«Photographing Villa d’Este is like photographing an old friend who you know very well, and sometimes photographing who you know is not so easy», says the photographer Guido Taroniauthor of the volume published by Rizzoli, Villa d’Este. A legend on Lake Como, dedicated to the great hotel which this year celebrates 150 years of history. «I have known Villa d’Este since I was a child – he says – and I realize that his beauty has grown me as a person. In this work I tried to respect that beauty.”
In fact it is like this, when you know a person or a place well, when you have come into contact with the myth of Villa d’Este, it is difficult to understand what impact the perfect gardens of the Villa d’Este can have in the eyes of those who have never seen them before. park or the elegance of the palace designed in the sixteenth century byarchitect Pellegrino Pellegrini. Or the steps of Neptune, the elegance of the Nymphaeum, or the works of art that adorn the rooms, or even the floating pool on the lake, born in 1960, first in the world. Or the castles that dominate the park, or even the sumptuous rooms, the paintings, the suites and then the secret luxury of the Dependance, the elegance of the restaurant, the statues, the corridors, the rooms, the fabrics, up to the chandeliers. Villa d’Este is everything you expect from a luxury hotel, it has been the paradigm of elegance in the hotel industry for 150 years and offers part of its magic to everyone. Each of the clients who have passed there, famous or not, will feel Villa d’Este a little of him, part of the memories of him. And this is the great promise of this magical place: to let you enter its history.
«Villa d’Este was a dream from many years ago, born of my parents, who spent a lot of time here» he said at the presentation of the book which today is also being distributed on the international market Giuseppe Fontana, President of the Board of Directors of Villa d’Este SpA «It’s like owning a jewel. Its value is not venal, but arises from the quality of the stone, its shine, its purity. Villa d’Este is an experience of beauty.”
That of the Fontana family is a commitment to care, a responsibility in the role of custodians of this beauty. «Over 500 people work at Villa D’Este and for all of us this is a commitment of responsibility», he says Carlotta Fontana«Villa d’Este is 473 years old, we feel like a passage in this story, we are managers called to preserve its historical and cultural peculiarities and pass them on.”
Yet this book does not only celebrate the myth: Guido Taroni’s photographs tell that Villa d’Este continues to write history, it is alive, it is an emotional encounter. «Making a book is never a formal act», he comments Stefano PeccatoriCEO and President of Rizzoli International Publications, «it means getting in tune with a place, doing it with passion. We didn’t want to make a book that was just celebratory because we felt like we were diminishing this place. We wanted to make a book that was a living celebration of what happens.” And this is how it is in Guido Taroni’s photographs the places of the hotel come alive, they are filled with stories, with its characters: a bride on a motorboat, a game of chess in front of the lake, a group of friends playing tennis, children playing in a suite, a lady wearing makeup and the stylist Lorenzo Riva, a loyal visitor to the hotel, who also signs the introduction. A book to remember that – as Giuseppe Fontana commented – «The magic of Villa d’Este lies in its soul and involves everyone».
Villa d’Este. A legend on Lake Como
Photographs by Guido Taroni, texts by Helen Farrell.
The introduction is signed by the stylist Lorenzo Riva.
Publisher: Rizzoli, Pp.: 240, Price: €80.00
Source: Vanity Fair
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