo, visited aU Lakeland from Garda to Maggiore ; he was truly one of the most distinguished " Lords " thereof. Honoured by the Visconti, and the bosom friend of Galeazzo II. , the poet coquetted with his Lombard friends, brave and fair, for quite a dozen 214 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES years. Pusiano had equal charms with Vaucluse, and perhaps, had he not met Laura, he might have had a Berta of the Brianza — a " Lady of the Lakes " ! Galeazzo II. was not only a judicious match" maker, but a sapient legislator and an intelligent builder. He wrested the Government from his ambitious uncle, Bernabo, who had established himself as overlord of Eastern Lombardy, and had extended the Visconti sway to Pisa, Bologna, Perugia, and far-off Spoleto. Galeazzo, the founder of the grand Cathedral of Milan and of the unique Certosa of Pavia, greaty enlarged the castle, and dwelt there in such sumptuous state that the Emperor Wenceslaus, — who sold him the Duchy, — once exclaimed : — " The Duke of MUan is a wealthy Sovereign, whilst I am but a needy Count !" When Giovanni Galeazzo died, in 1402, chaos and anarchy reigned in Lombardy, as in the troublous times of Archbishop Ottone Visconti and when the Visconti-Torriani feuds were at their height. The three sons of Giovanni Galeazzo succeeded their father : Giovanni Maria, FUippo Maria, and Gabriele Maria. The first was assas sinated by his cousin Bernabo's sons, "in re venge for insults to their father." Duke FUippo Maria, — to divert men's minds from internecine vengeance, — led campaigns against Florence, LECCO 215 Venice, and Naples with varying success. When he died, in 1447, the direct male line of the Visconti came to an end — Gabriele Maria had died childless in 1408. The populace, wearied by exactions and tyranny, denounced the dynasty, and, directly the dead Duke had been interred, they razed the waUs of the Castle of Milan to the ground. A public vow was solemnly recorded that " no man shall ever set one stone upon another : it shah be a desolation and a warning." MUan and aU Lombardy became the Repubhc of Sant' Ambrogio, with a purely democratic Government, and aU the " Lords and Ladies of the Lakes " retired to their country seats, or hid themselves in their city mansions. A master-hand grasped the fortune and the fame of Lombardy, — much as he could the reins of two high-mettled steeds, — when, in 1450, Francesco di Muzio Attendolo — " deUa Sforza " — caused himself to be proclaimed Duke of Milan. Son of the great Condottiere Muzio Attendolo, he first saw hght in his father's birthplace, Cotignola, in the Romagna. He married in 1418 Polessena Ruffo, but she died in 1420, leaving him no child. To assuage his grief he gave his whole soul to the profession of arms, emulating the heroic deeds of his famous father. The Serene Republic of Venice appointed him Captain-General of North 216 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES Italy — the Venetian dominions reaching almost to the waUs of Milan. To strengthen his hold upon Venetia and Lombardy, very adroitly the Con- dottiere contracted in 1441 a second marriage with Bianca Maria, the only child and' heiress of Fihppo Maria Visconti. The citizens, completely overawed by their new master, besought him to rebuild the castle, " for," they pleaded, " the defence and adornment of our good town." With this petition they proposed to assign a year's revenues from the taxes on wine and meat (aver aged at 36,000 ducats per annum) to cover the expenses of restoration. The Rocchetta was erected upon the ruins of the original Visconti castle, and an entirely new palace was buUt on the other side of the courtyard, — the Corte Ducale, a very splendid edifice, — a fit residence for the powerful Sovereign, and suitable for the functions of the new Court. With the assistance of masters like Bramante and Leonardo da Vinci, the Duke's ideas were amply reahzed. The Castle of Milan under the new auspices speedily became the rival of the palaces of Florence, Ferrara, and Mantua. Litterati and artists fore gathered thither, and beauty and fashion flocked there too. Ruling Princes and famous Captains made it their rendezvous, and notable goldsmiths and armourers offered their services. Among men FRANCESCO SFORZA AND BIANCA VISCONTI GIULIO CAMPI Church of San Sigisimondo, Cremona To face page 216 LECCO 217 of mark who were drawn to the Court of Francesco and Bianca Sforza, was the knight-errant trouba dour King Rene of Anjou — the most highly cultured and the most fascinating Prince in Europe. He came to greet the Milanese rulers, but as well to gain Duke Francesco's aUiance in his attempt to assert his ancestral rights to the kingdom of Naples, usurped by Alfonso of Aragon. With reference to the new Castle of Milan, Giacomo da Cortona, — one of the Duke's School of Architects, — wrote an account of the royal visit. " The King," he says, " was here this morning, and went aU over the castle on foot with the Duchess, who was perfectly indifferent about her rich velvet gown trailing in the dust and dirt. He saw the masons and wood-carvers preparing the medallions with the ducal arms which are to be placed over the gateway, and he climbed up to the very top of the tower. He was much pleased with aU he saw, and when he heard that aU this had risen from the ground in three years, he could not contain his amazement, and would hardly believe such a thing possible." Duke Francesco died in 1466, and was succeeded by his dissolute son Galeazzo Maria, who, two years later, married Princess Bona of Savoy. Under their rule the castle was completed and superbly decorated. The late Duke and Duchess 218 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES had been content with moderation in personal expenditure, but Galeazzo Maria and Bona launched forth into wild extravagance and house hold ostentation. For their wedding the Duke borrowed all the rich tapestries he could find from the houses of Milanese nobles and citizens, with which to hide the bare waUs of the various rooms. There had been hitherto no permanent Chairs of State for the Ruler and his consort. Now two splendid thrones of elaborately carved walnut, overlaid with gold, and covered with carpets of richest cloth of gold and fine embroidery, were placed upon a dais in the principal hall of audience (these State seats are stiU preserved in the Cathedral Treasury). The Duke inherited the cultured tastes of his father and mother, and in his Duchess he found an artistic aUy. Remains of the rich adornments of the castle are stiU to be seen in the different apartments — now filled with Art treasures. The ceilings in particular are notable, — in one room, Duchess Bona's boudoir, her motto— "A bon droit " — is many times repeated, under her cognizance (a white dove encircled by flames of fire), — aU upon a brilliant crimson ground. The Sola Verde had upon its walls the Sforza emblems, — the golden bucket, with the Duke's initials, — and portraits of the Duke and Duchess. It was said that this apartment was decorated in a single LECCO 219 night, in readiness for the nuptials of their daughter Bianca with the Duke of Savoy. So impatient was the Duke, that the work was hurried on without sufficient precautions as to the security of floor and waUs being taken. This haste had for its result a tragedy. Upon the morning of the marriage, after the guests had assembled to greet the bridal pair, the floor coUapsed, precipitating the lordly company into the basement of the palace ! Although many Lords and Ladies were grievously injured, only one succumbed ; but, alas ! it was the young bridegroom himself who came to such an untimely end. No doubt the " Evil Eye," or some feU influence, was at work to wreck the prospects of the fair young bride, for no sooner had she put off her mourning for Duke Charles, than she was affianced to Prince Stefano, — the eldest son of the King of Hungary, — but he was accidentaUy drowned the day before the wedding ! When Duke Galeazzo Maria was scarcely seven teen years of age he loved a beautiful Milanese girl of noble famUy — Lucrezia Landriani — and had by her, in 1463, a daughter, who was christened Caterina. The infant was taken charge of at once by her father's mother, Duchess Bianca, and brought up as a daughter of the Ducal House. She was a remarkable child in many ways — ex cessively precocious in acquiring knowledge, and 220 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES fearless, like a man. A letter to her mother is extant, dated 1468, inquiring about her health, which was very indifferent ; indeed, she died in the year foUowing. Duchess Bianca Maria also died during the same year, and then Duchess Bona adopted the motherless girl, and educated her along with her own children. When she was ten years old Caterina was betrothed to Count Girolamo Riario, a natural son of Pope Sixtus IV. It was said that, casting about for territorial dignities with which to endow his offspring, His Holiness pitched upon the Lordship of Imola as a desirable possession. It had been surrendered to the Duke of MUan by Taddeo Manfredi when in financial dfficulties. Sixtus gave Duke Galeazzo Maria the goodly sum of fifty thousand gold ducats for the fief of Imola and the hand of his iUegitimate daughter was thrown into the Riario bargain. The young couple were married on the bride's fifteenth birthday, and took up their residence in Rome. The same year Count Girolamo acted as proxy for his putative father, the Pope, in the Pazzi Conspiracy, within the Duomo of Florence, where Giuliano de' Medici was assassinated, and Lorenzo, his brother, grievously wounded. The Count returned to Rome, and gave himself up to unbridled lust and profligacy, and died by the hand of a Florentine bravo in 1490. CATERINA SFORZA.-RIARIO-MEDICI (WHEN EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD) MAP.CO PALMEZZIANO Forli To face page 220 LECCO 221 Countess Caterina, left a widow, spent very little time in bewaUing her dissolute spouse ; they had hved apart ever since the tragic events in Florence. She was a virago indeed, for when people pointed at her and caUed her a heartless coward, she used to bridle up and reply, with undisguised scorn : " I sprang from a race of men who have never known fear, and who have never done a base action !" Caterina Sforza-Riario married again, and this union was pregnant of great consequences for Florence. She became the wife of Giovanni de' Medici, "II Popolano," and by him the mother of Condottiere Giovanni de' Medici, — " Delle Bande Nera," — whose son became first Grand Duke of Florence, Cosimo I., " Tyrant of Tyrants." Perhaps the hot blood of the Sforzas coursing through Caterina's veins gave pushful character to her son and consummate cruelty to her grandson ! There is another romantic story anent strong-minded Caterina. She had a very comely valet, one Giacomo Feo ; he was but nine teen years of age and she eighteen at the time. Her loveless wedlock required consolation else where, and the physical attributes of the young feUow appealed irresistibly to the love-lorn girl. It was said, indeed, that she secretly married her lover, and so legitimatized her chUd by him. What happened to Feo no one has stated — it is 222 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES better so perhaps : he served his purpose, and that was sufficient for the virago. Virago she was in every Italian sense of the word ; a woman of vast mental abUity and high culture, — five hundred letters of hers are extant, — Caterina Riario-Medici is the Renaissance female type of martial ardour and heroism. As Princess of Forli and mother of "II Giovannino, ," — born in 1498 at Forli,— she gave many and ample proofs of the indomitable pluck which were in her. As a " Lady of the Itahan Lakes," or as the Commandant of a garrison, Caterina Sforza stands out as one of the heroines of the fifteenth century. The Castle of Milan and its Art treasures attracted from afar visitors of all ranks and interests. Among them came Lorenzo "II Mag- nifico " from Florence, and King Christian from Denmark — both upon diplomatic errands bent, and incidentaUy on the lookout for matrimonial contracts. There were several Sforza " Ladies of the Lakes " and many other weU-dowered damsels in Milan — very eligible partners for royal and princely knight-errants. Such welcome guests were always notably entertained, and Milanese hosts vied with their likes in Florence, Venice, and Genoa in the magnificence of their banquets and the lavishness of their field-sports. Time out of mind the Brianza and its network of lakes and LECCO 223 rivers were the rendezvous for sporting expe ditions. Roebuck, boar, woodoock and heron, pike and trout, were preserved most carefuUy, and ladies and their cavaliers made records of their game-bags, and held picnics in the woods, and water-parties on the lakes. The Duke and Duchess of Milan were the first notable visitors who fared to Florence to con gratulate Lorenzo de' Medici upon his succession to the Headship of the Republic. The retinue which accompanied them was so gorgeous that it filled the people of the Tuscan capital with amaze ment. They were, however, dumbfounded by the magnificence of the reception accorded by the Medici. MacchiaveUi instances the visit as mainly responsible for the vast increase in the luxurious habits of the citizens. The Feast of the Nativity in 1476 saw the Castle of MUan prepared for a series of grand entertain ments. Christmas Day passed serenely, but on the morrow the Duke, — although he had a pre monition of misfortune, and turned back twice upon trifling pretexts, — assisted at Mass at the Church of San Stefano as usual, accompanied by a notable suite. Leaving the sacred edifice, he received the good wishes of courtiers and citizens, and he was radiant with happiness. He had, however, hardly stepped from beneath the great 15 224 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES portal than the truth of that well-worn motto, "Sic transit gloria mundi," was once more terribly affirmed. Stabbed from behind by five of his most intimate associates, he fell and expired immedi ately ! The awful news was borne swiftly to the Duchess, who, although stunned, had sufficient presence of mind to order the castle drawbridge to be raised and the garrison to man the waUs. She folded her little son Giangaleazzo, barely seven years old, to her bosom, and bore him for safety to the highest tower of the Torre di Bona di Savoia. The city received the inteUigence of the Duke's assassination calmly ; it was a good riddance, men said, for his pride and extravagance had become unbearable. No attempt was made to overawe the castle inmates ; indeed, at a convention of the nobles and citizens, held at noon on the day of the murder, Duke Giangaleazzo was proclaimed, and Duchess Bona was named sole Regent of the State. Three years sufficed to bring the new condition of affairs to a crisis. Both during her consort's hfe and after his death Duchess Bona's intimacy with Francesco (" Cicco ") Simonetta, the Duke's princi pal minister, was a subject of suspicion and a source of scandaL His position as sole adviser to a woman stiU lovely, a woman cultured and ambitious, was one of extreme dehcacy and danger. He was one of Duke Francesco's most trusty BONA DI SAVOIA, DUCHESS OF MILAN ANTONIO DE PREDIS (OR BERNARDO MARTINI ?) National Gallery, London To face page 224 LECCO 225 ministers, and upon the Duke's death he became paramount adviser of Galeazzo Maria, and the virtual controUer of the Duchy. Among his many benefactions was a notable one to the chapter of the Cathedral of Como, in memory of his governor ship of the city. In recognition of his generosity the authorities placed his statue upon the f agade of the sacred buUding in the second row from the Broletto, and there it is to-day — evidently a portrait-bust. Once it is said a rival spoke dero- gatingly of his minister to Francesco, who at once took him to task. " So necessary is Cicco to the State and to me," he said, " that if he died I should be compeUed to have him in wax !" His career ended tragicaUy, for on the evening of October 17, 1479, whilst engaged in a tSte-d-tete in the Duchess's boudoir, the door was forced by bravi, in the pay of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Bari, and the paramour, torn from his innamorata's arms, was carried off to the Castle of Pavia. Short shrift had Cicco Simonetta, for without even the pretence of a trial he was beheaded in the fore court on the morrow of his arrival. The morning after Simonetta' s arrest Duchess Bona was missing ; perhaps she feared a like fate might be in store for her. She fled to Abbiate- grosso in company with a young feUow, for whom she entertained an infatuation — Antonio di Tusso, 226 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES a carver at her table. He was a youth of singular beauty of person, and possessed of a soft appeahng voice, but of low origin. Her little son, the young Duke, just ten years old, she forsook, and, under Tusso's influence, renounced her motherhood, and then she journeyed on to Paris. Lodovico Sforza seized the regency in the name of his young nephew, and became virtuaUy ruler of MUan and Lombardy. In the early prime of life, just thirty years of age, he had, strange to say, evaded suc- cessfuUy the darts of Cupid ; but fate was against him, for the year that witnessed his accession to supreme power, saw also his betrothal to a child of six — IsabeUa d' Este, the younger daughter of Ercole, Duke of Ferrara. This was certainly a very unpractical road to matrimony, and one very difficult to diagnose in the case of so astute a man as "II Moro." It was, however, Ercole d' Este's tour de force in the " Lists " of Hymen, for such an eligible son-in-law as Lodovico could not be aUowed escape. With Laban-like wisdom of the serpent — or the dove — the Duke of Ferrara managed, after a few months' diplomacy, to substitute Beatrice, his eldest daughter, for the younger, his pro jects for a Medici son-in-law having faded. Lodovico and Beatrice were married in 1490, and IsabeUa was reserved for the Marquis of Mantua. LECCO 227 The young Duke Giangaleazzo, too, had been enslaved by the bands of Hymen, and had, in January, 1489, married the Spanish Princess IsabeUa d'Arragona, to whom he had been be trothed by his mother, Duchess Bona, acting within her indisputable rights as a Princess of the House of Savoy. Duchess IsabeUa found upon her arrival at MUan that the domestic arrange ments within the Castle were not a little compli cated. The Duke and his uncle, — who stiU held to his self-imposed title of Regent, — had each imposing households within the precincts, — the Duke at Corte Ducale, Lodovico at the Rochetta. So long as Lodovico was unmarried, perhaps, this condition of affairs was endurable, but when he brought home to MUan his Ferrara bride, and estabhshed her as mistress of a portion of the castle, the situation, so far as the Duchess was concerned, was excessively embarrassing. Isabella was no match for Beatrice, and she was faced by a double degradation, as she deemed it. She, the daughter of an ancient Royal House, her father the Duke of Calabria, and heir to the Kingdom of Naples, browbeaten by such second-class high nesses as Duke Ercole of Ferrara's daughters ! AU the trouble, however, came from herself, and she made herself miserable. She cared neither for their frolics nor for their culture, and as for their 228 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES fashions, they were indelicate and ridiculous. Her misfit self -environment became at last intoler able, and the unamiable Duchess appealed to her father for redress. " If you wiU not help me," she wrote, " I would rather die by my own hand than bear this tyrannous yoke, and suffer outrages continual under the eyes of my servants." The appeal entered into sympathetic ears, for King Alfonso, — as he had become in 1494, — hated Lodovico Sforza with a whole-hearted detestation — " the arrogant and ill-bred," as he dubbed him. He could, however, do nothing but urge his daughter to assert her undoubted priority in rank, and to keep, so far as she could, Lodovico and Beatrice at a distance. Perhaps what irritated IsabeUa as much as anything was, — as she judged it, — the iU-breeding of the MUanese ladies with whom she had to associate. The nobility of Milan certainly was democratic, not to say plebeian. First enroUed as the "Societd de' Gagliardi" — Union of the Fittest — each rich family in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was empowered to build its Torre, or embattlemented mansion, within the city boundaries. Such families were the Torriani, Landriani, Visconti, GaUerati, Mozzoni, Rho, Dog- nani, and Scotti. A very favourite hunting-box of "II Moro " and LECCO 229 Beatrice was at Cuzzago, on the slopes of the Brianza HiUs, some ten miles from MUan. Many letters of the Duchess are extant descanting upon its attractions. It was here and at other country residences that Duchess IsabeUa began to unbend and enter into the fascinating occupations of the two Ferrara Princesses. Perhaps the best descrip tion of their sporting expeditions is the story told of the happy doings by Galeazzo di Sanseverino. Referring to the presence of the two Duchesses, he says, writing to the Marchioness of Mantua : " We had a grand fishing expedition on the river, and caught an immense quantity of large pike, trout, lampreys, crabs, and other sorts of smaUer fish, and we proceeded at once to dine off them, and eat until we could positively gorge no more. Then directly we had dined, to assist our digestion, we played bowls with great energy ; and after we had played for some time we went over the villa, which is reaUy very beautiful, and, among other things, contains a portal of carved marble as fine as any at the new works at the Certosa. Next we examined the result of our sport, which had been laid out in front of the villa, and I picked out the finest lampreys to take to His Highness the Duke. When we had ddne this we all rode off to another hunting and- fishing box, and caught more than one thousand large trout, and after choosing the best 230 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES for presents and for our own most sacred throats, we tossed the rest back into the water. Then we once more mounted our horses, and began to let fly some of those fine falcons of mine, which you saw at Pavia, aU along the river-side and they killed a number of birds. By this time it was nearly four o'clock, and we rode on to hunt stags and fawns, and after giving chase to twenty or more, we succeeded in killing two of each kind. Then we returned home, and reached Milan after dark. My Ulustrious Lord took the keenest delight in hearing aU about what we had done, far more, I verily believe, than if he had been there in person, and I believe that the Duchess wiU in the end reap a substantial benefit, and that Lord Lodovico will give her Cuzzago, which is a place of rare beauty and considerable value. ... I have cut my shoes to pieces and torn my clothes, and, moreover, played the fool into the bargain, and these are among the rich rewards one gains in the service of the fair sex. However, I will have patience, since it is aU for the sake of my beloved Duchess, whom I wiU never fail in life or death. ..." Galeazzo di Sanseverino again wrote on Feb ruary 11, 1491, to the Marchioness of Mantua: ' This day bein g a festival, I started at break of day with the Duchess (Beatrice) and her ladies, all LODOVICO SFORZA, " IL MORO G. A. EELTBAFFIO Trivulzio Gallery, MUan To face page 2S0 LECCO 231 on horseback, for Cuzzago. I had to ride in a chariot with the Duchess, who was a little lame, and Dioda. We joked and sang twenty and more joUy trios1 — Dioda was tenor, the Duchess soprano, and I bass. We played endless tricks with one another. I do not reaUy know which of us was the most foolish." Di Sanseverino later on asserts that Lodovico did actuaUy bestow the viUa and estate of Cuzzago upon his illustrious spouse, and that she partiaUy rebuilt and refurnished the mansion, which had been a favourite residence of the Visconti, and stiU contained many objects which had belonged to that extinct ruling fanrily. The very year dated by di Sanseverino was remarkable for the marriage of Donna Cecilia GaUerina to Count Lodovico Bergamino of Cre mona. The match was due to Duchess Beatrice, who, when she discovered Lodovico's secret, in sisted that the girl, then a quasi-prisoner, but mistress of "II Moro," should be released from the Castle of Saronno and settled in life, and should take her chUd by Lodovico with her. Lodovico resisted for a time, but at length yielded to his wife's insistence. Cecilia GaUerina had captivated "11 Moro" in 1481, when she was a young girl of seventeen. He had sufficient good sense not to introduce her at the Milanese Court, but made 232 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES over to her the rights of the castle where she resided, and where he made constant visits. She was a beautiful woman and highly accomplished, and, furthermore, blessed with rare tact. She at once fell in with Duchess Beatrice's proposition, "and, acting most discreetly, never appeared at Court even after her marriage. That Beatrice was jealous of her husband's attractive mistress need not to be said ; indeed, her jealousy took a very natural course. One day, it was said, Lodovico sent to his wife's boudoir — it was her birthday — a costly gift, a splendid robe of cloth of gold, so stiff that it stood by itself. One of her ladies, however, told her that CecUia GaUerina had just such another. Without making much ado Beatrice promptly returned the costume to Lodo vico, and sent a message that she declined to accept any gift which was a duphcate of a present to his mistress ! That Beatrice bore no iU-wiU to the fair favourite personally was abundantly testified by her remarkably kind conduct later on, when she admitted that " no one could do anything else but love such a fascinating woman." Her sister IsabeUa also greatly liked Cecilia, and actuaUy wanted her to pay her a visit at Mantua. Further light is thrown upon the manner of life of the Milanese Court by a letter from Lodovico, LECCO 233 April 12, 1491, to IsabeUa at Mantua. " There is," he wrote, " actuaUy no end to the pleasures and amusements which we have here. I could not teU you a thousandth part of the tricks and games in which the Duchess of Milan and my wife indulge. In the country they spend their time riding races, and gaUoping up and down with their ladies at fuU speed, trying to throw the latter off their horses. Now we are back in MUan they are stiU inventing new forms of distraction. They started yesterday in all the rain — in fact, with five or six ladies wearing cloths or towels on their heads — and walked through the principal streets to buy provisions. But because it is not the custom here for women to wear cloths on their heads some of the market-women began to laugh, and made rude remarks, upon which, I hear, Beatrice fired up and answered saucUy, so much so that they all but came to blows. In the end they came home safe and sound, but muddy and bedraggled, and were a fine sight ! I believe when your Highness is here they wiU go out with all the more courage, since they wiU have in you so bold and spirited a companion, and I am sure that if anybody dares to be rude to you they will get back as much if not more than they gave. . . ." One of Beatrice's favourite proteges was 234 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Gaspare Visconti, whom she dubbed " Court poet." He speaks thus of her : " Donna Beata e Spirito pudico, Deh ! fa benigna a questa mia richiesta La Voglia del tuo sposo Lodovico. Io so ben quel che dico Tanta e la tua virtu che cio che vuoi Dello invitti corde disponer puoi."* There was no regular theatre in MUan until the spacious days of Duchess Beatrice, but, due to her patronage of Niccolo da Correggio and his com pany, the first Scala Theatre was erected hi 1493, and opened with a mask, " Mosposa e Daphne," dehghtfuUy suggestive of the influence of the sportive consort of Lodovico. There, too, Beatrice was wont to listen with rapture to a comely youth, Angelo Testagrossa, whose sweet mezzo-soprano voice thriUed her inner soul. She caUed him " Voce d' un Angelo," and no musical picnic was complete without him. His notes seemed to tremble upon the sensitive leaves of the acacias, and to drop from the fragrant petals of the oleanders. Indeed, Beatrice pictured herself in a fantasy of ApoUo and Daphne — beauty and song * " Resplendent lady and most chaste spirit, Alas ! for me that thy richest merit Is the will of thy spouse Lodovico. Still I, too, will go where'er thou listest, For thy charms command in me the chiefest Joys of my heart, and life's sweetest echo." LECCO 235 transformed and eternal. Perhaps the lad's per fect figure enforced upon her the truth of the proverb : " Perche ne la forma sta il tuto," — Beauty of form is first after all. Duke Giangaleazzo died in 1494, and his widow, at Duke Lodovico's invitation, retained her own apartments in the Corte Ducale. Duchess Beatrice treated her with the utmost kindness and con sideration, and, sharing her mourning, restrained her ardour for sport and gaiety. By a singular mutual arrangement Duchess IsabeUa was en dowed by Lodovico with his Duchy of Bari, and when she had at her leisure packed up her belong ings and selected a sufficient suite, she started off to her distant home on the Adriatic. She took with her her only daughter Bona. Little Bona, another wee " Lady of the Lakes," was sought after by suitors before she had left her mother's leading-strings. The Duchess, however, had a scheme in her head which she at first strove to carry into execution. Lodovico Sforza's son Mas- simUiano appeared to be an ideal husband. WhUst complacent to a very fuU extent in all that con cerned their grand-niece's welfare, both Duke and Duchess placed a veto on this union — another bride was destined for their eldest son. In 1494 Duke Lodovico invited, — unhappUy for his own security as it turned out, — Charles VIII. of 236 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES France to undertake a campaign against Naples. The expedition was eminently successful, but on the return of the King to North Italy he very in considerately absorbed Lombardy, and the Duke fled to Germany. For twelve years France retained her hold upon the Duchy of MUan. The conduct of Charles was the more treacherous because on his entry into Italy he had been royaUy entertained by the Duke and Duchess, and treated them quite reciprocaUy. The first meeting of the King and Duke had been at Asti in Monferrato, where Lodovico was accompanied by Duke Ercole d' Este of Ferrara, his father-in-law, Asti being the advanced post of the French progress in Italy. Duchess Beatrice left Milan a few days after the departure of the Duke, but she wended her way to the North, and took up her residence at the Castle of Annona, upon the very beautiful lakelet of that name in the Brianza. There was, of course, a method in this diversion, for the Duke had not a httle mis giving as to the possibihties of a French invasion in spite of his invitation to King Charles. The royal visitor was in due courtesy bound to pay his respects to the fascinating and accomplished reign ing Duchess, so an excursion to the North would have the advantage of diverting the French from the City of Milan. Accordingly, on September 11, BEATRICE D ESTE, DUCHESS OF MILAN PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA Pitti Palace, Florence To face page 236 LECCO 237 Duchess Beatrice received the King with the greatest empressement and with unparalleled splen dour. Surrounded by her Court of eighty ladies of good birth from Milan, Asti, Alessandria, and other places of importance, Charles, vizor in hand and sword in sheath, advanced to the centre of the great audience-haU, when the Duchess, about to curtsy lowly, was raised by the gaUant Sovereign, and kissed not only upon the hand but on the cheek — a very welcome recognition of her rights as a sovereign Princess. Then, Ulustrious courtier that he was, he passed to Signora Bianca, wife of Galeazzo di Sanseverino, and greeted her ; in short, he kissed the whole bevy of fair dames and damsels ! The King and Duchess conversed ior quite a long time, and then she proposed certain amusements for her royal guest, to which he quite delightedly acceded. Beatrice has, in a letter to her sister, Marchioness IsabeUa of Mantua, recorded the day's dehghts. " About half-past five," she wrote, " the King came, in a very homely fashion, with his suite of noble lords and knights — a goodly following — and remained about three hours with me and my ladies, on such a f amihar and amiable footing that nothing more charming could be desired by anyone. He wanted to see the ladies dance, and then he asked me to do the same, and he found it aU quite bewitching." 238 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES This tactful Princess had called aU her wits into play to dazzle as well as amuse the dreaded monarch, who had a man's weak points aU the same — admiration and love of pretty and sprightly women ! He had, moreover, a fondness for pomps and vanities of fashion. Charles was just twenty- four years of age ; he was the spouse of a lovely woman, as wise and rich as she was beautiful — Anne, daughter and heiress of Francis II. , Duke of Brittany, who was at the time of Charles's invasion of Italy only eighteen years old. He and his courtiers were amazed at the magnificence of their reception, and particularly at the gorgeous- ness of the Duchess's apparel. Her jewels greatly outnumbered Charles's ; she was weighed down with chains and coUars of soUd gold and flashing gems, and her fingers were completely covered with fine rings. She wore upon her head a Ducal crown of gold, studded with huge diamonds and rubies. The Duchess's robes were cloth of gold and sUver tissue worn over the richest petticoats of costly green sUk velvet ; her train was a mass of curious embroidery in calabalistic figures and designs of witchcraft— so at least they seemed to be to the French visitors. King Charles remained at the Castle of Annona for quite a considerable time, fascinated by the briUiant castellana. Thither, too, flocked LECCO 239 " Lords and Ladies of the Lakes," all arrayed most richly as for a tournament. The Duchess amused her royal guest with riding expeditions and stag- hunts. Each day she went forth to meet the King in splendid raiment. One day, — mounted on a pure white steed caparisoned in cloth of gold and crimson velvet,; — she wore a habit of green cloth and a lace chemisette open at the breast. Her weU-curled hair was tired with gold cord and pearls, and tied with silk ribbons floating down her back. She wore a crimson, wide-brimmed felt hat turned up at the side, with six red feathers and a jeweUed brooch. She sat astride, as did her suite of twenty beautiful girls, — each attired hke her self. Six chariots foUowed, lined with cloth of gold and green velvet, filled with ladies of her Court magnificently dressed. On the third day of the royal visit Charles was indisposed, and could not accept his beauteous hostess's chaUenge to the chase, but remained quietly in his quarters. The Duchess despatched her ladies and the French courtiers to the forest, but she very adroitly spent the morning in the vUla gardens, when, quite unexpectedly, Charles came upon her. What passed there it would be quite unkind to divulge — it was one of Cupid's stolen opportunities, and the wicked little Prince enslaved the amorous King, so that he had no 16 240 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES escape ! At dinner in the evening the Duchess again welcomed the King, clothed in lustrous green satin — green was her favourite colour, as we may weU suppose; — the body, back and front, was stitched thickly with flashing jewels, and had the appearance of a cuirass. The sleeves were tight, but puffed on the shoulder, and entwined with bands of rubies. Her bosom was bare,! — the chemisette merely covering her corsets, — and round her throat she wore the biggest pearls Charles had ever seen. Upon her head Beatrice had a jaunty little red velvet cap, after the French fashion, with an aigrette of green feathers, and a great pear- shaped pearl surrounded with diamonds and rubies. The King had completely recovered from his indisposition, and was the merriest of the merry at the feast. After a judicious rest Charles chaUenged Beatrice to a minuet, and desired his courtiers to find partners too. Beatrice, — a past mistress of dancing, — had not the slightest difficulty in step ping and posturing in the French way, very greatly to the King's delight. He paid her numerous comphments, of course, and, among the rest, he said : " Madame, I have never seen a dancer half so accomplished nor anything like so graceful as your Highness is, and your ladies are quite wonderful, and have won the hearts of aU my lords, as you yourself have mine !" LECCO 241 Charles passed upon his way, and Beatrice never saw him again untU he appeared in 1500 before the waUs of Milan, and demanded the keys and the person of her husband ! Was man ever more base ? was lover ever more fickle ? but perhaps the fascinating Duchess did not share the exile of her lord ! Was Beatrice fickle, too ? In close attendance upon King Charles was one of the most famous soldiers of the century, Le ChevaUer Pierre de TerraU, commonly caUed Bayart, son of Aymon, the Lord of Bayart, — " Sans peur et sans reproche." The rendezvous at Annona was quite to his Uking, and no man in aU that splendid cavalcade bore himself more chivalrously. Duchess Beatrice was smitten by his fame and person, and reluctantly resigned him to the fascinations of Signora Anna Sforza, whilst she diplomaticaUy inveigled the young King. Thus Mars and Vulcan were both disarmed by Venus ! Signora Anna Sforza was one of the great " Ladies of the Lakes," not only by her relation ship to Lodovico and Beatrice, but on account of her association with the lakes of the Brianza ; for she had been brought up with her sister Bianca Maria,— who married the Emperor MaximUian, — chiefly at the viUa of the Sforzas on the Lake of Annona. Her marriage was arranged in connec tion with that of Beatrice. She had been be- 242 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES trothed to the eldest son of Duke Ercole d' Este— Prince Alfonso — when they were both infants, and Alfonso accompanied his sister to Milan for the wedding festivities, with the view of escorting his bride back to Ferrara. The parting of Anna Sforza with her loved ones in Milan was, as historians have recorded, " sad, for everyone was oppressed by the thought that they would never see her more." This presage of sorrow was fulfilled within a twelvemonth, for she died in giving birth to her first-born. " She was very beautiful and very charming, with a sweet temper and gentle disposi tion, but there is little to teU about her, because she lived so short a time " — so a quaint chronicler sums up her story. One of Alessandro Moretto's most striking pictures is entitled "Santa Gius tina." In a beautiful landscape is the standing figure of a magnificent woman, young and of noble bearing. At her feet kneels a richly clad Prince, and beside her is a unicorn. This may very well be a portrait-study of Anna Sforza-d'Este ; any how, the kneeling Prince is Alfonso d'Este, and the unicorn is the emblem of chastity. Duchess Beatrice surrounded herself with litterati and artists, the most distinguished in Europe; and whither her fancy led her they followed — wor shippers at the shrine of the " Sforza Sappho." In the Brianza, upon the Lakes, in Lodovico's LUCREZIA CREVELU BERNARDO MARTINI (ZENALE) NewoM Collection To face page 242 LECCO 243 many viUas, along the vaUeys of the Adda and the Lambro, and north and south of Milan, poets re cited their stanzas, — Gaspare Visconti and Niccolo da Correggio, — musicians strummed on organs of gold, and ebony, and inlaid pearl, and on resonant lancewood and sUver violins, — Lorenzo da Pavia and Jacopo di San Secondo. Jehan Cordier, a Flemish poetaster, was the Duchess's constant companion. At Annona, Cuzzago, and elsewhere, his meUow tenor voice, — aUresco or in camera, — blended dehghtfuUy with her clear soprano. He was a priest also by profession, and sang the Mass so deliriously that often enough he moved the Duchess to tears and emotional utterances. The gardens of her viUas, — scenes not only of pastoral dehghts and musical distractions, — were sometimes vocal with acrimonious altercations foUowing gay supper-parties. The ladies quar- reUed over the merits of their favourite condottieri and their most favoured cavalieri, and sometimes the disputes waxed hot, so that it needed aU the smartness and effrontery of jesters, dwarfs, and other comical people to prevent dangerous rup tures. Leonardo da Vinci's advent to Milan was haUed dehghtedly by the Sforza Princesses. He undertook to stage-manage the Court festivities, and splendid was their rendition. A baUet of peasants of the Brianza had, in particular, great 244 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES success : the maestro dressed the men in red, the girls in blue, — the Sforza colours, — and posed them to form the names " Lodovico " and " Beatrice." With his own hands, too, he modeUed the tourna ment champion's wreath of gold and silver laurel- leaves, which Duchess Beatrice placed upon the brow of Galeazzo di Sanseverino, the husband of Duke Lodovico's daughter Bianca. Leonardo, too, reset aU Beatrice's jewels and designed her dresses — a frivolous occupation for such a serious genius ! He also relaid out the gardens of the castle, and erected gorgeous triumphal arches. AU roads led to Milan and its castle whUst Lodovico and Beatrice held their state therein. The Duchess has left a name for great personal activity. DaUy she heard Mass privately ; then, breakfast over, she rode off with her ladies and scoured the countryside. Dinner in due course was foUowed by cosy card-parties, — Scartino, Reveil des Morts, or V Imperiale, — and supper by dance and song. Her dresses were often remark able for singularity : one, of stiff yeUow satin brocade, bore in embroidery a representation of the Port of Genoa ; she wore with this a black Spanish lace mantilla, and had red carnations stuck in her hair and in the corsage. Anna Sforza rivaUed her sister-in-law in the gorgeousness of her attire. At the entertainment of King Charles VIII. and Le LECCO 245 Chevalier Bayart, at Anonna, she wore stiff cloth of gold covered with the letters of the alphabet in raised silver-work on blue velvet. Another of her confections was of corded white silk, with lions embroidered in natural colours. Both these great ladies affected Marchioness IsabeUa' s taste for coloured velvet mantles lined with black satin, and stitched aU over with passementerie. Duchess Beatrice died January 2, 1497. She had in the afternoon driven through the city to pray at Duchess Bianca's tomb, and afterwards had, with intense pleasure, watched her ladies dance some new measures. Three hours later she gave birth prematurely to a dead son, and died as soon as her labour was ended. " That night," the chronicler Corio noted, " the whole sky right over the castle was on fire, and the waUs of the Duchess's gardens feU down with an appaUing crash, although no earthquake or any other un canny omen chanced." The Duke was stunned ; he was a changed man. He put himself, his household, and the castle in deepest mourning, and day foUowed day witnessing to his devotion to rehgious exercises. Duchess Beatrice's name was, by his order, placed upon every public building in MUan, and in aU the streets, encircled by a wreath of cypress. He lavished money on the churches for Masses and Requiems, and took no 246 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES further interest in the affairs of his Duchy. At length he shut himself up in the castle, and there remained until the ever-active foes of Lombardy came banging at its portals. Even then he made no effort, but pleaded with Beatrice, — her love, her help. " As long as the Rocca stands I know that I shall be safe !" Still, in the midst of his desola tion he gave a thought to his mistress Lucrezia "CreveUi, for he executed a legal document in July of the same year, making very ample provision for her son Cesare by a grant of the lands and revenues at Cuzzago and Saronno. On September 2, 1499, Lodovico secretly left Milan, and, incognito, made his way to Innsbruck. Four days later the French, under Giangiacomo Trivulzio, Marquis of Vigera, entered the city, and received from the Governor the surrender of the castle. It and the whole city were given over to unrestrained piUage. The looters revenged them selves especiaUy upon the apartments of the late Duchess. Her furniture, her pictures, her trea sures, and her wardrobe were aU scattered and destroyed, and her name was torn down wherever emblazoned. Why this savagery, addressed to the memory of the accomplished and beautiful Beatrice, was perpetrated no one has declared ; she was, and always had been, the friend of the people, and popular with all parties. Rumour LECCO 247 certainly had it that the general frenzy was directed by no less a personage than Trivulzio, who thus took revenge for the rejection of an un worthy suit ! It was mean and sordid, to be sure — the foam of a troubled sea of jealousy : Trivulzio versus Sforza, with the concentrated hate of a disappointed lover ! Sad, indeed, became the state of the Castle of MUan in the possession of an Ul-conditioned French garrison. " It was now a place of dirty booths and dirty tales. The French are a dirty people — Captains spit on the floor, and soldiers openly outrage women in the streets !" Cecilia GaUerina had not been the only rival to Duchess Beatrice in the affections of her hus band ; his liaiBon with Lucrezia CreveUi was a still more serious menace to her peace of mind. Beatrice, however, plrilosophicaUy entered into the sentiments of the time ; she was Lodovico's lawful wife, and no mistress should oust her from her position. She would do as aU other women did — grant her lord the freedom she took herself. Marriage was a ceremonial contract, and by no means limited the passions of the heart, the eye, the ear ! Perhaps Beatrice secretly felt keenly the intrusions of Lucrezia, for she had come to her at Ferrara as a child to play with, and had accom panied her to Milan as a confidential attendant. Cecilia, Duke Lodovico had discreetly kept away 248 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES from the Court and castle, but Lucrezia he kissed before his wife's face at MUan. The only way Beatrice had to save her own reputation and Lucrezia' s was to attach her as closely as possible to her own person. The Duchess never left the palace without Lucrezia at her side, and she never excused her presence when in residence at the castle. This was doubtless a mistaken sort of espionage, for Lodovico and Lucrezia had their meetings all the same. With the passing of Lodovico " II Moro " and Beatrice, the glory of the Sforza dynasty ended. The happy days, however, oi" La Sforza Saffo " were revived in 1513, when her eldest son, MassimUiano, was caUed to the vacant Duchy. The first guest of honour was his aunt, Marchioness IsabeUa of Mantua ; but, alas ! the reign of beautiful and cul tured Duchesses of MUan was nearing its end. The " Ladies of the Lakes " fled before the new invasion of the " dirty French " under King Francis I. ; but they were once more driven out, and Charles V. proclaimed Beatrice's second son, Francesco Maria, Duke of Milan. He brought to the dilapidated castle his bride, Princess Cristina of Denmark, no more than thirteen years old. They reigned subject to the wiU and fancy of the Emperor ; and when the Duke died, in 1535, Charles's son Philip received the Duchy, which he and his successors held for two hundred years. CRISTINA DI DANEMARCA, DUCHESS OF MILAN HANS HOLBEIN National Gallery, London To face page 24S LECCO 249 Duchess Cristina, widowed at twenty-six, seems to have been chosen as an eligible successor to Jane Seymour, third consort of Henry VIII. of England. With this in view, Holbein was sent off to Brussels to paint her portrait — the Duchess of Milan of the National GaUery. Negotiations feU through, and the royal widow married, in 1540, Francis, Duke of Lorraine, and was again widowed three years after. She died in 1590. Then fol lowed the Austrian domination, to be swept away by the forces of Napoleon Buonaparte. The Austrians made of the grand old castle a barracks and the French a brothel ; and then, for one hundred years, ruin and desolation reigned supreme, and the stones of the venerable buildings cried aloud for deliverance. In 1893 a new palace arose hke a phoenix — not, indeed, to be the theatre of briUiant Courts, but a gaUery of art treasures. The memory of the Sforzas is retained by the Ponticella di Lodovico " il Moro " — the bridge over the disused moat, with its beautiful loggia, passing over which those who love the old, old stories may, perhaps, hear eerie voices, and see, at dark, weird phantoms. " Lords and Ladies " of the past stiU haunt the ancient precincts, and chide the modern modes of " Lords and Ladies " of to-day. CHAPTER V " SEBINO " LAKE OF ISEO AND THE VALLEYS OF BERGAMO AND BRESCIA. Iseo, — Lacus Sebinus of the Latins, — in shape re sembles nothing more nearly than the flickering flame of a candle ; and this is quite as it should be, for one of the derivatives of the name is " Psyche," — the Spirit or Soul of Humanity. Iseo is the Psyche of the Paradise of the Italian Lakes. En sconced in the greenest of landscapes, and gazing up into the bluest of skies, the reflections upon her gently rippling waters are delicious opal hues of emerald and sapphire. The lips of delicate wave lets are kissed by the sweet-scented zephyrs from the gracious plain of Lombardy, but are ever and anon ravished by the strenuous breezes of the Val Camonica. Her verdant locks of myrtle and laurel are the tokens of the poetic romance of her story. Drama and tragedy she tramples under her weU-shaped feet — the cities of Bergamo and Brescia, so to speak, — whUst " she dances," as Castiglione says, " all day long in the lustful sun." 250 " SEBINO " 251 Like the sensuous form of the idyUic Goddess of Love, wrapped in diaphanous veils of mist and mystery, Iseo is ever spanned by scintillating rainbows. AU the livelong, golden day, and into the sUvered moonshine, the human entities around the lake laugh and sing right merrily. The air is hke the effervescence of rare champagne : it exhilarates mind and body. Maybe harvest and vintage are prolonged through winter's solstice, for spring seems to grasp the hand of autumn. " Doux et frais, comme une eclogue de Virgile," voiced Georges Sand's encomium of the delights of the Lake of Iseo. The very name, — like that of Cupid's sweetheart, — has in it the echo of ecstasy, — hfe's heart's passions foaming over. That volatile French " Lady of the Lake " roved over land and sea to find an Elysium, and when she discovered Iseo, she brought her second self, Lucrezia Floriana, — such a suggestive appeUation, — to realize the ideal life under the red-purple vine pergolas and the sUver-gUt ohve-groves of Sebino. The very lovely marble group, " Psyche and Cupid," at the VUla Carlotta, on the Lake of Como, is a dream creation almost incarnating the loves of the mystic pair. Canova has caught absolutely the spirit of idealism, and his chef-d'oeuvre is the realization of the spirit and the life of Lake Iseo. The cbarms of Psyche are displayed everywhere 252 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES upon its bosom and its shores. " Fauna " and " Flora " may be goddesses of a subhme Paradise, but they reign, too, here seraphicaUy in every created form. Insects and plants are aU Psyche's own. Dragon-flies flit gorgeously among the snap dragons ; butterflies poise elegantly upon butter cups ; fire-flies are instinct beneath fritiUaries ; honey-bees quaff the nectar of honeysuckles; cheerful crickets sing amid shimmering grass and fragrant herbs ; and the gossamer spider weaves his tinted silken web, wet with crystal dewdrops, here and there and everywhere. What would you more ? It is — " Psyche ! Psyche ! all the way ! Awake, my love, awake." The voice which cries on Iseo's shores must be the voice of Psyche ! Everything and everybody is full of delightful unrestraint — fuU of tranquillity and peace ; nowhere is human hfe so simple, nowhere love more free. I. Sarnico is the first station on the Lake of Iseo. There, and at every town and village along the shores, are painted houses which overhang the water. To drop into the most dehcious of all natural baths is a matter of the greatest ease ; but " SEBINO " 253 this characteristic has in it an element of danger, and Psyche of the sirens' haunt may become the vampire of the unwary, even in gracious, smiling Iseo, so deep are the intrigues of Love ! " Take care," says a time-honoured caution on the spot, " or the Maddalena wiU thrust out her hand and draw thee down !" The name itself, " Sarnico," has in it a suggestiveness — its meaning is " catch ing cold." At Predole was, in years gone by, an anoient castle, but in 1404 the GhibeUines of Lovere, at the head of the lake, came down from the Val Camo- nica, eight hundred strong, led by their valiant Captain, Giustiniano CamiUo, not alone to strike a blow at the Papacy, but to revenge the destruc tion of rich olive-woods. Iseo, — the busiest town- let upon the lake, and its sponsor, — has a ruined castle also ; but the town's associations are rather with a living present than a decadent past, for dyers, sUk-weavers, and coppersmiths are thriving craftsmen. In the middle of the lake is the very picturesque islet of Santa Maria d' Iseo, with its sanctuary of the Madonna deUa Purificazione, buUt by the warhke famUy of Oldofredi, as "an accommodation with Heaven," in the fifteenth century. There, side by side, each second day of February, — the feast of Candlemas, — are lighted by devout Bergamese their decorated candelore, 254 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES and by no less pious Bresciaese their equaUy weU- adorned seriole — good pilgrims aU. The peasants dance Lupercalian measures, and iUuminate their cottages with gUded candles ; and these things they did even before Pope Gelasius in 499 Christianized the heathen festival. Many beautiful viUas nowa days adorn the meads and glades of Iseo : upon the rocky islet of Loreto, with its monastic church of San Paolo, dating from 1470, Duchess Felicita Bivilacqua — La Masa, of Verona, built the fine Gothic castle, funds for which were furnished by the drawing of the first prize in a lottery of the Banco Nazionale. The castle was purchased in 1900 by Commendatore Vincenzio Ricchieri, and it is now called after his name. VeUo is most appropriately named — the place of wool or hair. Sheep's fleeces as rich as those of Spain in Renaissance times are washed, and fine carded wool is spooled. Tenderest fluffs thereof hold capricious revels in the air : to catch them is the difficulty ; hence the common saying, " VeUo ! veUo !" — Here it is ! — a wiU-o'-the-wisp of Psyche ! VeUo looks across to Riva — the fairest shore of beauteous Iseo-— where every fragrant, shady, flowering bush rejoices in fuU growth, and crystal sand lines aU the beach. With respect to Pisogne, near Lovere, and one of Iseo's many beauty-spots- — a haunt of the CASTLE OF DUCHESS FELICITA BIVILACQUA-LA MUSA, LAKE OF ISEO. A LOTTERY PRIZE From a Photograph To face page 254 " SEBINO " 255 elves and nymphs — there is a very piquant story. The fine church of the Madonna deUa Neve (Our Lady of the Snows) stands boldly upon a spur of Monte Guglielmo; and natives of the village desired Girolamo Romanino, the Breseian master, to paint the waUs with frescoes. One of his sub jects was " St. Christopher bearing the Infant Christ," but the amount (one hundred and fifty livres) offered by way of remuneration was so beggarly that, to put his patrons to shame, he depicted the Christian giant with a very scanty dress. When protests were raised, Romanino, with a wink in his eye, replied : " Short skirts, short pay !" — and the painter passed on to adorn other sanctuaries in the Val Camonica. Lovere is the chief place on Iseo's banks ; one looks thence right down the lake, and right up the Val Camonica — a perfect situation for a villeggia- tura. The town has a twofold reputation : it is in miniature Tunbridge WeUs joined to Newcastle — an odd adjointure. Mineral springs attract the ailing, and iron and cannon foundries the mUi- tant. Many world-famous families of artist- artisans have had their origin in Lovere : the BeUi, the ZambeUini, and the Capodiferri, perhaps the most renowned. They were sculptors in stone, in metal, and in wood, and they and their likes were noted for skilful intarsia work. Sons of these 17 256 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES artificers traveUed aU over Italy embeUishing churches and palaces with their beautiful handi work. The mother church of Santa Maria in Valvendra has frescoes by Romanino, and the replica of the monument by Canova to Count AchiUeo Tadini's only daughter Teresa, who, unhappily, was crushed to death by the faU of an arch at Volpino in the Val Camonica. She and a merry party of young people had gone off for a picnic in the woods, and the maiden, the happiest of the lot and the most venturesome, had dared to cross the ancient structure to gain a wager. The Tadini Palace was in 1828 converted, by the munificence of Count Luigi, into a public picture- gaUery, with four hundred paintings by celebrated Italian masters, and many other art treasures. The great charm of Iseo, and of Lovere in par ticular, was " discovered " by a very remarkable Enghsh woman — a true " Lady of the Lake " — Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Writing to her daughter, the Countess of Bute, July 21, 1747, she says : "lam now in a place the most beauti fully romantic I ever saw in my life." She had, it seems, been recommended by her doctor at Brescia to visit Lovere for the sake of the waters. She goes on to say in her letter : " It is the Tun- bridge WeUs of this part of the world to which I have been sent by a doctor for the ague. I have " SEBINO " 257 found a good lodging, and a great deal of company, and a vUlage in many respects like the Wells, not only in the quality of the water, which is the same, but in the manner of the buildings, most of the houses being separate at little distances, and built on the sides of hiUs, which, indeed, are far different from those of Tunbridge WeUs, being six times as high. They are reaUy vast rocks of different figures, covered with green moss and short grass, diversified by tufts of trees, little woods, and here and there vineyards, but no other cultivation, except gardens like Richmond HiU. The fountain where we drink the waters rises between two over hanging hills, and is overshadowed with large trees that give a freshness in the hottest time of the day." In another letter to her daughter, written six weeks later, Lady Mary describes her residence, and gives other interesting information. " I have been," she wrote, " here six weeks, and still am at my dairy-house, which joins my garden. I believe I have already told you it is a long mUe from the castle, which is situate in the midst of a very large village, once a considerable town, part of the waUs stiU remaining, and has just vacant ground enough about it to make a garden, which is my greatest amusement. It is on a bank, forming a kind of peninsula raised from the River 258 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES Oglio fifty feet, to which you descend by easy steps cut in the turf, and either take the air on the river, which is as wide as the Thames at Rich mond ; or, by walking up an avenue two hundred yards on the side of it, you find a wood of one hundred acres, which was already cut into walks and ridings when I took it. I have only added fifteen bowers for different views, with seats of turf. I am now writing to you in one of these arbours, which is so thick-shaded the sun is not troublesome, even at noon. Another is on the side of the river, where I have made a camp- kitchen, that I may take the fish, dress and eat it immediately, and at the same time see the barges which ascend and descend every day to and from Mantua, GuasteUa, or Ponte de Vie (Pontevico ?). This wood is carpeted in their succeeding seasons with violets and strawberries, inhabited by a nation of nightingales, and filled with game of aU kinds, excepting deer and wild boar, the first being un known here, and not being large enough for the other." Upon a subsequent visit to Iseo in the year 1752, Lady Mary speaks of the lake as foUows : " The lake itself is different from any other I ever saw or read of, being of the colour of the sea rather deeply tinged with green, which convinces me that the surrounding country must be fuU of " SEBINO " 259 minerals, and it may be rich in mines yet undis covered, as weU as quarries of marble, from which the houses are constructed, and even the streets are paved, which are polished and laid with art, and look like mosaic by the variety of colour. These ' streets ' are very narrow, and only afford space for wheelbarrows, and are nearly two miles long, fined by a mixture of shops, palaces, and gardens. Some of the buildings are already tumbling down." Lady Mary's own habitation was a ramshackle locanda sort of building, but the garden was the most spacious in Lovere. She describes the habits of Loverese society, and speaks of opera being sung, and other entertain ments, but commends the early hour of closing — 10 p.m. In the season there was, — and perhaps may be stiU; — a round of assemblies, whist-parties, and routs, whereat the gentlemen were accus tomed to appear in light-coloured nightcaps and gay nightgowns, whUst the ladies were in their stays and smock sleeves, with petticoats. These costumes had a special name — " / Vestimenti di Confidenza /" Perhaps such vesture is a la mode elsewhere to-day ; so " honi soit qui mai y pense !" To the north-east of Lovere runs the Val Camonica, right away to Edolo, at the foot of the giant AdameUo, — with its mantle of eternal snow, — and then on tiU it joins the Tonale VaUey, beyond 260 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES the boundary of Tirol. The scenery is wild and beautiful ; peasants are happily at work in their daily plot, and shepherds pipe and feed their flocks serenely. The cry that goes up to Heaven from the ground is not the bitter lament of the dour husbandry of Barbizon : it is the hum of a pleasant land. Yet upon every eminence is the ruin of a castle of wUd days long past, and under the crumbling stones lie buried deep down, un- shrouded and uncoffined, the dust of gaUant warriors old and young. Their spirits haunt the gnarled trunks of forest - trees, and their fierce battle-cries re-echo uncannUy in many a gloomy cavern. " God rest them !" cry we aU, and then we pass again into the sunshine and the life of men. Cheek by jowl with these dUapidated strongholds are ancient churches of the Catholic religion ; their sweet bells sound from white, lofty cam- panili, as they did when men sounded thence the dreaded tocsin. At Breno is the mother church of the Val Camonica ; it and all the churches of the vaUey are frescoed — many by Romanino, who chose to depict Scriptural scenes with the portraits of living people of the parishes ; hence the pictorial history of the Val Camonica is of quite unique interest. In the " Life of the Virgin," at the Church of the Madonna at Breno, in particular, the artist has "SEBINO" 261 painted "Lords and Ladies of the Lakes " attired and occupied in their accustomed manners. Everywhere, too, are scenic exhibitions of the " Dance of Death," and in every parish is a branch of the "Buona Morte," which numbers its members, rich and poor, noble and simple, indis criminately. The confraternity is of Lombard origin, and was first established at the Palazzo Lazzaro, in Milan, in 1483. The country about Lake Iseo, — and in particular the Val Camonica, — abounds in quaint customs and folklore. Peasants stiU regard the day as ended at sundown, and the hours of slumber belong to the morrow. When they lie down to sleep they wrap their great cloaks around them, much as they shroud a corpse at burial, with the commendatory prayer of the "Buona Morte," and twine their rosaries around their fingers. When they wish to prognosticate the weather, the chil dren seek for snails, and sing over them : " Lumaga bota coregn Ch' ei te ciama quei de Boregn Ch' ei te ciama quei de Su Bota fo i to cornaciu."* * " Oh, sweet little snail so shy, Shall the wind be cold and dry, Or moist and warm shall it be ? Sweet snail, show thy horns to me." 262 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES St. George is looked upon as the patron of the nuptial day, and as many weddings as possible are celebrated upon his April festival. He shares, in these vaUeys of the Alps, with St. Christopher the greatest popularity among the Christian Saints. Most of the country churches have frescoes of the two patrons. At Zave, above the Lake, on the south waU of the ancient parish church, is a much-faded painting, dated 1486, representing the legendary story of the Christian Perseus liberating Andromeda, on the banks of the Red Sea, from a fierce and hungry dragon. The reptUe is in the agonies of death, and the Christian maiden appeals to St. George to take her away : " I pray thee, noble youth, take me up beside thee on thy steed, and let me flee from this place." This appeal is stiU made by country brides on the bridal morn, when the happy groom gaUops up to claim the maiden of his choice. Throughout Lombardy an ancient patriarchal custom lingered long, and is stiU observed in the remote villages of the Bergamesque and Brescian Alps. After the actual marriage ceremony the newly wedded pair part once more, and each spends the first night in their respective parents' home. In the VaUey of San Martino, indeed, the bride remains with her mother for fifteen days, but the groom has access to her at his wiU. At SEBINO " 263 the end of this probationary period he wraps his wife in a great cloak of skin, and bears her bodily away. The Bergamesque and Brescian vaUey- dweUers celebrate their marriages with extra ordinary hospitafities. Every relative, even the most distant, within reach is bidden to the feast, and absence is only condoned by the forfeiture of a considerable gift in kind. The same gustatory celebrations mark the funerals of the heads of families, so that it is a common saying : " Ai spusalese e ai mortore Sa conos ol parentore."* To be sure, a considerable difference was ob served in the conduct of the company. At funerals bands of hired mourners — women for the most part — assembled at the house of death, and ceased not their lamentations tiU the priest had com mitted the corpse to Mother Earth. There is a record at the hamlet of Gandino, off the Val Seriana, dated July, 1460, which imposes heavy fines, payable to the Commune, if the burial is delayed beyond the third day. Gandino is notable for its treasures of the goldsmith's craft : the people are past masters in the artistic manipulation of the precious metal. One reason why St. Christopher's legend is * " No marriages or funerals Without the gathering of relations." 264 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES cunningly painted on the west fronts of the churches is that he is credited with the virtue and power of bearing away the evil of an unprepared or sudden death. The church at Bienno has a fresco, painted before 1500, of the " Christ- bearer," with the words : " Christofori {imago) visaforis mane erit jnimica doloris." The Saint's reputed destruction of a deadly serpent points the same story. On the festival of St. John Baptist the herdsmen of the Val Camonica offer to the proprietors of the pasturages the first cheeses of the year. They have been in the making ever since St. George's day, and are, in consequence, caUed " Giorgine." A similar cheese is presented to the legal official of the Commune when a tenant takes up a fief. Because farm-girls are much occupied in the cheese manufacture, Giorgia has become a com mon female name at VeUo, one of the lovehest stations on Lake Iseo, with its woods of limes and chestnuts, and its wealth of wUd-floWers. There is a curious custom, purely Greek in origin, of treat ing the bark, leaves, and flowers of limes for the aUeviation of fistulse and boils. They soak them and knead them with their feet into a pulp, and then, mixing it with olive-oil, they spread the plaster over the painful spot. If the application is made on St. Sebastian's Day, the cure is absolute. The Vel- THE LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU J. RICHARDSON Collection of the Duke of Newcastle To face page 264 " SEBINO " 265 loese, indeed, speak of Iseo as " Logo Sebastio " (Sebastian's Lake), perhaps a corruption of " Sebino," after all. In recent days of simple faith the Christian Apollo, the arrow-pierced beau tiful youth, was regarded, at any rate by his women and girl devotees, as the gentle succourer of the plague-stricken and the wounded. NaturaUy we should expect to find charms and divinations against storms on the Lake of Iseo and in the hUls, and this is one of them. The peasants keep very carefully the straw which has been used in the " Presipio," or " Bethlehem," of the viUage churches untU the first day of Lent, when it is burnt, and with the ashes the priests mark the foreheads of the devout. The residue of the burnt straw is then mixed with withered ohve-leaves, and cast by chUdren into the air to avert danger to their fisher-fathers and brothers in the boats. To the north-west of Lovere a good road leads over hiU and dale, carpeted with sweet herbs and wUd-flowers, to Clusone, in the Val Seriana, — a dehghtful name, indeed, from the same root as " Serico " (silken) — the VaUey of the Serio — the " Silken Ribbon River." The vaUey is famous as the home of artistic workers in metal. The rich f amUies of Lorenzoni and Vertova and many others came thence. AU the synonyms of Psyche are 266 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES delightful, are they not ? The nomenclature of her country of Iseo is fuU of charming suggestive- ness. Bondione is the highest viUage of the vaUey ; thence, in a couple of hours, may be reached Psyche's waterfaU — Cascato del Serio — leaping down for one thousand feet in three flashing faUs into a romantic caldron, enclosed by snow-capped mountains. It is the most fairy-like waterfaU in Europe, and the play of light upon the spray reveals the butterfly wings of the goddess, ever swaying to and fro as she searches diligently for her Cupid ! From Clusone, — where there is a very remarkable " Dance of Death " frescoed on the waU of the viUage church, — it is but a short stage down the vaUey to Bergamo. II. One of the most remarkable " Lords of the Italian Lakes " was the celebrated Condottiere Bartolommeo CoUeone. His fearsome name was wont to be caUed over refractory youngsters by worried parents anywhere upon the marches of Venetia, what time the Serene Republic dominated Northern Italy. No more redoubtable soldier of fortune ever laid his sword at the feet of ambitious or needy Sovereigns and States, and no warrior served more successfully the warlike Queen of the " SEBINO " 267 Adriatic. Much of his romantic story has for its setting the city of Bergamo and its adjoinng country, and, in particular, the Castle of Malpaga on the way to Treviglio. One other castle within striking distance of Malpaga claims, with respect to Bartolommeo CoUeone, prior notice, inasmuch as the little hamlet at its foot was the cradle of his race. Built up bit by bit by many successive war-lords, the Castle of Trezzo occupies the very centre of historic battle-grounds ; it was the chief prize of every victor in the fight. The outlook over the wide, fertUe plain of Lombardy is superb, for, perched upon a rocky eminence above the swirhng Adda, it has no rival. Here Frederic Barbarossa placed his armoury and war-chest in 1158. Hither, too, Ezzelino " the Terrible " of Bassano, Papal Im perial Vicar, dragged his miserable victims to mutUate and torture with unspeakable barbarity. At the end of the thirteenth century the great nobles of MUan fought out to a finish beneath the castle waUs their relentless feuds, until the un conquerable Visconti gained the mastery. Within a dungeon . of the keep Giovanni Galeazzo im prisoned his uncle, the redoubtable Bernabo, and strangled him treacherously in 1385. Now peace ful owners, — the Conti deUa Masterani, — patronize irrigation and industry, and the turgid waters of 268 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES the river no more run red with blood of men, but are redolent of busy crafts. One of the towers, now a heap of ruins — Torre di CoUeone — overlooks the smiling viUage Solza, where, in the year 1400, Bartolommeo first saw light. His father, a plain, honest yeoman, — Paolo CoUeone, — who married a viUage girl, — Riccardina Valvasori de' Saiguini, — looked back for ancestry to a Guelph warrior, one Gisilbertus Co-Leone, — as the cognomen was originaUy spelt. He enrolled his name in 1101 as a citizen of Bergamo, upon his qualification of ownership at Trezzo, Solza, and Chignolo. Bernabo Visconti, before his faU, had been a resident at the castle, and had employed Guglielmo CoUeone, Bartolommeo' s grandfather, as under - bailiff and confidential agent. He invited him to reside within the castle precincts, treated him almost as an equal, and then changed his mind and drove him out, offering him the choice of immediate death or seclusion in the monastery of Pontidro in far-distant Val Sabbia. What the poor man's offence was is not recorded — perhaps a denouncer of treachery — anyhow, bravi in the pay of Visconto stabbed him to death within the cloister. Paolo CoUeone naturaUy resented this atrocity, but, being a prudent man, he held his peace, and bided his time to revenge his father's murder ; and, as one of those employed by Giovanni " SEBINO " 269 Galeazzo Visconti, he paid Bernabo out in kind. Giovanni Galeazzo died at Marignano in 1402, and then his executors quarreUed amongst them selves concerning the disposition of the property, and divided it without regard to wiU or reason. Paolo CoUeone put in a plea for services rendered the defunct Visconti, and, this being disaUowed, he, assisted by his friends, seized the Torre di CoUeone, and held it against aU comers. When his comrades asked for their share of the booty, he declined surrender, and then, with aU the ease in the world, so characteristic of the time, they hung up their leader to a rafter in the guard house. Madonna Riccardina found her husband's dead body, and loudly bewailed him, hurling invectives at his assassins ; so, with commend able despatch, they gagged the struggling woman, and locked her up in a dark hole underground. A clrild's cry struck on the ears of one of the con spirators, and, more merciful than the rest, — they would have cut the babe in two, — he carried little Bartolommeo into the woods, and then sent him on to Bergamo to the care of his mother. The hands which held the castle keys were not entirely unkind to the Madonna, for within a twelvemonth not only was she released from durance vUe, but her httle boy was restored to her, and she was aUowed to live in peace at Solza. 270 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES At twelve years old young Bartolommeo was a weU-grown boy, handsome, strong, and venture some. Very much against his mother's wishes, a career was indicated for him beyond the bound aries of his forebear's misfortunes ; she, perhaps naturally, wished him to remain at home — her only chUd, her only solace. He had no fancy for the groveUing Ufe of a countryman, nor for the studious occupations of the cloister ; art did not affect him. His fine physique pointed to the strenuous profession of arms ; but for a lad to enter thereupon money was required, and powerful influence. It was obviously impossible for in terest to be made with the Visconti in MUan. Bergamo, a city of craftsmen, had no attractions for the budding warrior. At Piacenza, — that most pleasant city of the EmUia, — was a school of servitor boys, about which the viUage-folk of Solza prattled, and young Bartolommeo listened to what was said. Fihppo ArceUi, Lord of Piacenza, had just established a coUege there, somewhat in imitation of the famous School of Vittorino da Feltre at Mantua, for healthy, weU-developed youths, irrespective of rank and wealth. The lads he accepted were supposed to be content not to rise much in the social scale, but to quahfy as horsemen, huntsmen, keepers, and so forth, in noble families. After much ado, Madonna Riccar- " SEBINO " 271 dina consented to send her boy to Piacenza, but he never settled there. He scorned the society of grooms and gardeners, and, fired with the martial ardour of his sires, Bartolommeo grasped his nettle and ran away. At eighteen the ambitious youth, after many wanderings, found himself at Naples, the capital of the notorious Queen, Giovanna II. He was certainly just the sort of lad that ill-conditioned Sovereign Uked to behold ; and, discovered by one of her agents, she would have made him a royal groom. Tidings of the Queen's turpitude were rife throughout Italy, and Bartolommeo declined the royal service ; but, oddly enough, he entered that of the Queen's right-hand man, Condottiere Forte Braccio, who placed him in his stables. This, of course, was not at aU what he wanted, and he speedily forsook Braccio for his rival Caldora, and was by him placed in command of twenty horsemen. Then, with admirable shrewd ness, CoUeone transferred himself to the following of Carmagnola, then commander-in-chief of the Venetian military forces. He had at last achieved his aim in hfe — he had become a soldier of fortune. In the steps of his leader he was appointed a Condottiere in the service of the Serene Republic in 1433, and for ten years did doughty deeds on behalf of his appreciative masters. Bartolommeo 18 272 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES * CoUeone' s name was now laurel-wreathed ; his fame spread far and wide, and Sovereigns in need of pushful captains plied him with offers and with bribes. Among these was the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, and the young Condottiere closed at once with his proposal. By the stiffness of his terms and conditions, he wiped away for ever the stain of his ancestors' murders, and struck an even balance with their murderer's suc cessor. The Duke gave him castles and estates, and a splendid pension with which to keep up his state ; but, in 1450, Bartolommeo CoUeone retired from the active profession of arms. The Castle of Malpaga was the property of the Serene Republic, and upon it and its lordship the Condottiere fixed his gaze, untU, for the good round sum of one thousand gold ducats, he became its owner, the actual sale being effected AprU 29, 1456. "The castle," — so Martino Sanudo, the reliable Venetian historian, has recorded, — " was occupied in the name of Venice by the Captain- General of Bergamo with a force of one hundred horsemen, who made a brave show against the Duke of Milan." CoUeone set to work at once to occupy his property ; the castle he practically rebuilt, re decorated and furnished it, and gave his attention to the picturesque arrangements of the gardens. TOURNAMENT AT THE CASTLE OF MALPAGA GIROLAMO ROMANINO Fresco at the Castle of Malpaga. (See page 280) To face page 272 " SEBINO " 273 When the improvements were completed, he brought home, festal-like, his dear wife, Madonna Thisbe, and his beloved daughters, Ursina, Cater ina, and Medea. The whole countryside rejoiced in the Condottiere 's happiness ; his father's com rades and his mother's friends now became his own, and humble little Solza was proud and demonstrative. WeU might his neighbours be proud of their distinguished fellow-countrymen, for he raised them aU by example, precept, and patronage, till every family felt the impress of his strong person ality. Schools were opened for the instruction of young people, very much after the manner of that at Piacenza, and CoUeone took good heed to the morals of his pupils. The mUitary training of young men had the Condottiere 's solicitude. From the borders of the Lake of Iseo and the vaUeys north of Bergamo came stalwart sons of the soil to learn the profession of arms. The curriculum was strenuous, for, not only were his soldiers busy in their driU, but athletic contests were made compulsory. The strongest men in Lombardy wore the CoUeone colours. No other property was so fuUy developed as Malpaga. Works of irriga tion brought the waters of the Serio to the castle waUs. No cattle-rearing or game-preserving had such exceUent results' as were achieved under the 274 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Condottiere's direction. In short, Malpaga and its surroundings became a model for aU the other landowners of Lombardy. Princely state was kept up at the castle, which became famous as the most perfect example of a feudal castle of the century. Colleone's house hold and garrison were picked representatives of physical fitness and graceful deportment ; six hundred men sat daUy at his lordly table, and strangers of every rank and station were enter tained with unstinted hospitality. CoUeone sur rounded himself with men of letters and women of briUiant wit. Yet, in the midst of great activities, which caused Madonna Thisbe endless anxieties, the master of the castle lived a compara tively quiet life. He cared less for talk than for books, but he was ever ready with smart repartee. When asked with surprise by one of his prince- guests, why he troubled himself so much for others' weal, and patronized festive revels, and especiaUy favoured attractive women, he replied : " I am much more surprised that so young a man as your ExceUency should ask such a question, and that you should apparently be overcome with hatred of the fair sex ; as for me, I love them aU !" Probably woman was the Condottiere's special weakness ; he craved a male heir, and Madonna Thisbe only gave him daughters. " SEBINO " 275 The most interesting guest entertained by Con dottiere Bartolommeo CoUeone at Malpaga was King Christian I. He had been to Rome upon a pilgrimage " for the good of his soul, and in propitia tion for the sins of his ancestors," as the chronicler has it. King of aU Scandinavia, and bearing a host of sovereign titles, he was accompanied by an imposing suite — the Dukes of Lauenberg and Olten, the Counts of Milligen, Barby, and Hiiffen- stein, and many more nobles. At Treviso, upon his Romeward journey, a mission from Duke Gal eazzo Maria Sforza had saluted the King, and offered him MUanese hospitality ; but Christian was bent on visiting the most famous soldier of the day, and the Duke was mightily displeased at His Majesty's preference of CoUeone. The Condottiere, courtier-like, assigned Malpaga to his royal guest, and went under canvas with his household. He laid out a camp as in time of war with stockade, ditches, stores, and munitions, and received King Christian on May 12, 1474, in full battle array, with one thousand mounted men cuirassed, and one thousand highlanders on foot — a moving and splendid spectacle. Banquets, tournaments, sports, and dances formed each day's programme, and Scandinavians and Lombards became the best of comrades — true and free. In the royal suite travelled a gigantic Dacian, — 276 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES " the strongest man on earth," — the King's cham pion. Bout after bout, wherever the royal caval cade had halted, had proved him invincible ; and the Condottiere's athletes fared no better than the rest. One day, however, the Dacian found his match at Malpaga, when a young man came to parley with the guard. Zorzio da Spinone, — a mountain viUage in the Val Cavallina beyond Bergamo, — twenty-five years of age, and a perfect young Hercules, who foUowed the caUing of a charcoal-burner, chaUenged the champion to a wrestling match. CoUeone was informed of the young feUow's intention, interviewed him, and, struck with his splendid physique, ordered him to be fed, and washed, and shaved, and clothed suitably. " Go forth," he said to Zorzio, " with courage ; fear not, and if thou bearest thyself weU, thou shalt receive a finer prize than thou canst name, for I wiU not that we should be brow-beaten by this bold Dacian !" The champion duly entered the sports ground of the castle, and tho whole garrison with their visitors foregathered to cheer their men. The young charcoal-burner success fully parried the giant's feints, and, when he was a little winded, deftly seized him under the haunches, and had him in a trice upon his head, his feet in the air, and then he laid him flat upon the sward ! Thunderous applause greeted this achievement, " SEBINOj" 277 and King Christian, shaking f the victor by the hand, — with true sportsman spirit, — gave him a ring from off his finger, and a heavy purse of gold. CoUeone was as good as his word, and Zorzio re mained at Malpaga as standard-bearer and chief of the bodyguard. As might have been expected, the victory of the Lombard lad was not without its romance. Some few days after the victory in the sports ground another stranger advanced to parley with the castle guard, but this time it was a maiden shy, but by no means forlorn. Berta da Trescore, the next viUage to La Spinone, had foUowed her man to Malpaga -for he had told her what he had heard about King Christian's Dacian strong man. She was just the sort of comely damsel — wholesome, smart, and vigorous — that appealed to the maiden-loving Condottiere, and CoUeone entered at once into the romance. He dallied with her, as was his wont, but the girl's spirit and devotion to her village lover arrested further liberties ; and, with Medea, his daughter, as bridesmaid, and himself in loco parentis, Zorzio and Berta were joined in matrimony upon the spot ! King Christian remained at Malpaga ten days ; and, on parting with his host, he gave him a splendid painting he had purchased in Rome, and graciously accepted as Colleone's offering the 278 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES finest suit of Milanese armour in the castle. Accompanied by the Condottiere, the King and his escort reached the city of Como on May 23, and there he found a fleet of roomy vessels, chartered by the Duke of Milan, ready to carry him to Colico. The King's barge had a lofty tent or awning of cloth of gold ; its crew was liveried in scarlet cloth, and rowed with gUded oars. Four troubadours and a band of musicians, with the royal cooks and butlers, were in the next vessel, ready to feed and cheer the royal sailor and his suite. Such a splendid flotilla had never passed up the lake. The citizens of Como and the fisher- folks and peasants on the shores lavished festive decorations and illuminations in honour of the royal " Lord of the Lake," and so the Scandinavian " pilgrims " hasted on to their far-off home, intoxi cated with the delights of Lombardy. Bartolommeo CoUeone paid his adieux to King Christian at the quay of Como, and then returned to his Castle of Malpaga for rest, and to carry on his works of benevolence. Madonna Thisbe, too, was weary after aU the gaiety and ceremonial ; she missed the help of her two married daughters, Ursina and Caterina. The former was wife of Count Gherardo Martinengo ; the latter of his brother, Count Gaspare— both of Brescia. The two Countesses were, it seems, prevented from " SEBINO " 279 journeying to Malpaga for the royal visit by reason of coincident maternity. Isotta, the eldest daughter, had died in infancy ; and Medea, the youngest, died four years after the coming of the King. Both were buried in the sanctuary church of BaseUa, upon an eminence across the Serio. In the very midst of his humane occupations the sands in the Condottiere's hour-glass ran down, and, fearing the approach of the " Black Buffa loes," he prepared himself for their "Triumph." On October 27, 1475, he executed his will, leaving the Castle of Malpaga and the estate to his eldest daughter Ursina and her family, on the under standing that Count Gherardo should add the patronymic CoUeone to his surname. On Novem ber 3 in the same year the redoubtable warrior, — truly a noble-hearted " Lord of tile Lakes," — breathed his last in his well-beloved castle. He was buried at Bergamo, in the very beautiful CapeUa CoUeone, by the side of the Romanesque church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which he had caused to be built. A superb monument was erected by bis daughters and their husbands, and then Medea CoUeone's monument was removed thither from BaseUa. The chapel, with its lavish adornment inside and out, is one of the architec tural gems of the fifteenth century. Many years after the Condottiere's death another 280 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES memorial of a striking character was completed within the Castle of Malpaga. Girolamo Roma nino was commissioned to fresco the waUs of the banqueting-room of the castle with scenes from the memorable visit of King Christian of Scan dinavia. The first shows the arrival of the royal visitor at Malpaga, and it is interesting from the fact that the likeness of the Condottiere's eldest grandchUd, Bartolommeo Martinengo, is intro duced. The second scene is a tournament, with the city of Bergamo in the distance. The King and the Condottiere are seated in a loggia, apart from Madonna Thisbe and her ladies. The third fresco is a royal hunting-party in the wooded country bordering the Serio : the huntsmen are in CoUeone liveries. The Banquet is, perhaps, the most striking of the series. The King presides, but the host is placed below the salt-ceUar ! CoUeone's seneschal, Alberto de' Quarenghi, is by his side. A lady in blue and white, — the CoUeone colours, — is the Countess Ursina, with her little son. Prince Johann of Saxony wears a big plumed hat. The fifth tableau represents the Condottiere seated at table in the open cortile of the castle, superintending the serving out of liveries and gifts to the King's attendants. The sixth picture shows the departure of King Chris tian, and among the notables is CoUeone's state- KING CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINED BY CAVALIERE BARTOLOMMEO COLLEONE SIBOLAMO EOMANINO Fresco at the Castle of Malpaga To face page 280 " SEBINO " 281 trumpeter, Lorenzo deUa Scarperia. The last fresco depicts a wresthng match, — perhaps that between the Dacian champion and Zorzio da Spinone. The series is exceedingly valuable, as iUustrative of the dress and manners, and of the scenery and architecture of the period. Romanino was not born until ten years after King Christian's visit, but tales of the gorgeous festivities were rife on the countryside for several generations. Doubtless the Counts and Countesses Martinengo- CoUeone were able to give the master fuU par ticulars of the scenes, and perhaps to reconstruct them for his benefit. The Castle of Malpaga remained in the possession of the Martinenghi family until 1888, when it was sold, with the estate, to Conte Francesco Roncalli, who most carefuUy restored it. There is a httle story connected with the neigh bourhood of Malpaga, which charaeteristicaUy Ulustrates the simple and unquestioning rehgious fervour of the men and women of the fourteenth century. It is as foUows : April 7, 1356, was a dark day in the annals of Lombardy by reason of the severe belated frost which devastated the province, and was, perhaps, most destructive throughout the plain of Bergamo. Early in the morning of that day a young girl, Marina, the fifteen-year-old daughter of Pietro Leone, a 282 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES peasant farmer of the Borgo di Urgnano, saUied forth to her daUy task in the flax-fields. To her intense surprise she found the whole crop black ened and hopelessly withered. Knowing that this meant an irreparable loss to her father, she burst into tears, and, falling upon her knees, cried out piteously : " Holy Virgin, why is this ? Why has thy Son sent this affliction to my parents ?" Then she cast her eyes across a stubble-field hard by, and beheld an amazing vision — a lovely regal woman, gorgeously apparelled, with a little child in her arms. Marina knelt and crossed herself devoutly, and then a voice spoke to her in the sweetest accents she had ever heard : " Do not be afraid, child ; why art thou weeping and lamenting ?" " Do you not see, noble lady," replied the girl, " what terrible damage the cruel frost has done ? and do you not reflect how terribly poor people will suffer in consequence ?" " Fear not, child," the sweet voice replied ; " none shaU suffer want for this ; there shaU be an abundant harvest." Marina, less fearful than at first, asked the lady who she was. The lovely woman told her not, but said : " Come again to this spot in nine days, at this hour, and I wiU then tell thee all ;" and then she vanished. " SEBINO " 283 Upon the ninth day — it was AprU 16, and the girl's sixteenth birthday — she was again at the haUowed spot, and the beauteous vision was again vouchsafed to her. " Thou hast done weU," the voice said, " to come here to-day. Thou art on the verge of womanhood, but I conjure thee to keep thyself a virgin, such as I am. Go, teU the men of Urgnano to dig deep here, — see, there are three flat stones to mark the spot, — and they wUl find a buried church, which they must excavate, repair, and re-dedicate. The priest must be newly ordained, and he must say his first Mass at the altar interceding for souls who lost their lives in the long-ago earthquake." That was aU ; the vision passed away, but Marina knew it was the Blessed Virgin Mary who had so miraculously revealed herself and her wishes. Marina told her father, but he made fun of her story ; nevertheless, it fascinated him and the men of the parish, and everyone lent a wiUing hand to lay bare the engulfed sacred edifice. Saint Mary's commands were exactly carried out, and not alone were the ruins of the ancient Christian basilica discovered and repaired, but the miracle drew thereto scores and scores of pious pUgrims. Bartolommeo CoUeone c aused the church to be richly decorated, and named it " Santa Maria della BaseUa " — the vernacular for " Earthquake." 284 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES III. Bergamo and Brescia are twin sisters, and the Brescian Alps are own brothers of the Bergam esque. AUke, too, in number and in charm are the verdant vaUeys that debouch at their gates : Brembana, Seriana, and CavaUina salute Bergamo ; Brescia is embraced by Camonica, Trompia, and Sabbio. Val Brembana is famous in the history of art ; from out of it sprang a phalanx of artists to enrich mankind for good with things of beauty and renown : Bernardino Licinio (1511-1544) ; Andrea Previtale (1480-1525) ; Rocco Marconi (1472-1529) ; Antonio Donati (1502-1568) ; Andrea da Solario (1460-1515) ; Agliardo Algiardi (1592- 1654) ; Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556) ; Francesco Capodeferro (1472-1532); Giovanni BeUi (1540- 1577); Gian Antonio Amadeo (1421-1476); the brothers Santa Croce, — Girolamo (1520-1549) and Francesco Rizo (1524-1562) ; Giovanni de' Busi " Cariani " (1485-1541) ; and, last, but not least, Jacopo Palma Negretto— Palma il Vecchio, (1480- 1525). Specimens of art and craft in street, church, and gaUery of every Italian town testify to the exceUent handiwork of sons and daughters of the Val Brembrana. It might be an interesting occu pation to inquire why in particular this lovely " SEBINO " 285 vaUey should be the cradle of art. Man's capa cities are developed by his environment, and in the pursuit of healthy avocatioris. First of aU, the scenery is exquisitely beautiful and greatly diversified. From the sun-fretted plain of Lom bardy beyond Bergamo up to the Falls of the Brembo, bursting out of the snow-fields of the Val TeUina mountains, every kind of climate may be en joyed. The air is never stagnant, the sun makes lavish growth, and the water is impregnated with salt. The occupations of the peasants are various, but there are four industries which absorb the ma jority of workers — sheep-pasturing, copper-mining, charcoal-burning, and Unen-weaving. AU these tend to the isolation of labourers, and solitude is provocative of meditation and invention. Per haps aU the army of Brembana artists had flat stones, soft clay, and prime wood upon which to experiment, much as had Giotto of Tuscany. Anyhow, there is not a famUy in the whole length of the vaUey, and along the converging valleys, which has not exhibited in the present or the past artistic temperament. These families, by the way, are abnormaUy numerous, and sons and daughters drift to the art cities of the plain and beyond. Nature's best gifts are for Nature's most simple and unaffected offspring. The Brem- banese display their artistic proclivities in a hun- 286 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES dred different ways — their carriage, their dress, their household goods, their instruments of melody and labour, their love of flowers and per fumes, their skill in games, their popular festivals, and aU they put their hands to proclaim them subjects of the realm of art. Jacopo Palma Negretto is the Prince of Ber gamesque painters. His natal place was the secluded viUage of Serina-Alta, three thousand feet above the sea, in the vaUey of the same name, which converges upon the Val Brembana at Zogno. He first breathed that delicious mountain air, say, in April, 1480, the son of Antonio de' Negretti. No one has painted the blue mountains of those vaUeys more intimately than did he. " Sacred Conversations " were much in his way — groups of finely proportioned, noble-visaged Saints in flowery meadows — ideal and sensuous. In portraiture, — for his " Saints " are living entities, — he is Ber gamesque ; one may even think one hears the country " burr," for they are " speaking fine nesses." One grand model in particular strikes the eye and the imagination ; she is the most splendid and grandiose woman in Itahan art. Her veri- simUitude culminates in the grand " St. Bar bara " in the church of Santa Maria Formosa in Venice. Who is she ? For answer we must seek again the Brembo's banks, and look among the YOLANDA DA SERINA PALMA VECCHIO (OB PABIS BOBDONE ?) Prado Museum, Madrid To face page 28S " SEBINO " 287 maidens of the hiUs and dales. Lithesome, grace ful, with perfect figures and distinguished car riage, those damsels of the goat-herds and woollen distaffs, bearers of heavy agrestical burdens on their heads, breathe the free, exhilarating air of the mountain and the forest — equal partners with the men in toil and play. Yolanda da Serina was such an one ; and when painters of the vaUey sought for models, none surpassed her in physique and bearing. Whether she was Jacopo Palma's daughter or not, we shaU never know, — for he was never married, — but we know she was his most attractive model, and upon her his fame was built. With Jacopo she went to Venice, and his studio was her home. There Vecelho Tiziano beheld her, and noted how she easUy surpassed the drab girls of his native Cadore in every charm of virginity. To paint her was his strong desire ; to love her, too, need not perhaps be said. At any rate, Yolanda's attributes were transcendent, and henceforth the two great painter - friends made complacent Yolanda's life a burden ; they painted no woman else. " La BeUa " may be Titian's ; it may be Palma's too. She had all the personal charms loved of Venetian painters — a distinguished air, fair hair and skin, blue eyes, and a supple figure. Was not Yolanda " The Virgin " of that masterpiece, " The Assumption," in the Academy at Venice ? 19 288 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES AU the painters in Venice admired and loved Yolanda, and many a suitor sought her favour — among them no less distinguished a person than Pietro Aretino. She turned a deaf ear to them aU, remained true to Jacopo Palma, and, when he died, she quietly returned with her few belongings to the peace and contentment of her native vaUey. If the chronicler lies not, she married a good- looking countryman, a boy -lover, and hved happily. Strange, indeed, it was that " il Vecchio's " will never so much as named Yolanda ; perhaps aU his was hers. Who knows ? One other painter there waB among the many who issued from that rich source of artists, Val Brembana, whose name is held in high esteem in Lombardy, not only for his artistic merit, but for his ardent patriotism — a gift, alas ! so rare now adays among the self-seeking inhabitants of the United Kingdom. Giovanni de' Busi was born at the forest hamlet of Fiupiano, beyond San Pellegrino, in 1480. The name " Cariani," by which he is generaUy known, betokens that of his mother's family. She was a forest maiden, mind ing her goats and spinning, what time Giovanni de' Busi, a young patrician of Venice, fared to Bergamo and beyond to find pastime and for tune. An accident brought the two together. A bear had mauled the valiant sportsman and " SEBINO " 289 left him wounded in the woodland. As Fate would have it, a comely damsel happened on him, nursed him, and loved him — Bettina Cariani. Alas ! Bettina saw no more of her lover, but Giovanni had not forgotten her, and when she died " Giovan nino " joined his father in Venice — a growing lad, fuU of artistic sympathies and poetry. In Venice three famous masters appealed to the budding painter, Giorgio BarbareUi (Giorgione), Jacopo Negretto (Palma il Vecchio), and Lorenzo Lotto ; the two last being natives, like himself, of the Val Brembana. With them he worked and studied tUl, at the age of twenty-two, love of his mother's home overpowered him, and back he went to Bergamo and Fiupiano, to paint the land scapes he remembered so weU, and the people he loved, with their costumes and occupations. In aU his rehgious compositions may be seen a lady — a Saint — of noble appearance, richly dressed and wearing abundant golden hair, her pure face fair as a blush-rose. Sometimes she holds the bridle of a white horse. Tradition has pointed her out as Yolanda da Serina : Cariani was in love with her, too ! Perhaps with Cariani should be named his con temporary of Brescia, Girolamo Romanino, of the same age as himself, a native of Romano, on the Serio, some ten miles east of TrevigUo. They 290 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES worked together, and among their paintings in common are the characteristic frescoes of the Castle of Malpaga. There is a certain air of romance about an altar-piece Cariani painted for the Benedictine monks of Santa Giustina at Padua. Alessandro Bonvicino (Moretto) painted a similar picture for the same complacent patrons. Whether the painting at the Imperial Museum at Vienna is Bonvicino's, or Romanino's, or Palmo Vecchio's, critics have not yet determined. Anyhow, here we have once more the striking traits of the splendid model of the " Santa Barbara," Yolanda. One of the most picturesque and at the same time most ancient viUages in Val Brembana is Botta. High above the road stands the quaint old Church of Sant' Egidio — the patron of smiths and, preferentiaUy here, of coppersmiths and copper- miners. Bishop Guala di Bergamo, a native of the hamlet, in 1178 set up ten tableaux or groups of the Passion of Christ upon the approach to the church — one of the oldest mountain " Stations of the Cross " in Christendom. He also instituted the quasi-Jewish custom of the offering of a lamb by each sheep-owner at Easter to the high altar. Such offering gained the promise of a prosperous year, and gave rise to the common Bergamesque proverb : " Al mior piu agnei a Pasqua che pegore en tutt V an," — He who presents a lamb at Easter " SEBINO " 291 shaU have food enough for a twelvemonth. What became of the bleating baby creatures no one has been careful to record ; perhaps the worldly wise ecclesiastics kept them for their own larder, or perhaps, — as in the parish of Sant' Alessandro deUa Croce, in the thirteenth century, — they were distributed amongst the poor families of the neighbourhood. At CorneUo, beyond the Electric Zinc Foundry, is a tablet in a house waU : it records the ancestral home of a notable Brembanese famUy — the Tassi. Omedeo de' Tassi, in 1290, first made the name famous as the forbear of the Princes of Thurn und Taxis, founders of the post service of Germany. Bernardo and Torquato Tasso, — " Lords of the Lakes," — greatly added to the family renown, and made the Val Brembana a poet's Mecca. They were not the only poetasters who came of the vaUey soU. Poets, we know, are rarely town- bred : the country is their home, and the more beautiful the scenery, the more exquisite their poetry. Nevertheless, it is rather singular that the dulcet tones of song should emanate from a district where the dialect of the inhabitants is crude and uncouth. The Bergamesque verna cular is as remarkable for its "burr " as is, say, the Zulu for its "cluck." Torquato's great work, "Gerusalemme Liber ata" was actually first 292 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES written in the dialect of the Val Brembana ! Signore Bernardo Tasso, the great poet's father, had a smaU estate near CorneUo, and was also enroUed as a citizen of Bergamo. He left home to seek his fortune elsewhere, and wandered to dis tant Naples, where he met and married Portia Gherardini. He lost his fortune in the disasters of the Prince of Salerno, in whose service he was, and Torquato, born at Sorrento, March 11, 1544, was the child of adversity. "... I am content, Thyrsis, to tell thee what the woods and hills And rivers know, but men as yet know not." This breathes the sweet air and rhythm of the Val Brembana. Count Alessandro Tasso, the poet's cousin, of Bergamo, sent a post-chaise aU the way to Mantua to fetch him home. His welcome in the city, and all the way to CorneUo, was triumph ; the street through which he passed is stiU caUed Via di Torquato Tasso. The " Aminta " was the poet's record of his Iseoan appreciation — the precursor of the sweet songs of sylvan poetry. " The dales for shade, the hills for beauty glow, Past fragrant groves the crystal rivers flow, All fair scenes doth Dame Nature grace, My heart's in my sire's native place." Poet by heredity, he loved his ancestral soil. The people of Bergamo, — where nobles and " SEBINO " 293 traders were synonymous, — although provided with exceUent educational institutions, and famous for artistic culture and enterprise in commerce, affected the archaic speech of the countryfolk beyond their gates. DaUy in church, market, meeting, and at home it was the curre nt coin of language. This is perhaps not exceptional, for it is a noticeable habit of aU town populations. The dialect is a curious blend of Lombardian and Engadinese — a mixing of Latin roots with German. Its origin may be traced to the Romansch of the vaUeys and alps of the Bernina and the Ortler, where rough medieval footpaths intersect the weU-made Roman roads. Thither vaUey dweUers of the Bergamo and Brescia country, foUowing the employment of shepherds, lead their immense flocks of lanky, tawny sheep and goats for aromatic pasturage. TraveUers along the Val Bregagha to-day are familiar with picturesque manly figures posed on rugged rocks and under gnarled oaks, habited in huge brown cloaks and wide leather breeches, their legs swathed, like the ancients, in loose, coarse wooUen cloth, with black leather thongs. On their heads of long, unkempt hair felt sombreros ; in their hands sturdy poles or staves ; on their backs bagpipes, and in their leathern belts pipes or horns, for they are all, men and boys, pifferari — musicians of the mountain solitudes. 294 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES These peasants, too, can dance and grimace ; they always could, for was not the first race of Harlequins shepherds of Bergamo and Brescia ? And did not the nimble, sly and dancing Brighetta mother the whole family of the Marionettes which sprang forth from the valleys of the Lombardian Alps ? Italian masques and burlesques look to these sister vaUeys for their first steps into fame. The name Harlequin — " Arlecchino " — proclaims the child a servant of Erli, the King of the spirits of the mountain and gnomes of the cavern. The posturing measures of the mountain-vaUey dances, the monfrine, are danced to-day in the viUages of Lombardy as the tarantelle are in Naples and the South. To see such sights in naive perfection one must be at Bergamo on the Fiera di Sant' Alessandro, originaUy the annual fair of the silk trade, which has not been intermitted for a thou sand years. In and about Brescia, and particularly in the Val Trompia and the Val Sabbia, the children still keep up the traditional dance-songs of the olden time. In two divisions, — boys and girls severally, —they sing : " 0 dansa, bella dansa, Che fa la dansa tora, 0 ri, o ri oltela, Chi fa la riolta, Alto alto earner ada, Lasb pasd sta mascerada." etc. " SEBINO " 295 Then they approach and retire, one party saluting the other : " Apri, apri le porte, Logina logid, Apri, apri le porte, Logina al cavalid." and the other replying : " Le porte sono aperte, Logina, logid, Le porte sono aperte. Logina al cavalid." The VaUeys of Brembana and CavaUina have always been famous for the virtues of their thermal waters. Trescore-Balneario, within twelve miles of Bergamo, was known in Roman times. In the eighth century it yearly attracted gouty patients by the score. Then the good, far-seeing and com mercial Benedictines acquired the chief springs, — which included pungent sulphur as well as bitter saline waters, — and added to their cure of souls the cure of bodies. Warlike times were destruc tive of monkish investments, and the healthful streams ran to waste, untU the grand old Con dottiere Bartolommeo CoUeone, from his new castle at Malpaga, set to work to undergo the cure for his own wounded, suffering humanity, and then to provide sinrilar healing opportunities for his poorer neighbours. He made cisterns, basins and baths, wherein to store and use the waters ; 296 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES and whilst he made his wealthy neighbours pay high fees, the baths were free to the needy sick. The worthy old soldier, too, did exceUent service to the countryside in the direction of irrigation works. He harnessed the wasteful flood of the Serio, and started saw-miUs and mUls for grind ing corn upon the deepened and waUed-in canal. Everyone who passes by Trecore makes a point of visiting VUla Suardi, belonging to the Conte di Bergamo. There is Lorenzo Lotto's exquisite portrait of two beautiful " Ladies of the Lakes " — Madonna Orsohna and Donna Paohna, mother and sister of Signore Battista Suardi — both painted in 1524. HappUy, in the restoration of the viUa, 1706, these precious memorials were uninjured. They are in the viUa chapel. " Lords and Ladies of the Italian Lakes " have foUowed in CoUeone's steps. You wiU not find a more agreeable health-resort anywhere than San Pellegrino, half-way up the vaUey. The pine- woods are good for respiration, and chestnut-groves pleasant for alfresco meals. In the Val CavaUina is a very splendid viUa, the CasteUo di Costa di Mezzate, with lofty towers and open columned loggie. The original buUding dates from early Visconti days. Refortified by Niccolo Piccinino, it was sacked and burnt, and then rebuUt, by Otto Piccinino, and the towers were surmounted M man m ^W v £ ; ^^ jyV^SsNH^HB ^H^K r <¦ - ; ^tA '*i^^^^ -*,^ws» VjhS^EShhpJbB *,:-''a&iar 'tI > SB;" -1 ¦S^BB^^B^BS^ ¦a\ ^K?"* ' ' -'.^rtrffr -s^H^Be k vj^ | k _ - ¦ \ B. ' 4- '¦> la v vAi 1 H JB m Ws^H M^l !2& * M » fB m ¦. m ' 1 ^f \^1 1 ' X? ft- "•¦' VjrtBw^ " -WL 3SBS FRATE-CAVALIERE CRISTOFORO VERTOVA From a Painting of the Lombard School. A nuoury Museum, Mai ta To face page 296 " SEBINO " 297 by Ghibelline machicolations. In the twelfth century the family of Vertova held it ; they came from the hamlet of Vertova, in the Val Seriana, where are the ruins of their ancestral castle, the most renowned member thereof being the first Consul of Bergamo in 1160 — Albertoni da Vertova. Charles V. visited the castle, and in a way annexed it, but created Leonardo and Galeazzo Vertova Knights of Malta. Frate Cristo- foro Vertova was the Commander of Malta what time the Piedmontese warred in Turkey and Bar- bary, and he feU into the hands of the infidel. In the armoury of Malta are preserved his suit of black armour, with a record of his victories at sea, and his portrait. Coming to more recent days, Giovanni Battista Vertova was appointed Regent of Lombardy under Napoleon Buonaparte, but with his daughter, Countess Elizabetta, his race ended. She married Count Camozzi de' Gherardi, and aU the Vertova property passed to that famUy, with the name Vertova hyphened to Gherardi. AU the Camozzi- Vertove were Knights of Malta, and addressed, as usual, by the affix " Frate." Many interesting objects are carefully preserved in the viUa : a cannon used by Bartolommeo CoUeone ; the sabre of the Archduke Sigisimondo of Austria ; the bedstead of San Carlo Borromeo, 298 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES whereupon he laid when residing at the house of Conte Suardi, in Rome ; portraits of King Stanislaus of Poland and the Empress Catherine of Russia, given by Her Majesty to Cardinal d' Archetti, whose mother was a Vertova ; and the flag of Count Giovanni Battista Camozzi- Vertova, borne at Tonale and riddled with shot. In a room hung with fine tapestry are exhibited many letters of Marie Antoinette. One gruesome object is the head of a young girl, kiUed in the Revolution of 1848-49. The historian Antonio Calvi, in his " Cronache Bergamesche," relates the story of a tragedy which happened in 1703 at the villa. A young lady, a Gritti, married into the house, through the malignity of a rejected lover was accused unjustly by the miscreant before her husband, Guglielmo Vertova, of gross infidelity. Deaf to all assertions of innocence, and probably content to be free for other intrigues, he hurled his young wife from one of the windows into the moat below. She feU dead into the water. The false friend fared no better, for the enraged hus band strangled him and threw his body after that of his wife. It must have been a dark night, for the genial sun of that sun-kissed vaUey could not have borne witness to so foul a deed ! The River MeUa, — of the honey-bee and apricot, — which tentatively waters the city of Brescia, " SEBINO " 299 flows from Monte Dosso-Alto, at the head of the Val Trompia — a vaUey fuU of iron and copper mines, which furnish fine metal for the splendid swords and weapons of Bresican fame. The valley is enclosed in mountain-heights, but these are inter spersed with grassy alps or meads, whereupon are, in many places, very curious circles of rough stones whereat the traveller wonders. At Taver- nola, perhaps, is the most perfect rondo. Their purpose was to serve as meeting-places for the headmen of the vaUey when gathering for counsel and defence. The meadow enclosed by these stone circles was regarded as common land, but withdrawn from pasturage. Each peasant had to give a~. portion of his time to dress the grass, and the crops of hay were sold by public auction for the benefit of the parish priest. The district of Bagolino, which separates the Brescian from the Trentino Alps, has the designation " Romanterra," as indicating the limits of the Roman power, and where Italian, Greek, and German met to watch each other. There is a very curious story about the earliest Greek settlers in the Val Trompia, which relates that when they reached, with their flocks and herds, the region of Bagolino, it began to snow. They had never seen or heard of the like before, and when the chUdren asked what the white flakes were, they were told 300 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES that they were " Nipa nipa alia marina !" — Foam scuds from the sea !. The young country people of the Brescian Alps seem to have been especiaUy addicted to music and the dance. In the " Cronaca di Brescia " of 1400 many folklore ditties and measures are enumerated. Venus and Mars quite naturaUy furnished the motifs of those roundelays. It would seem that the young girls from the Lake of Iseo were especiaUy sought after by amorous youths of Brescia. The chronicler Malvezzi gives at length one of these songs, caUed " Le Donne Lombarda " — Le Donne Lombarda. Donna lombarda fammi piacere Ve al val con me. Ben volentieri me vegner\a Se no gavesi el mio mark Quel tuo marito fallo morire Fallo mor\. ***** Donna lombarda, a che maniera Che questo vino V & intorbidd ? L' e stato el vento de Valtra sera Ch' el ve la fato entorbidd Quando on bambino de sete mesi Che non ancora sapea parla. ***** Tuti li goti che la beveva. A rivederci caro marit A rivederci sacra corona. Un' altra sposa cingi per me Cos) si trata donne tiranne Donne tiranne col so marit." " SEBINO " 301 The Bresciaese have a game which old and young are never tired of playing, " Le Poste al Paradiso," in which they ring bells — the beUs of Heaven — and strike tambourines with canes — the rattles of HeU — and sing : " Ona ledo, te tre canele Che sonava le capanele, Che sonava loril lorillo Che sonava le ventitri Ona, do e tre." Then aU scramble for places. Unlucky is the one left out in the scrimmage. Perhaps this game has its British replica in " Musical Chairs." In Bergamo and Brescia there is much that is Spanish in their architecture, and Spanish in their manners. Brescia is a typical Renaissance city, — her castle was called the " Falcon of Lom bardy," — and her people are less migratory than the Bergamese, and more self-rehant. She is the city of the wine-press par excellence, and her mood is always merry. StiU, one of her most venerated heroes was a monk, Arnoldo, the leader of pohtical and ecclesiastical reformation in Lom bardy and Rome. For his intrepidity he suffered death at the hands of Pope Hadrian IV. ; but his influence survived, and the historian has placed him along with Rienzi and Savonarola in the Temple of Fame. There are three palaces of the Martinenghis : in one of them — Martinengo-Sal- 302 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES vadego Moretto painted the walls of the Salita in fresco, with portraits of eight beautiful daughters of the house, — some say they were sisters, children of Count Cesare. The decora tive use in the compositions of campanulas and butterflies is very beautiful and suitable — those being the emblems of the famUy. The back grounds of the tableaux show a complete panorama of the city. Countess Cassandra, one of the galaxy of beauty, has about her something of the " Ariadne " of Romney's " Lady HamUton." She seems to be almost listlessly looking for her lover ; anyhow, she is a beautiful girl, and she wears a very becoming dress. She and her sisters seven are as comely as any of the countless lovely " Ladies of the Lakes." Two noble " Lords " there were who made their residence at Brescia famous — Bayart — "Sans peur et sans reproche " — and Gaston de Foix, Duke of Nemours, both worthy captains of the usurping hosts of France. The former lay wounded m the head by a cannon-baU, and he was waited on by a virtuous lady of Brescia and her two young daughters. AU three were smitten with devotion to their patient ; but, resisting somewhat their impetuosity, the gaUant chevalier embraced them in turn affectionately, and promised them their own again. On parting, the host offered his THE COUNTESS CASSANDRA MARTINENGO ALESSANDBO MOBETTO Martinengo Palace, Brescia To face page 302 " SEBINO " 303 distinguished guest a casket filled with gold ducats, and in return begged for a voucher of security from piUage by the troops. " Take back your ducats, my good sir," replied Bayart. " Your daughters want husbands ; give half the sum to each in token of my gratitude for their care of me. . . . Fare you well !" The Val Sabbia, — with its continuation, the Val Buona, in Southern Tirol, — is the most lengthy and the narrowest of all the valleys of the Ber gamesque and Brescian Alps. Topographic aUy and climatic aUy, it differs considerably from the other verdant vales further west. It is less fertile, less temperate, less inhabited, and it offers fewer points of interest to the passer-by. From the great sweep of road beyond Gavardo there are captivating views of Sal6, on the Lake of Garda, and of the Riviera to Gargnano. The soft breeze from over the lake wafts perfumed inhalations of oleander and lime ; but farther on the sternness of precipice, waterfaU, and pine-tree overawe the traveUer. Enclosed by bare and lofty mountains right away to the Bocca di Brento and the giant Adamello, the vaUey assumes the character of the saUy-port and drawbridge of a battlemented stronghold. In truth such it is, for it is the frontier between great rival States, where Latin meets Teuton face to face ; and such it has been for more than one thousand years. 20 304 LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES Few outposts of civilization have witnessed as many tragedies and scenes of pathos and of sanctuary as the Val Sabbia and Val Buona. Ruins crown each elevated spur of crag, hermits' ceUs are caverned in the rock, and the few churches are weirdly ancient and inornate. Man's work has but taken its cue from the harshness of Nature round about. Rank and sparse is the grass, gaunt and gnarled the trees ; gay butterflies and melodious nightingales of the lakeland are rare visitants ; the eerie eagle and the ravening crow are monarchs of the air, and the gusty winds blow cold from ice-fields not far away. With something akin to relief the wayfarer comes upon the mountain Lago d' Idro, a six miles round stretch of deep indigo-dyed water, clear and cold as a cheerless tarn. The eye fastens upon the Rocca d' Anfo, hanging dizzUy over the gloomy waters — once a Venetian frontier fortress, a prison- house in later days, and now a ruin of the gory past. What tragedies have not eyes, peering through those iron window-slips, beheld time out of mind ! From Verona, Mantua, Cremona, Brescia, and Bergamo, many a fugitive rode through their gates and made a dash for liberty in the fastnesses of the Val Sabbia. Witches in the hands of captors were hailed to the moun tains, there to expiate their crimes by the sword or by starvation. Many a luckless princeling and " SEBINO " 305 many a maiden forlorn hid where the wild torrent Caff aro splashes foam on the dank rocks. In the im passable gorge discovery was impossible, and there the whitened bones of outcasts from the strife of men were aU the birds of prey left to tell the tale of human faUure. " Gurth the Swineherd," painted by Charles Edward Johnson, was not the only man of renown who sought safety in disguise and distance from his foes. One other picture at the British National GaUery points as well the moral of the story of Anfo and Caff aro — " Found," by Sir Hubert Herkomer. The dying fugitive is discovered by an old hag goatherdess, his blade broken in two, and his Ufe-blood running out. Dante must have had these harsh mountain vaUeys in his mind, — he knew weU their dismal fame, — when he wrote in his " Inferno " : "... Risen upright, My eyes rested, I moved about and sought With fixed gaze to know what place this was Wherein I stood. Suddenly upon the brink Of the lamentable vale I discovered The dread abyss that gives a thunderous sound Of plaints innumerable, dark and deep, With thick clouds overhead." From Crossa in the Giudicaria, beyond Caffaro, a road leads through the sequestered Val Ampola, past the peaceful Lago di Ledro, to Riva on the Lake of Garda — a very rapid transformation scene indeed ! CHAPTER VI "BENACO" THE LAKE OF GARDA " benaco " is. the greatest and the most seduc tive of aU the North Italian lakes. Dante Ali ghieri, in his " Inferno," Canto XXL, sings thus of the magnificence of regal Garda : " Mid fair Italia's highlands, lies a lake Shadow'd by Alpine barriers 'gainst the Teuton foe, Away beyond Tirol — ' Benaco ' it is called." From ancient Roman times its charms have fas cinated men and women of hght and learning. Its shape, — not unlike that of a comet, — its tail to the north, — is unique, and lends itself to constant permutations of surface and reflections. " Palpito il lago di Virgilio, come Velo di Sposa. Che s' apre al bacio del promesso amore /"* Aleardo Aleardi, the Veronese poet, likens the sweep of Garda' s flood to the trail of the sunbeams across the sky : * " The tremulous ripplings of Virgil's lake Like a bridal veil Just rais'd and lower'd a nuptial kiss to take." 306 " BENACO " 307 " II Sol dall' orizzante Saettava sui piano Purissimo del Garda."* Garda is the lacustrine Juno of Italy. Her history is Imperial, her influence upon mankind is pageant-like, — the pageantry of a Royal Court, — her affluence the most radiant and luxuriant in the rival arenas of love and arms. Like a capricious beauty, Garda displays all the airs and graces of the boudoir, and all the jealousies and tragedies of the rendezvous. Launched upon her deep waters, the idyU of her charm changes with the wind from the prosaic to the romantic, to the heroic. Her shores, now low-lying, now piled in precipices, resemble waUs of storied buildings be- dight with frescoes. Her hamlets and villages are seething vessels, whence pulsate the hot Italian blood of mortals, prone to passion, yet born to love. No greater contrast in Nature can be imagined than the bewitching amenities of the Riviera, — between Said and Gargnano, — and the stern repulsiveness of the sheer cliffs of the Austrian frontier. Every aspect of the realm of Flora is presented to the ravished eye : her rarest blooms and fruits are ready to be gathered by the craving hand, and every prospect pleases. * " The languishing sun Darts beams across the plain No purer than the face of Garda." 308 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Beneath the shine and shadow of her chameleon like waters, swim the rarest and the most toothsome fish that can engage man's skiU and deUght his palate. The fish of Garda, — the trota, carpione, scarline, and luccio in particular, — have been famous historicaUy ever since Catullus and his brother epicures buUt their fishing-temples, their baths, and their viUas upon her shores, and laid out her pristine gardens. Merlin Cocai writes thus, after regaling on lake carp or silver trout : " There is a lake — and men call it Garda, Whose fish, none better for the larder — Enslave the tongue and will." The carpione of Garda was regarded by the traveUed Venetians as a dish for the immortals, and no banquet in the city of Venus was complete without that delicacy ; they cooked it in white wine, and strewed it with citron flowers. The Emperor Frederic III., in 1489, — when passing over the troubled lakes and resting upon its shores, — testified to two, at least, of Garda' s exceUences. " The taste," said he, " of the silver trout, and the scent of the golden lemons, are unsurpassable !" Certainly the whole five senses of human enjoyment are superlatively gratified along and on Lake Garda. " BENACO " 309 Sirmione, — the " olive-silvery Sirmio " of Tennyson, — on its narrow promontory, resembles, perhaps, a silver dagger plunged into the heart of a golden pomegranate. Its fame goes back for ages. The ruins of the castle of the Scaligeri are, in fact, the base rock of Queen Ansa's Convent. Consort of the eighth-century Desiderio, — the far- famed Lombard King, — she renounced on widow hood quite conventionaUy the pleasures of the world, and withdrew to the loveliest, loneliest spot she knew. At the point of the peninsula she built a dower-house for Benedictine nuns, and dedicated her convent to St. Salvatore — the patron of the armed Longobards. Queen Ansa's founda tions also included the three churches — St. Martin, St. Vito, and St. Peter. The advent of the Scahgeri was of much more recent date. Martino deUa Scala, the Ghibelline Podestd of Verona, was assassinated in 1277 ; but his brother and successor, Alberto, revenged the foul deed, and raised his famUy's fame and banner high. For one hundred years they dominated the plain of Lombardy and aU lakeland until, with Bianca, widow of Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, their possessions in 1405_ passed to the Serene Republic of Venice. The Scala male-line ended in 1392, on the death of Conte Francesco. 310 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES Sirmione was one while the scene of fanaticism. The " Patareni," — Manichoeans, — set up their standard there to flout the frivolities and ferocities of the Delia Scala Court. They were driven from place to place, until, at Sirmione, they found an ideal refuge and sanctuary. Accused of nameless atrocities, and denounced by the Pope of Rome, Martino II. , Lord of Verona and the Lakes, issued a commission to inquire into their tenets and their aims. Condemned, with scarce a hearing, the deluded sectarians were ordered to recant and receive the Communion in the Church of San Pietro, — the only remnant of good Queen Ansa's munificence. Some gave way, and some stood firm, and these were ordered to be burnt. The venerable and infirm were fastened to stakes set up in the little square before the church, and there, in the midst of the sweetest sights and sounds of God's universe, the crackling flames devoured their limbs and the sickening stench of roasting human flesh contaminated the fragrance of oleanders and magnolias. One hundred and fifty younger folk were carried off to Verona, and suffered, like gladiators of old, in the arena. For his vindication of the Catholic Religion, Pope Nicholas III. bestowed upon Martino the title of " Son of the Church," and gave him the Castle of Ilassi, some ten miles from Verona. In CASTLE OF THE SCALIGERS AT SIRMIONE, LAKE OF GARDA From a Print. Note the large Fishing- Ket To face page 310 " BENACO " 311 the sixteenth century it passed to the Conti de' Pompei of Verona, and they built viUas and laid out gardens on the slopes of the castle hill. Charles V., — who, with his fair daughter Maria, loved Sirmione, and relished weU its trout and sardines, — made the Pompei citizens of Milan. Count Antonio was something of an archaeologist, and he had a hobby for digging up old stones and probing ruins. Perhaps he was induced by a weird story of the times of the Scaligeri. A fair maiden, — a Patarena, be it said, — was saved from the holocausts at Sirmione to be attached to the signorial household. She, however, disappeared mysteriously, and rumour had it that Martino II. made her his mistress ; but, finding the connec tion injurious to his reputation for dogmatical perfection of deportment, he had her strangled and her body buried in an unknown spot at Ilassi. There is, to be sure, another legend at Ilassi, — gruesome, too, — but it affected the famUy of the Pompei. Countess Ginevra, wife of Count Gior- lamo di' Pompei, was unfaithful to her husband — her paramour being an under-seneschal of the castle. The Count strangled her — a ready way then in aristocratic circles, and very popular — and the lover was thrown into a river. The body of the murdered Countess was buried within the keep of the castle ; some, indeed, say she was built alive into a hollow in the thick wall of the 312 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES dungeon and left to die— another not uncommon end for noble ladies none too true to, or outraged by, profligate spouses. Anyhow, Count Antonio de' Pompei found one day what he was looking for — the skeleton of a woman, with beautiful auburn hair. Among the remains were articles of jewellery which betokened rank and wealth. Around the ankle-bones and wrists were still the iron rings, and there were also iron chains which had chafed the breasts of the frail beauty. What a sad time must Prince Cupid have had when lovers were parted thus ! Hidden away in its exquisite bay lies the smUing and ambitious little town of Said, its white and painted houses aU smothered up deliriously in fragrant groves of oleander — the laurel of the Greeks. A coronal of sumptuous viUas crowns the undulating upland. Some are of ancient origin, others of modern date, but blend wide- parted centuries of struggle and romance. Famous families have come and gone ; names of some only remain to individualize traditions of the past — others are incarnate still. As pre-eminent as any stands the noble house of Martinengo, — named from the simple cradle of the family, — a little village of obscurity midway between Bergamo and Treviglio, out upon the great Lombardian plain. Many branches have issued from the parent stock, but all look to Tebaldo of that ilk " BENACO " 313 as the initial figure of the race. Tebaldo was the Lieutenant of the warfaring Emperor Otto II. , and the recipient of Imperial honours — fifteen castles, great and small, being held by him in chief. Cesare Martinengo, in the sixteenth century, — the head of the Cesaresco branch, — made himself a name in war and peace alike. Father of four teen vigorous sons and eight most beauteous daughters, he was indeed the creator of a glorious progeny ; and, if Sansovino, the chronicler, is to be believed, he hved up to his great parental fame in the exhibition of such splendour and prodigality as carried the glory of the Martinenghi far and wide through Europe. The vigour of this famous sire is stUl maintained in his descendants ; the chief of the famUy stiU resides and rules at Castello Roccafranca. The grandson of Cesare Martinengo, — " the Magnificent" Sciarra, — was educated at the Court of France, and became an eminent soldier of fortune. The same worthy historian says of him : " He was gifted with extraordinary genius ; un conquerable by fatigue or strife, a scorner of danger, he was a pillar of strength to any cause he assumed. . . ." Count Sciarra rose to high commands in the army of the King of France. When still a youth, — it has been recorded, — he heard that his father had been basely assassinated 314 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES by Count Aluigi Avogardo of Brescia. Posting immediately to Lombardy, he reached that city with five stalwart comrades, sworn to secrecy and revenge. Their lying in wait was told to Avo gardo, who eluded his adversaries adroitly, and at length, when they had cornered him, he very narrowly escaped Sciarra' s blade, having changed clothes with one of his suite, whose life was taken for his master's. Count Sciarra had to seek safety in flight, for, by the laws of Venice, which then ruled Gardan territory, life was had for life. Back went the Count to France, resumed his prowess, and died a hero's death in the war of the Huguenots. Count Sciarra's father, Count Giorgio Cesaresco Martinengo, scrupulously carried on the family tradition for ostentation : he is known in story as " the superb Itahan." Doubtless jealousy was at the root of his murderer's ambition. It was only by cutting down men more prominent than themselves that those who envied their fame and fortune succeeded to their places. This altruism is stiU a force in modern socialistic circles ! Count Giorgio, as became aU opulent and powerful nobles, was nothing if he was not chival rous to boot. A story goes that the Marchioness of Mantua, making one of her famous progresses through her husband's dominions, and beyond, where they were ready to welcome her, passed " BENACO " 315 through Brescia. The Count met her at the Venetian gate of the city, and offered her the hos pitality of his palace. Her Highness declined the invitation, having, as she said, " already secured accommodation at the Albergo del CasteUo." With ready wit and consummate gaUantry, the not-to-be-denied " Magnifico " immediately secured the hanging sign of the hostel, and hung it out triumphantly over the portal of his ancestral mansion. The Duchess, of course, entirely un aware of this exceUent subterfuge, made no demur at dismounting from her litter at the palatial Albergo del CasteUo. The Count had played his ace of trumps upon the Queen's trick ! The chivalry of Counts Giorgio and Sciarra dis tinguished quite naturaUy their relative, Count Fortunato Cesaresco Martinengo. He was the third son of Count Cesare " the Magnificent." His fame was that of his nephew, the daring Sciarra : " Skilled in arms and knightly exercises, a com plete Courtier, he was the right-hand man of all Itahan Sovereigns ; he loved to right the oppressed and to scorn the proud. To moral superiority he added charm of manner. Whatever he undertook he was enthusiastic in its prosecution. Accom plished beyond most men of his time, he was a profound Latinist, a capable musician, a worthy poet, and a fluent speaker. First President of the Brescian "Societd di Dubbiosi," — perhaps Englished 316 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES as "Friends of impoverished nobles" — he ex pended his fortune as the munificent patron of struggling gentlemen and scholars. Among those who have sung Count Fortunato's praises was Pietro Aretino, who styles him " conspicuous for rare literary ability." Married when a lad to a wife younger than him self, Donna Livia, daughter of Count d' Arco, — a famous Latinist, — she inherited her father's scholarship, and was a rare helpmeet for her ac complished husband. Alas ! the Countess died young, too, leaving as pledges of her love two sons and three daughters. Count Fortunato was disconsolate ; but although he never married again, he formed a platonic association with a woman more famous than any of her time — the celebrated Marchesa di Pescara, Vittoria Colonna. The Count's conduct was marked by rare courage and devotion. The world affected to look down upon the heroine, and the Pope himself tried to injure her by banning her as " unworthy of decent society." Count Fortunato would have none of it. " She was aged more by sorrow than by years. Nature had taken back her beauty ; but she was erect of carriage, with a noble presence, the mirror of tranquil energy. She wore black velvet, covered with her graceful white widow's veil, and she found a delectable asylum in a Bene dictine convent." Thus has she been biographed VITTORIA COLONNA (1520) G. MUZIACO Colonna Gallery, Rome To face page 316 " BENACO " 317 in faithful terms. The Count himself found her even so, and wrote sympathetically as foUows : " Certainly Vittoria is a most rare and distin guished woman ; great is her humUity, as remark able as her former pride. Her whole conduct, no less than her character, is princely. She has an amazing talent for conversation, and her words are like fetters which enthral the hearer. Her voice has reached my inmost soul, and I delight that her influence has made me her willing but unworthy slave — the slave of the most excellent and most conscientious woman that the sun of Heaven shines upon." The letter is dated from Salo, June 7, 1546. The marchioness was then just fifty-seven years of age, and the foUowing year Count Fortunato was once more struck to the heart by the dart of death — the death of the woman he loved and reverenced. No juster epitaph for Count Fortunato could be desired than those touching words of Shake speare : " The dearest friend to me, the kindest man, The best conditioned and unwearied spirit In doing kindly acts, and one in whom The ancient Roman's honour more appears Than any that draw breath in Italy." We in England have a link with Count Fortunato Cesaresco Martinengo in the person of his brother Girolamo, who, entering Religion, rose from dig- 318 LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES nity to dignity in the Church until he became Papal Legate to Austria and Poland. In 1561 he was sent as an Envoy to Queen Elizabeth, to ask her to name a representative at the Council of Trent. He, too, maintained the family traditions for pompous circumstance. He lived sumptu ously as a Prince of the Church ; his household and all his appointments were splendid. His income was splendid, too, for he possessed the tempor alities of three bishoprics, and farmed many fat benefices besides. If the Martinenghi could count their heroes, and emblazon their names in glowing colours upon the " Libro , 296 „ Paolina " Lady of Lake "), 296 „ Signore Battista, 296 Suitor, An " Apple-Green," 154-156 T Tadini, Count AohUleo, 256 Count Luigi, 256 „ Teresa, Tragic death of, 256 Talamone, Pietro (of Varese), 101 " Tales of Boldoni," 188 Tapestries, Rich, 218 Tassera, Villa of, 196 Tasso, Count Alessandro, 292 Bernardo (of Bergamo), 292 „ Torquato (Poet), 292 „ „ on "Val Brebana," 292 Tempesta, Giovanni (Cavaliere), 62 Tennyson, Alfred, on "Como," 141 ; on " Garda," 309 ; on "Queen Theo delinda," 141 Testagrossa, Angelo (Mezzo-Soprano), 234 Theatre, The, 39, 40, 102, 106, 234 TheodeUnda, Prinoess-Queen, 138-142 Tibaldo, PeUegrino (Architect), 145 ,, Marquis Sebastiano, 102 Titled Pensioners, 144, 145 Tiziano, Veoellio (Painter, 173, 174 Tommassia, Giovanni (Writerj, 119 Torre (Torriano), FUippo delle (War Lord), 100 ,, ,, Napoleone delle (A Tragedy), 113, 114, 174, 175 Toscolano on Garda, 331-333, 338, 347, 357, 360 Town Rivalries, 32, 33, 43 Tragedies, 114, 162, 163, 171, 189, 190, 219, 224, 228, 256, 268, 298, 304, 310, 311, 313, 322, 323, 327-329 Tribiano, Count Giacinto, -Alari, 209, 210 Trissino, Giangiorgio" Ritratti " of, 339, 340 Trivulzio, BelgioBioso, Cristina (" Citi zen "), 133, 134, 149, 205, 206 „ Count Giaoomo, 247 „ Princess Giulia Barbiano, 207 Saluzai, Teresa (Countess), 102 Trompia, Val, 284, 294, 299 Trotti, Signora Minia (of Olgiate), 208 " Trussed up like a Fowl !" 334 Tussio, Antonio di (A Lover), 225, 226 U " Union of the Fittest," 228 ValvasBori, Oliva, " Scourge of An gera," 55 Vampire-Women, 170, 355 382 INDEX Varese, Lake of, 96-109 „ Derivation of, 96 Varnei, Gianantonio " Champion of Liberty," 29 Varro of Lombardy," " The, 147 Vassalli, Filippo (Man of Letters), 119, 120 Venus, Goddess of Como, 110, 158, 159, 182, 241 " Verbano," Lake of, 23-76 ,, Derivation of, 23 " Verdant Land, The," Brianza, 183- 211 Vertova, Albertoni da, First Consul of Bergamo, 297 ,, Cristoforo (Frate-Commen- datore), 297 Elizabetta (Countess) 297 ,, Galeazzo (Knight of Malta), 297 „ Giovanni Battista (Count), 297, 298 Guglielmo, 298 ,, Leonardo (Knight of Malta), 297 Vezzani, Count Giulio Cesare, 102 Viani, Giovannino (Champion of Liberty), 29 „ Signore MassimUiano, 51 Vignone, Lucio (A Lover), 171 VUlains, Six, 189, 190 " Violenta Signoretta /" La, 355 Virago, A Paramount, 221, 222 Visitors, Embarrassing, 210, 211 Visconti, Arconati, 149 Azzone, 175, 186 Bernabo, 108, 197, 214, 267- 269 „ Bianca Maria, Sforza, 216, 217, 309 „ Bianca da Savoia (Countess), 212 „ Bianca da Savoia, Duchess of MUan, 206 „ Caterina deUa Torre, Duch ess of Milan, 197 ,, Elizabetta Borromeo, Duch ess of Milan, 197 Ermo, 45 Filippo Maria, 28, 46, 73, 100, 197, 199, 214, 272, „ Francesco Maria, 44, 47 Visconti, GabrieUe Maria, 214, 2iS Gian Galeazzo I., 48, 169, 197, 267, 269 Gian Galeazzo IT., 54, 70, 206, 211, 213, 214, 309 „ Giovanni Maria I., 54 Giovanni Maria IL, 70, 214 „ Giovanni (Archbishop), 175, 206 „ Guido, 44 Gaspari, 234, 243 Martino, 177 „ Ottone (Archbishop), 54, 70, 314 „ Regina della Scala, Duchess of MUan, 197 „ Scipione, 134 Yolanda, Duchess of Clar ence, 211, 212 Volta, Count Girolamo, 119 W Wachs-MyUus, VUla, 170-172 Water Pageants, 198, 278, 364, 363 „ Parties, 37, 38, 104, 331, 337, 338, 342, 344, 353 Wedding ! A Criss-Cross, 92 Wines, Rich, 208, 209, 213 Wippingen, Johann von (Patriot), 79, 80 Witchcraft, 201, 203 Wives : Eloping, 187 ; Jealous, 60 ; Mistress, 232, 247; Murdered, 62, 197, 298, 311, 312, 319, 330, Women : Benedictine Frocks, 181 ; Grit, 114 ; Most Distinguished, 316, 317 Yolanda Da Serina (A Beautiful Model), 287-290 „ Visconti, Duchess of Clar ence, 211, 212 Youths, Comely, 187, 221, 226, 234, 270 Z Zobii. See Giovio Zorzio da Spinone (Charocal-Burner, Athlete), 276, 277, 281 BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PBINTBES, SUILDFORD '¦;''.'fi-J '.:'¦¦¦ ^^^'..ir'''.