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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrea Palladio | 2/8 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Palladio | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T16:39:58.394599+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Variations of the urban palace === Palazzo Chiericati (begun in 1550) was another urban palace, built on a city square near the port in Vicenza. It was constructed after the Palazzo della Ragione, but it was very different in its plan and decoration. The two-story facade with a double loggia was divided into eleven spaces by rows of Doric columns, while a Doric cornice separated the lower level from the more important piano nobile above. The original plan of Palladio had the upper level identical to the lower level, but the owners wanted more space for ceremonies, so the central section on the piano nobile was brought forward and given windows with decorative frontons, doubling the interior space. The Palazzo del Capitaniato, the offices of the Venetian governor of the region, is a later variation on the urban palace, built in Vicenza facing the Basilica Palladiana, and the finest of his late urban palaces. The four brick half-columns on the facade give a strong element of verticality, carefully balanced by the horizontal balustrades on the piano nobile, and on the projecting cornice at the top. The red brick of the walls and columns and the white stone of the balustrades and bases of the columns give another contrast. The facade was later given stucco sculptural decoration in the Mannerist style, which has considerably deteriorated.
=== Classical studies === The success of the Basilica Palladiana propelled Palladio into the top ranks of the architects of Northern Italy. He had travelled to Rome in 1549, hoping to become a Papal architect, but the death of Pope Paul III ended that ambition. His patron, Gian Giorgio Trissino, died in 1550, but in the same year Palladio gained a new supporter, the powerful Venetian aristocrat Daniele Barbaro. Through Barbaro he became known to the major aristocratic families of Northern Italy. In addition to the Barbaros, the aristocratic Cornaro, Foscari, and Pisani families supported Palladio's career, while he continued to construct a series of magnificent villas and palaces in Vicenza in his new classical style, including the Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza, the Villa Pisani in Montagnana, and the Villa Cornaro in Piombino Dese. Cardinal Barbaro brought Palladio to Rome and encouraged him to publish his studies of classical architecture. In 1554, he published the first of a series of books, Antiquities of Rome. He continued to compile and write his architectural studies, lavishly illustrated, which were published in full form in 1570 as I quattro libri dell'architettura (The Four Books of Architecture), in Venice. These books, reprinted in different languages and circulated widely in Europe, secured his reputation as the most influential figure in the renewal of classical architecture, a reputation which only continued to grow after his death.
=== Rustic-suburban villas === The type of villa invented by Palladio at the Villa Cornaro (begun 1553), located at Piombino Dese near Padua, was a mixture of villa rustica (country house), designed for country living, and a suburban villa, designed for entertaining and impressing. The distinction between the two parts was clearly expressed in the architecture. The central block is nearly square, with two low wings. The rear facade facing the garden has a spacious loggia, or covered terrace, supported by independent columns, on both the ground level and above on the piano nobile. The front facade facing the road has the same plan but with narrower loggias. The Hall of the Four Columns, the grand salon, could be entered by a grand stairway from either the front or back of the house. It has a very high ceiling, creating a large cubic space, and a roof supported by four Doric columns. Palladio placed niches in the walls of this salon, which were later filled with full-length statues of the ancestors of the owner. The more rustic functions of the house were carried on in the adjoining wings.
=== Suburban villas === The suburban villa was a particular type of building, a house near a city designed primarily for entertaining. Villa Barbaro (begun 1557) at Maser was an imposing suburban villa, built for the brothers Marcantonio and Daniele Barbaro, who were respectively occupied with politics and religious affairs in the Veneto, or Venice region. The long facade was perfectly balanced. The interior, following the professions of the brothers, had both classical and religious motifs. The central hall, The Hall of Olympus on the ground floor, was decorated with Roman gods and goddesses, but when one mounted the stairs, the long upper floor was in the form of a cross and Christian images predominate. The villa also has a series of remarkable frescos and ceiling paintings by Paolo Veronese combining mythical themes with scenes of everyday life. Behind the villa, Palladio created a remarkable nymphaeum, or Roman fountain, with statues of the gods and goddesses of the major rivers of Italy. The most famous suburban villa constructed by Palladio was the Villa Capra "La Rotonda", not far from Vicenza, begun in 1566 for Count Paolo Almerico, the canon of Pope Pius IV and Pope Pius V. The site is on a gentle wooded hilltop, with views of the countryside in all directions. The villa is perfectly symmetrical, with four identical facades with porticos around the domed centre. The height of the base is exactly the height of the attic, and the width of each portico is exactly half the length of the facade. The interior frescos were painted by Ludovico Dorigny in 1680–1687, and were not part of Palladio's plan. The building was especially influential, particularly in England and the United States, where it inspired "Neo-Palladianist" buildings such as Mereworth Castle (1724) in Kent and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia (1772).