AUTHOR OF "ROMANCE OF THE ITALIAN VILLAS," "ROMANCE OF THE FEUDAL CHÂTEAUX," "ROMANCE OF THE FRENCH ABBEYS," etc.
ILLUSTRATED
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1908
INTRODUCTION
In came the cardinal, grave and coldly wise,
His scarlet gown and robes of cobweb lace
Trailed on the marble floor; with convex glass
He bent o'er Guido's shoulder.
Walter Thornbury.
STILL unrivalled, after the lapse of four centuries the villas of the great cardinals of the Renaissance retain their supremacy over their Italian sisters, not, as once, by reason of their prodigal magnificence but in the appealing charm of their picturesque decay.