r the top of the central portion,--with
excellent effect (see Frontispiece).

GENOA, TURIN, AND NAPLES.

Turning now to Genoa we find, as we may in several great cities of
Italy, that very great success has been achieved by an artist whose
works are to be seen in no other city, and whose fame is
proportionally restricted. Just as the power of Luini as a painter can
only be fully understood at Milan, or that of Giulio Romano at Mantua,
so the genius of Alessio (1500 to 1572) as an architect can only be
understood at Genoa. From the designs of this architect were built a
series of well planned and imposing palaces. These buildings have most
of them the advantage of fine and roomy sites. The fronts are varied,
but as a rule consist of a very bold basement, with admirably-treated
vigorous mouldings, supporting a lighter superstructure, and in one or
two instances flanked by an open arcade at the wings. The entrance
gives access, through a vaulted hall, to the cortile, which is usually
planned and designed in the most effective manner; and in several
instances the state staircase is so combined with this feature that on
ascending the first flight the visitor comes to a point of sight for
which the whole may be said to have been designed, and from which a
splendid composition of columns and arches is seen. The rooms and
galleries in these palaces are very fine, and in several instances
have been beautifully decorated in fresco by Perino del Vaga.

Alessio was also the architect of a large domical church (il
Carignano) in the same city; but it is far inferior in merit to his
series of palaces. Genoa also possesses a famous church (the
Annunziata) of late Renaissance, attributed to Puget (1622-1694). It
is vaulted, and enriched with marbles, mosaics, and colour to such an
extent that it may fairly claim to be the most gaudy church in Italy,
which is unfortunate, as its original undecorated design is fine and
simple.

Turin in the north, and Naples in the south, are chiefly remarkable
for examples of the latest and more or less debased Renaissance, and
we therefore do not propose to illustrate or describe any of the
buildings in either city.

COUNTRY VILLAS.

[Illustration: FIG. 70.--VILLA MEDICI--ON THE PINCIAN HILL NEAR
ROME. BY ANNIBALE LIPPI (NOW THE _Academie Francaise_).
(A.D. 1540.)]

As the ancient Roman patrician had his villa, which was his country
resort, the Italian of the revival followed