After Guiseppe
died, Julia
stayed on with
her mother
for awhile at
Caprarola,
then moved to
Rome. For the
rest of her life,
the Palace was
memorialized
in her
consistent use
of purple in
her clothing,
derived from
the gardens...
figures and beasts from the Zodiac;
highly animated, these creatures
seem to be chasing one another
in star-studded confrontation.
After Guiseppe died, Julia stayed
on with her mother for awhile at
Caprarola, then moved to Rome.
For the rest of her life, the Palace
was memorialized in her consistent
use of purple in her clothing,
derived from the gardens, where
flowers in the same color still bloom
in profusion. I walked through
banks of them recalling Julia's
suits and dresses, brooches, hats,
pocket books, handkerchiefs and
stationery. "Christopher," she
said, "purple began at Caprarola."
My parents, Julia and her sister
Alice on several occasions stayed
at the Brazilian Court in Palm
Beach concurrently. "You'll find
her," said the front desk manager,
"The Queen of Purple is with your
mother!"
When Guiseppe first brought Julia
to Caprarola, he led her to what
is called the Secret Garden, in the
middle of which is a splendid villa,
the Casino, sited up the hill above
the Palace. Julia reminisces:
HYLAND
