We captured this image through the hazy, dirty, wet window of a tour boat on Lake Como, Italy. With storms all day, our excursion from the town of Como to Bellagio was a bit rough and I had just a few seconds to brace myself and get the shot. I loved the colors of this building but the image needed a lot of work to make it presentable. Here are the results of maybe six hours of Photoshop work to remove the imperfections. When the Corona Virus fades, and if you can, I would recommend visiting this beautiful corner of Northern Italy, replete with the villas of the super-rich.
I learned this about this villa:
The Cardinal Building and the Queen’s Pavilion are separate historical villas that now comprise the Hotel Villa d’Este. The hotel website describes The Queen’s Pavilion, seen here, as “an elegant red trompe l’oeil building.” It was interesting to me to discover that trompe l’oeil is a term or technique that might be used in architecture to create the illusion of a much deeper space than a building actually occupies.
In 1815 Caroline of Brunswick, the Princess of Wales, moved to the area and changed the name of the site from Villa Garrovo to Villa D’este. (This was an older building). If you are a history buff, you will find the circumstances of her arrival here intriguing. Caroline soon ran out of money, sold the original villa then died in 1821. Twenty-five years later in 1856, Baron Ciani designed and built the structure you see here in her honor, which was available for public accommodation as a spa. The building was soon leased to Russian czarina Maria Feodorowna. Twenty years after that, this building and the larger Cardinal building next door became the Hotel Villa d’Este.
