Author(s): Cristiana Moldi-Ravenna; Tudy Sammartini

Pictorial Travel Books

This edition of Secret Gardens in Venice, entirely in colour, is intended to satisfy the growing desire of Venetians and tourists to know more about this fascinating city and its history. Examining both the present reality and the past history of the gardens of Venice, the authors seek to understand the special fascination of these places. In Venice gardens are by definition private places, extra rooms to the palazzi. Owing to the geographical limitations of the city, gardens acquire the added value of rarity and thus confer further prestige on their owners. Cristiana Moldi-Ravenna and Tudy Sammartini have divided the book into seven chapters dealing with purely Venetian themes: memory, confidence, self-celebration, ornamentation, imagination, the arcane, meditation. The text is supported by generous quotations from earlier writers, both Italian and foreign, offering a mixture of historical observations and personal impressions. The book is further enriched by an extraordinary array of colour pictures by one of the finest photographers of our day. Gianni Berengo Gardin has created a series of fascinating poetic images, which reveal a wholly new and unknown side of Venice.