Here is a sumptuous showcase of the marvellous range of antiques - ranging from miniatures to rare decorative objects to precious period furniture - housed.in some of the most beautiful private residences in Italy.

Most of these photographs, taken by Mario Ciampi over the past twenty years, are published here for the first time. The residences range in scale from gorgeous palatial villas to relatively modest homes, and from the great cities of Italy -Venice, Florence, Naples and Rome - to the smaller, but equally beautiful, cities of Lucca,Positano and Siena...

Here is a sumptuous showcase of the marvellous range of antiques - ranging from miniatures to rare decorative objects to precious period furniture - housed.in some of the most beautiful private residences in Italy.

Most of these photographs, taken by Mario Ciampi over the past twenty years, are published here for the first time. The residences range in scale from gorgeous palatial villas to relatively modest homes, and from the great cities of Italy -Venice, Florence, Naples and Rome - to the smaller, but equally beautiful, cities of Lucca,Positano and Siena. From the Museo Mario Praz in Rome, home to an extraordinary collection of 1,200 pieces of furniture, marble, bronze,silver and crystal works of art, to renowned art historian Frederico Zeri's house in Mentana,which contains a priceless collection of Roman epigraphs and a vast art and photography library,all the interiors in this book attest to the special allure of antiques and to the beguiling rewards of collecting.

INTRODUCTION

A TEMPLE AMIDST THE MOUNTAINS · Villa Cimena, Castagneto Po

A GENTLEWOMAN OF HIGH SOCIETY · Palazzo Lotteringhi della Stufa, Horence

THE BEQUEST OF A LADY · Palazzo Pisani Moretta, Venice

BOOKS OF PAPER AND BOOKS OF STONE · Casa Zeri, Mentana

NINETEENTH-CENTURY NEOCLASSICISM IN TUSCANY · Palazzo Pierantoni, Lucca

THE CARDINAL, THE LADIES, AND THE REMEDIES · Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia

THE FURNISHINGS OF A CONDOTTIERE · The Fortress of Soragna

THE ENIGMA OF MEMORY· Mario Praz, Rome

HUNTS OF THE MEDICI AND THE HAPSBURGS · Villa Tadini, Agnano

THE ROOMS OF A PRINCE · Naples

PORTRAIT OF AN ABODE · Villa Mandri, Reggello

MEMORIES OF THE ORIENT ON THE RIVIERA · Villa Laura, Ospedaletti

THEATERS ON THEWATER · Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore

THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY LOMBARD RENAISSANCE · Casa Necchi Campiglio, Milan

CREDITS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS