Italian Splendor: Great Castles, Palaces, and Villas

This is a lavishly illustrated tour through fifty magnificent villas and palaces built by the Italian aristocracy. From peaceful country retreats in Tuscany and the Veneto and impressive urban residences in Rome and Siena to fortresslike castles and grand villas in Trieste and Sicily, this book showcases the works of some of the most famous artists and architects of all time. Palladio, Raphael, and Veronese, among others, each contributed to create the most divine and otherworldly atmospheres ever to grace Italian art and architecture. In these pages, one is permitted behind the often imposing gates and facades to get a glimpse of a lifestyle that seems almost unimaginable in the twenty-first century.

Jack Basehart lives in Milan and spent a year and a half traveling through Italy compiling information for the book and arranging access to the many properties covered.

Ralph Toledano is a Paris-based writer and art authority.

Roberto Schezen was an internationally acclaimed architectural photographer whose work appeared in Palm Beach Houses, Newport Houses, and many other books.