Borromean Islands

October 7, 2021

Borromean Islands

 Our day began with a lecture from the art expert traveling with us.  Sheri Shaneyfelt is a professor of art at Vanderbilt University specializing in the Italian Renaissance.  Our focus today was the three Borromean Islands which are located just offshore from the west side of Lake Maggiore, not far from Stresa.  The Borromeo family has been dominant in this part of Italy for centuries, and has counted extensive businesses, four popes, a number of cardinals and other prominent people among its members.  There are summer palaces on two islands, one of which has a prominent art collection.  Dr. Shaneyfelt talked extensively about the collection with attention to a small number of paintings which she introduced in depth before we saw them.

After the lecture we had a break during which we wandered into town and had a light lunch at a café right on the water.  We then had another lecture from a local guide on the gardens of Lake Maggiore, following which we walked to the shore and took a small boat to Isola Madre.

 

There is a broad path up to the palace:

 

Long-tail pheasant and silver pheasant live here:

 

There is a garden walk around the circumference of the island:

The variety of plants, many of which are tropical (including oranges and grapefruits) was remarkable,and the garden walk was lovely.  The exterior of the palace is not very special:

 

But the interior is wonderful; I’ll only show a couple of rooms.  Here’s a bedroom with a cradle:

 

A major form of entertainment was the puppet theater which took up an entire room:

 

After touring the palace, we took a boat to a second island, Isola Pescatori which, as you might guess from the name, is home to a fishing village and some cutesy shops and restaurants.  We didn’t stay long, although the gelato here was excellent.  Finally, we took yet another boat to the major attraction, Isola Bella and its palace and gardens. 

 

Here’s the major gallery with paintings in extremely elaborate frames hung so close to one another that you mostly can’t see the wall.  Our lecture had touched on the customs of framing and hanging art works, so we were not surprised, but it was astonishing to see. 

We saw paintings we had studied that morning, including the large and powerful “The Martyrdom of Saint Agnes” by Camillo Procaccini (1555-1629):

 

The music room had a wonderful harpsichord:

 

There was an incredible table which had been a gift from Pope Leo XII (who was pope from 1823-1829) to Count Giberto Borromeo:

All the flowers are made of a colored glass mosaic:

One room is full of wonderful tapestries:

Here’s a detail from one:

Our last stop was the truly remarkable upper terrace:

We were plenty weary after that, but the tour leader had a wonderful wine and hors oeuvres reception waiting for us. What a great day.  Tomorrow we’ll spend the day in Milan, including a visit to Michelangelo’s “Last Supper” and the La Scala opera house.  More then.