“Photographing Villa d’Este is like photographing an old friend you know very well, and sometimes it’s not so easy to photograph those you know,” says photographer Guido Taroniauthor of the volume published by Rizzoli, Villa d’Este. A legend in Lake Como, dedicated to the great hotel that celebrates 150 years of history this year. “I have known Villa d’Este since I was a child – he says – and I realize that its beauty has grown me as a person. In this work I tried to respect that beauty.”
In fact it is so, when you know a person or a place well, when you have come into contact with the legend of Villa d’Este, it is difficult to understand what impact the perfect gardens of Villa d’Este can have in the eyes of those who do not have seen before.park or the elegance of the palace designed in the sixteenth century byarchitect Pellegrino Pellegrini. Or the steps of Poseidon, the elegance of Nymphaeum, or the works of art that adorn the rooms, or even the floating pool in the lake, born in 1960, first in the world. Or the castles that dominate the park, or even the luxurious 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, even the chandeliers. Villa d’Este is everything you would expect from a luxury hotel, it has been the epitome of elegance in the hotel industry for 150 years and offers some of its magic to everyone. Each of our guests, whether famous or not, will feel that Villa d’Este is a little bit of their own, a part of their memories. And that is the great promise of this magical place: to let you into its history.
“Villa d’Este was a dream of many years, born of my parents, who spent a lot of time here,” he said at the launch of the book, which is now also on the international market. Giuseppe Fontana, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Villa d’Este SpA “It’s like having a piece of jewelry. Its value is not venous, but arises from the quality of the stone, its luster, 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,” he says. Carlotta Fontana“Villa d’Este is 473 years old, we feel like a passage in this history, we are managers called to to preserve its historical and cultural particularities and pass them on”.
However, this book doesn’t just celebrate the legend: Guido Taroni’s photographs tell it Villa d’Este continues to make history, it is alive, it is an emotional encounter. “Creating a book is never a formal act,” he comments Stefano PeccatoriCEO and President of Rizzoli International Publications, “it means attuning to a place, doing it with passion. We didn’t want to do a book that was just celebratory because we felt like we were diminishing that part. We wanted to make a book that would be a living celebration of what’s going on.” And so it is in the photographs of Guido Taroni the parts of the hotel come alive, full of stories, with its characters: a bride on a motor boat, a game of chess in front of the lake, a group of friends playing tennis, children playing in a suite, a lady with make-up and stylist Lorenzo Riva, a loyal guest of the hotel, who also signs the introduction. A book to remember that – as Giuseppe Fontana commented – “The magic of Villa d’Este is in its soul and involves everyone».
Villa d’Este. A legend in Lake Como
Photos by Guido Taroni, texts by Helen Farrell.
The introduction is signed by stylist Lorenzo Riva.
Publisher: Rizzoli, Pages: 240, Price: €80.00
(tagsTo Translate) luxury hotel