Illustrazione Elena Prette
The city of Vicenza and the Palladian villas of the Veneto is a serial site including the city of Vicenza and twenty-four Palladian villas scattered in the Veneto area. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994, the site initially comprised only the city of Vicenza with its twenty-three buildings attributed to Palladio, as well as three villas extra muros. Twenty-one villas located in several provinces were later included in the 1996 site extension. Founded in the 2nd century BC in northern Italy, Vicenza prospered under Venetian rule from the early 15th to the end of the 18th century. The work of Andrea Palladio (1508–80), based on a detailed study of classical Roman architecture, gives the city its unique appearance.The palazzi, or town houses, were fitted into the urban texture of the medieval city, creating picturesque ensembles and continuous street facades in which the Veneto Gothic style combines with Palladio’s articulated classicism. The definitive Palladian country villa synthesizes, both figuratively and materially, the functional aspects of management of the land and the aristocratic self-glorification of the owner. lts core is the house-temple, embellished with a monumental staircase and crowned by a pediment supported by columns of the loggia. Porticos extend alongside the wings starting from the main building, and often end with towers. The different components are linked by a common classical language and are ordered according to a well-defined hierarchy. Vicenza is widely, and with justification, known as la città di Palladio. However, he was the central figure in an urban fabric that stretches back to antiquity and forward to Neoclassicism. As such, Vicenza has acquired a world status that has long been recognized and reflected in the literature of architectural and art history. Basing his works on intimate study of classical Roman architecture, Palladio became the inspiration for a movement without parallel in architectural history. Vicenza, birthplace of this movement, retains many of Palladio’s original buildings and as such is a unique survival of a total humanist concept based on a living interpretation of antiquity. The property extends the recognition of the Outstanding Universal Value of the work of Andrea Palladio to the other manifestations of his creative genius in the Veneto region, covering his versatility in applying his principles to rural as well as urban contexts.
- Valore UNESCO
In the xv century, Vicenza was annexed to Venice, and in 1540 Venice’s upper classes opened new land far from the coast. Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, also known as Palladio, one of the greatest Western architects, was commissioned to design a number of new villas for the upper classes. Vicenza was embellished with private palaces and public buildings, while in the countryside Palladio designed outstanding villas, where function met elegance. The Palladian villa of the Veneto region sets a standard, an aesthetic and cultural benchmark in the history of architecture, something that did produce a very distinctive style that influenced the rest of the world. Palladio’s style took inspiration from classical forms and became widespread in Europe and in the USA.
The Architect
Andrea Palladio is universally known as one of the greatest architects who have ever lived and as a genius of Renaissance architecture. Palladio studied the art of the classic world, but he reworked ancient standards into an unrivalled aesthetic combination of Humanistic principles that can be instantly recognised by its sleek lines, well-balanced proportions and symmetrical geometries. His architectures combine ancient and modern features in a distinctive formula, in which the rational order fits in with the natural surroundings. Of humble origin, because of his talent Palladio was favoured by wealthy, educated patrons, so he had access to forms of protection and patronage that made him complete his artistic and cultural education; for instance, he often went to Rome to visit ancient Roman residential and religious monuments and there we had a chance to see Raphael, Bramante and Michelangelo’s works as well.
The bond between Palladio and Vicenza
Founded in the II century BC, Vicenza throve under Venice’s rule from the early XV century to the late XVIII century. Vicenza is regarded as “Palladio’s city” because the great architect’s skills changed the face of the city, so that it became inseparable from what Palladio did: Palladio’s pubic and private buildings are rooted into the today’s city (which used to have a Medieval Gothic appearance); they injected new life into the overall tone of the urban landscape. Though driven by one single artist, such aesthetic and cultural process went beyond the boundaries of the city and spread into the Veneto countryside as well, where lots of villas were built over 40 years of intensive work. The Palladian villas of the Veneto countryside figuratively and physically embody the functional dimensions of land management and the owners’ self-celebration. The heart of it all is the house-as-a-temple, decorated with a monumental staircase, crowned by a pediment, supported by the pillars of the loggia. Porticoes spill out of the main building like wings, often with towers at the ends. All parts share a common classic language and are set out in a specific hierarchy. With Palladio, Vicenza and its surroundings get their identity back and are catapulted into Neoclassicism, gaining worldwide status, which is reflected in architecture and art history texts. Palladio became an inspiration for an unequalled movement in the history of architecture. The birthplace of such movement, Vicenza, still has many of its original buildings, and that’s why it is a living example of a total Humanistic concept, based on a contemporary view of antiquity. The World Heritage Site extends the Outstanding Universal Value of Andrea Palladio’ works to the other examples of his creative genius that can be seen all over the Veneto region, evidence of his great versatility in the application of his principles as much to the countryside as to the city.
The birth of Palladian villas: how the Republic of Venice became a landowner
In Venice, the ruling classes wanted to turn the inland of the region into farmland, and the young Palladio perfectly understood their practical requirements. Palladio’s works became the embodiment of the politics of the ruling classes of the Republic of Venice, wealthy noblemen and tradesmen who tried to make the hinterland more profitable.
The architectural features of the villa and the Philosophy of living in a villa
Eurhythmy: harmony and mathematical and geometrical proportions between the whole and its parts are the lofty message of Palladio’s lesson.
“L’architettura – Palladio writes – non è altro che una proporzion dei membri in un corpo, cussì ben l’uno con gli altri e gli altri con l’uno simetriati e corrispondenti, che armonicamente rendino maestà e decoro. […] dee il corpo con membri e questi con quello aver insieme armonica proporzione, e che da quello nasce poi quel bello che da gli antichi greci Heurithmia vien detto: che altro non vuol dire che cussì ben composto corpo che più non si desideri” (letter to Count Giovan di Pepolli).
The artist’s words clearly explain that rationality and function are inextricably linked to the symbolic and ideological expression that city and country villas must convey: they are a centre of power, but they are also a place of pleasure, culture and beauty. The Palladian villa is seen as the urban reworking of the ancient Roman villa, taking its distance from the medieval idea of the villa-as-a-castle, built for military/defensive purposes. Set in farmland, the Palladian villa is a country house, a sort of “architectural and productive unit”, in other words a combination of a villa and a farm, where the lord does not only take care of farming (the operative unit) but also of the values of otium, in an aristocratically self-celebratory setting. The philosophy of living in a villa is imbued with a deep, distinctive relationship with the surroundings.
“… Per l’esercitio, che nella Villa si suol fare a piedi, a cavallo, il corpo più agevolmente conserverà la sua sanità e robustezza e dove, finalmente l’animo stanco delle agitazioni della città, prenderà molto ristauro e consolazione e, quietamente potrà attendere agli studi delle lettere e alla contemplazione“.
Palladianism
Palladianism was an unparalleled stylistic and cultural movement in the history of architecture, because of the influences that radiated from the Veneto region to the rest of the world, especially Western Europe, the United Kingdom and the Western States of the USA: between the late 16th century and the late 19th century, Italian, English, Russian, American, French, Polish, Czech and Irish artists looked to Palladio and took inspiration from his aesthetic solutions. Palladio is still an essential beacon of public and private architecture, hallowed as a world-class architectural archetype.
Per saperne di più
Monuments included in the World Heritage list
The 23 Palladian monuments included in the old city of Vicenza are:
Palazzo Barbaran da Porto – Contrà Porti 11
Palladio worked at it in 1570, refurbishing an existing building owned by Count Montano Barbarano. The façade has ionic half-columns and smooth rustication at the ground floor; Corinthian half-columns, aedicule-shaped windows with alternating pediments and little balconies with decorative balustrades and stuccowork on the upper floor. The loggia in the courtyard is extremely elegant. The building currently hosts the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio.
Palazzo Poiana – Corso Palladio 92-94
Palladio worked at two medieval buildings that he joined into one. The palace has two floors with mezzanines and was built from 1563 to 1566. The ground floor and the mezzanine are rusticated while the two upper floors are joined together by a giant order with five-bay Corinthian pilasters. A central arch emphasises the entrance to the building.
Palazzo Civena – Viale Eretenio 12
It was built from 1540 to 1544, commissioned by the Civena brothers who wanted to have a house in the new architectural style that was so fashionable in Rome and spoke the language of antiquity. It has a two-floor façade and a five-arch portico; the main floor has coupled pilasters with Corinthian capitals and alternating pediments.
Palazzo Thiene – Contrà San Gaetano di Thiene 11
The design of a grand palace, taking up a whole block in the oldest part of town, was devised by Marcantonio and Adriano Thiene, two brothers who invited (1542) architect Giulio Romano too to ask his advice. Palladio created a monumental building of perfect aesthetic harmony and proportions, where the rooms, laid out all around the perimeter, and the rusticated pillars in the hall hint at Giulio Romano’s style at Palazzo Te.
Palazzo Porto Festa – Contrà Porti 21
The palace is described in the Four Books; it was designed in 1546. The building was completed in 1549 but the interior took a few more years. Again, there is smooth rustication on the ground floor, surmounted by the main floor, its seven bays dotted with ionic half-columns and aedicule-shaped windows with alternating pediments.
Loggias at Palazzo della Ragione – Basilica Palladiana – Piazza dei Signori
The refurbishment of the Gothic Palazzo della Ragione, also known as Basilica, opening out on to Piazza dei Signori, was one of Palladio’s first public commissions. What he did there made him universally known as the architect of Vicenza and the greatest architect in the region. Famous architects, such as Sansovino, Serlio, Sanmicheli, Giulio Romano, had been consulted first; then, Count Trissino persuaded the city council to call in Palladio (1546). Palladio’s design enclosed the two-floor, unevenly-shaped old building (palatium vetus) into a grid of arches, one on top of the other, inspired by classic standards and decorated with an unprecedented Serlian motif. The building was completed a long time after Palladio’s death and stands out for its powerful three-dimensional character, the light and shadow effects and the interplays of full and void, exuding a monumental, crisp rhythm.
Loggia del Capitaniato – Piazza dei Signori
Along with the Basilica Palladiana, the Loggia del Capitaniato is the other great architectural monument designed by Palladio in Piazza dei Signori that left its mark on the city’s identity and appearance. In 1571, the design was ready but the building process had to stop in 1572, when just three bays had been finished, as money ran out.
Palazzo Valmarana – Corso Fogazzaro 16
The project dates back to 1565, and its purpose was to renovate the Valmarana family house. The giant order on the façade, with two floors, a mezzanine and an attic on top, is decorated with pediments, an entrance in the middle, and seven bays. Here, Palladio’s language nods to late ancient and mannerist influences.
Palazzo Thiene Bonin Longare – Corso Palladio 13
Built from 1562 to 1593, this palace is a perfect example of 16th-century Palladian architecture. Completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, the double loggia in the courtyard and the façade, with two rows of half-columns, an attic on top and beams, are typical Palladio.
Palazzo Porto Breganze – Piazza Castello 6
It is an unfinished building designed in 1570-71.
Palazzo Chiericati – Piazza Matteotti
A building of great scenic, monumental proportions opening on to Piazza Matteotti, it has two floors and is raised on a staircase-like podium that emphasises the body and makes the vast portico stand out. Because of its location, close to one of the city’s waterside moorings, Palazzo Chiericati set the benchmark for the city development plan.
Teatro Olimpico – Piazza Matteotti
Regarded as Palladio’s cultural legacy, it was one of his greatest masterpieces, where he reflected on the forms of the ancient Roman theatre he had studied in Rome and Verona.
It was commissioned by Accademia Olimpica, a local cultural organisation of noblemen and artists hanging around Gian Giorgio Trissino, a patron of the arts and the man who discovered Palladio. It started to be built in 1580, but a few months later the artist died and the building was continued under the supervision of his son, Silla Palladio, and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi. It is the first modern repertory theatre inspired by classic standards.
Arco delle Scalette – Piazzale Fraccon
It is an example of a triumphal arch that overtly hints at the ancient Roman style. It was designed by Palladio and built in 1595.
Palazzo da Monte – Contrà Santa Corona 9
It was built in 1550-1554. It is not known whether Palladio actually made it, though the style and layout look like Palladio’s early designs, deeply inspired by Bramante and Raphael.
Palazzo da Schio – Contrà San Marco 39
The façade was designed by Palladio circa 1560, for the suburban house – in the Pusterla district – of Bernardo Schio, a Vicenza-born noble magistrate.
Casa Cogollo – Corso Palladio 167
Maybe Palladio only designed the façade of this house owned by Cogollo, a notary (1566). The city council forced the notary to renovate his house, which thus looks like a perfect example of 16th-century classicism. Fasolo frescoed the façade, but the frescoes have gone lost.
Church of S. Maria Nova – Contrà Santa Maria Nuova
Palladio designed the church in 1578, but it was built after his death, based on his design.
Loggia Valmarana – Giardino Valamarana-Salvi
It is in the Valmarana-Salvi garden, but there is no evidence of Palladio’s personal involvement. The Palladian-style loggia is proof, however, of the supreme architect’s decisive influence.
Palazzo Garzadori – Contrà Piancoli 10-12
It began to be built in 1545, then interrupted in 1567 when the patron, Giambattista Garzadori, died; the palace is said to have been finished by 1580. It is an example of Palladio’s “city palaces” with a rusticated ground floor and a giant order on the first and second floors.
Dome of the Cathedral – Via C. Battisti
Palladio began to work at in in 1557; the dome looks like that of the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore and the Church of the Redeemer, in Venice, inspired by the Pantheon’s dome in Rome.
North door of the Cathedral – Contrà Lampertico
The door was opened along the north side of the Cathedral circa 1563. A beamed door fitted in a beamed frame is a pattern that relates to other Palladian’s solutions; however, it is not sure whether Palladio designed it.
Palazzo Capra – C.so Palladio angolo Piazza Castello
It was commissioned by Count Giovanni Almerico Capra to Palladio, in the early 1540s. It is an early example of a ‘city palace’.
Cappella Valmarana – Contrà Santa Corona
Antonio Valmarana asked Palladio to design a family chapel (1576). Roman funerary art features heavily there.
The 24 Palladian villas located in the Veneto region are:
Villa Almerico Capra, also known as “La Rotonda” – Vicenza
Designed by Palladio in 1566, built from 1567 to 1569. It is viewed as the most significant example of Palladio’s art, along with the Basilica. It has outstanding monumental value, emphasised by the surroundings, and shows perfect symmetry in its basic geometrical shapes that, used here in a lay (residential) building, not a place of worship, aim at further elevating the status of the villa, as the tangible embodiment of the humanistic ideals of harmony and purity.
The villa has a square central footprint, with a round hall surmounted by a dome that originally ended in an oculus, like in Rome’s Pantheon. Each side has a six-pillar ionic vestibule, with a pediment decorated with statues on top, raised by a vast staircase on the main floor.
Villa Trissino Trettenero – Vicenza
Since it belonged to Gian Giorgio Trissino, the building has been included in the Vicenza World Heritage Site. It was actually renovated in classic style in 1537, under the Count’s supervision, and maybe worked at by Sebastiano Serlio.
Villa Gazzotti Grimani – Vicenza
The main façade looks typically Palladian, with the triple arch and the pediment on top. One of Palladio’s earliest works (1542).
Villa Angarano – Angarano di Bassano (VI)
Designed in 1548 for Count Giacomo Angarano, it is described in the Four Books. Palladio’s central body was renovated between the 17th and the 18th century. Still visible on the building, the two colonnaded barns, with Tuscan capitals, made as early as 1548 under the personal supervision of the architect, who describes them with these words: “nei fianchi del cortile vi sono Cantine, Granari, luoghi da fare i vini, luoghi da Gastaldo: stalle, colombara”. The villa is one of the highlights in Palladio’s search for a harmonious combination between a villa and a farm.
Villa Caldogno – Caldogno (VI)
First designed in 1542. The main façade of the villa is decorated with three rusticated stone arcades in the middle; the staircase has three steps and two flights in the middle to emphasise the vanishing point at the entrance. The main floor is closed by a pediment, with a rhombus-shaped opening. The interior is decorated with a cycle of 16th-century frescoes (Giovan Antonio Fasolo, Giovan Battista Zelotti) and 17th-cventury frescoes with mythological subjects and scenes from pastoral plays.
Villa Chiericati – Grumolo delle Abbadesse (VI)
It is the first villa in which Palladio opts for the classic temple-like vestibule on the main façade (1550).
Villa Forni Cerato – Montecchio Precalcino (VI)
Commissioned to Palladio just after 1564 by Girolamo Forni, a timber merchant and a member of the Accademia Olimpica and a fan of all things ancient. Compact in size, the villa is an example of a middle-class house that does not sets itself up as a grand patrician villa; it stands out for its main façade, the central protrusion decorated with a plain Serlian loggia and a pediment.
Villa Godi Malinverni – Lugo di Vicenza (VI)
Designed in 1537 and completed in 1542. The design, mentioned in the Four Books, is basic and plain, as in those years Palladio was still at the beginning of his artistic development but it is already inspired by ancient Roman villas, sympathetic with the surroundings and the natural landscape. The back garden is in a semicircle, and the estate includes, north, a group of farmhouses – a low building, a barn with a Doric portico and a dovecote. The interior was decorated with allegorical and symbolic subjects by Gualtiero Padovano, Giovan Battista Zelotti and Battista Moro.
Villa Pisani Ferri de Lazara – Bagnolo di Lonigo (VI)
It is mentioned in the Four Books but in a more extensive version, with large barns in the backyard. The main body dates back to 1542; it was completed two years later.
Villa Poiana – Poiana Maggiore (VI)
Villa Poiana is maybe the plainest Palladian villa and one of the most successful for its outstanding aesthetic impact that looks truly timeless. The 1546 design is mentioned in the Four Books; it was finished and decorated in 1563. Palladio wanted the main body to have two colonnaded courtyards at the sides, one acting as a garden, the other for farming.
Villa Saraceno – Agugliaro (VI)
It was commissioned by Vicenza-born Biagio Saraceno, and Palladio worked at it from 1546 to 1555; it stands out for the elegant composure of its facades; only part of one of the two symmetrical barns mentioned in the Four Books was built.
Villa Thiene – Quinto Vicentino (VI)
Dating from 1542, Villa Thiene is a milestone in the theoretical evolution of the aristocratic villa into a self-sufficient, self-managing unit.
Open barns of Villa Trissino – Sarego (VI)
Dating back to circa 1567, the open barn with six stone pillars and an adjoining dovecote are the only remains of an ambitious unfinished project for the Trissino family, who, as told in the Four Books, included a grand estate with a villa and mixed-style barns at the sides.
Villa Valmarana Zen – Lisiera di Bolzano Vicentino (VI)
Also mentioned in one of Palladio’s treatises, Villa Valmarana was designed circa 1563; originally commissioned by Gianfrancesco Valmarana but only partly finished after the client’s death. Its most outstanding feature is the wide ionic portico.
Villa Valmarana Bressan – Monticello Conte Otto (VI)
Built in 1541; it stands out for its large Serlian motif with oculi in the main northern façade.
Villa Piovene Porto Godi – Lugo di Vicenza (VI)
Its attribution to Palladio is debatable, though only for the central body (circa 1539). The villa is located on the same hill as Villa Godi Malinverni. It has a monumental staircase on a terraced garden. The main façade has an ionic vestibule with six pillars, raised on the main floor and decorated with a pediment with statues.
Villa Badoer, also known as “La Badoera”- Fratta Polesine (RO)
Designed in 1554 for Francesco Badoer, a Venetian nobleman, a politician and a diplomat. The villa has a grand façade with a monumental staircase and a portico with a pediment on top; the open barns laid out in a semicircle are the only ones built under Palladio’s personal supervision.
Villa Barbaro – Maser (TV)
Designed in 1554 on an existing building of the Barbaro family. The two Barbaro brothers, especially Daniele, were proactively involved in the design of the villa. The building stands out for its lavishly decorated pediment and a triumphal nymphaeum with a semi-circular fountain.
Villa Emo – Vedelago (TV)
Designed in 1558. It is a perfect example of a villa-cum-farm, where the farmhouses and the open barns at the sides perfectly join the manor in the middle – very much like at Villa Barbaro and Villa Badoer.
Villa Zeno – Cessalto (TV)
Designed circa 1554, it is located next to a stream. The villa is one of those mentioned in the Four Books and was built for Marco Zeno, a nobleman from Venice who was also the podestà of Vicenza.
Villa Foscari, also known as “La Malcontenta”, Mira (VE)
Located near the River Naviglio sul Brenta, it looks as if it were floating above ground, as it stands on a plinth, which serves the double purpose of accommodating the utility rooms and insulating the main floor from the damp ground. Probably designed circa 1556, in its layout and in the shape of the rooms the villa looks similar to a Roman bath and to the Temple of Clitumnus, in Spoleto (link to The Lombards in Italy).
The precious interiors include frescoes of mythological subjects by Battista Franco and Battista Zelotti.
Villa Pisani – Montagnana (PD)
It is a city palace in the medieval village of Montagnana. It started to be built in 1552 for senatore Francesco Pisani. It has a square layout and two floors.
Villa Cornaro – Piombino Dese (PD)
In 1552, Palladio designed a country house that acted as a city palace too for Giorgio Cornaro, a powerful Venetian nobleman.
Villa Serego – S. Pietro in Cariano (VR)
Designed in 1565 by Palladio for Marcantonio Sarego, the husband of Ginevra Alighieri, a descendant of Dante. The architecture of this building marks a turning point in Palladio’s standard villa.
The rivalry between Palladio and Veronese
The Barbaro brothers commissioned Paolo Veronese to decorate the interiors at Villa Barbaro, asking the artist to fresco the walls with optical illusions that interacted with Palladio’s architectures. Veronese’s commission must have been discussed with Palladio, who probably disagreed with the patrons’ decision, as he eventually described the villa in his Second Book on Architecture but did not mention Veronese, while he usually mentioned the names of the artists who painted and sculpted his villas. Such odd omission hints at what must have been going on behind the scenes of the big art commissions, probably revealing a rivalry between two of the most talented artists, Palladio and Veronese, who, each one in his area, were equally respected and equally famous.
The American love for Palladio
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States of America, defined Palladio’s Four Books as the “Bible” of modern architecture; the work boosted the success of Palladianism all over the world and is considered one of the texts that shaped Western architecture. Jefferson himself had two architectural complexes made: strictly based on Palladio’s style, they are in the US World Heritage List. One is Jefferson’s house in Charlottesville and has an Italian-sounding name, Monticello; the other is the University of Virginia. On December 6th, 2010, the US Congress passed Resolution no. 259, acknowledging Andrea Palladio as the “father” of American architecture.
Protagonisti
Andrea di Pietro della Gondola
Andrea di Pietro della Gondola (Padua 1508 – Vicenza 1580) began his career at the age of 13, as apprentice stonecutter in the studio of Bartolomeo Cavazza, architect and sculptor, at Sossano. Then, at the age of 16, he moved to Vicenza, where he met his patron, Count Gian Giorgio Trissino, a man of letters and a Humanist, who took him to Rome and gave him a chance to learn more about classic and early Renaissance art. Andrea renamed himself Palladio, maybe on Trissino’s suggestion, to emphasise the consistent relationships between his work and classicism: Pallas is the epithet of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and the arts. Palladio began an endless career, mainly in the Veneto region, especially in Vicenza and partly in Venice. In Venice in 1570, he published the Four Books on Architecture, a work he had started writing in his twenties and that consists in a four-book treatise, the summa of his work and his practical and theoretical view of architecture. It is a monumental work, with Palladio’s illustrations and designs, and descriptions of Palladian standards. Palladio had at least 5 children; he died at the age of 72, a fairly old age considering that the average life expectancy back then was no more than 35 or 40 years. He was buried in his family tomb in the Church of Santa Corona; in 1845, his body was transferred to a mausoleum specially built in his memory in the Cemetery of Vicenza, where it still is.Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States of America, defined Palladio’s Four Books as the “Bible” of modern architecture; the work boosted the success of Palladianism all over the world and is considered one of the texts that shaped Western architecture.Testimonianze d’autore
Testimonianze
► “V’è davvero alcunché di divino nei suoi progetti, né meno della forza del grande poeta, che dalla verità e dalla finzione trae una terza realtà, affascinante nella sua fittizia esistenza”.
Goethe Il Viaggio in Italia. Incontro a Vicenza. Sguardi su Palladio, 19-25 settembre 1786
► “Sono giunto da poche ore, ma ho già fatto una scorsa per la città e ho visto il Teatro Olimpico e gli edifici del Palladio… soltanto avendo innanzi agli occhi questi monumenti, se ne può comprendere il grande valore. Con la loro mole e con la loro imponenza essi devono, per dir così, riempire gli occhi, mentre con la bella armonia delle loro dimensioni, non solo nel disegno astratto, ma in tutto l’insieme della prospettiva, sia per quello che sporge, che per quello che rientra, appagano lo spirito. E questo è proprio, secondo me, il caso del Palladio: un uomo straordinario, e per quello che ha sentito in sé, e per quello che ha saputo esprimere fuori da sé”.
Goethe Il Viaggio in Italia. Incontro a Vicenza. Sguardi su Palladio, 19-25 settembre 1786
► “Il M. Andrea Palladio vicentino architetto ha con incredibile profitto acquistato la vera architettura non solo intendendo le belle, e sottili ragioni di essa, ma anco ponendole in opera, sì ne i sottilissimi e vaghi disegni delle piante, de gli alzati, et de i profili, come ne lo eseguire e far molti, e superbi edifici ne la patria sua, et altrove, che contendono con gli Antichi dando lume a’ moderni e daran meraviglia a quelli che verranno”..
Daniele Barbaro 1513-1579, committente di Palladio
► “Palladio era un artista sensuale, altrettanto esperto nella alchimia della visione quanto qualsiasi pittore veneziano del suo tempo […]. Gli piaceva modulare la luce, e introdusse nell’architettura valori coloristici e di superficie del tutto nuovi […] È stata appunto questa sintesi degli elementi sensuali e intellettuali a rendere Palladio così caro a tante generazioni”.
James S. Ackerman
► “Nelle fabbriche di Sua invenzione, si trovano combinate tutte le proprietà, le lodi e le qualità che richiede la buona architettura, cioè la solidità, la comodità, la decenza, l’ordine, la disposizione, la proporzione e costantemente la desiderabile e pregiabile bellezza”
Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, Le fabbriche e i disegni di Andrea Palladio
► “[Vicenza è] un luogo benedetto dal cielo, uno di quei nidi preparati dalla natura per la nascita dell’arte italiana, la quale, al principio della Rinascenza, non mancò di fiorirvi”.
Louis Courajod
► “Proprio le ville palladiane impongono di essere lette come una unità che rende omogeneo il terreno agricolo veneto. Esse, anzi, tendono palesemente a rendere urbano quel territorio agricolo come per sancire anche con la forma architettonica, l’opera di bonifica e sfruttamento razionale dei terreni iniziata sin dal Quattrocento”.
Manfredo Tafuri, 1994
► “L’estremo gesto creativo di Palladio, l’Olimpico di Vicenza è un atto che testimonia, alle soglie del silenzio, la fedeltà alla lunga promessa; e vale, al di là delle circostanze dialettiche che ne avevano prodotto la formulazione e consentito l’esercizio al di là, anche, dell’umana volontà che con “amore” ne aveva sopportato la “fatica” – , l’offerta di un’emozione ignara d’usura e una lezione risonante nel tempo”.
Lionello Puppi, Andrea Palladio, 1973
► “Conoscere Palladio, la Basilica, la Loggia del Capitanio e gli altri attraverso gli studi è una conoscenza imperfetta. Bisogna vederlo a Vicenza”
Guido Piovene, Viaggio in Italia, 1957
► “Edifici che sembrano un pensiero architettonico piuttosto che opere compiute, che si impongono come l’elaborazione più completa del pensiero dell’uomo rispetto alla natura, chiaramente distinti dalla natura e dal paesaggio, eppure ad esso legati da un rapporto indissolubile, così che anche la natura sembra pensata dall’architetto”
Vittorio Sgarbi, Andrea Palladio, la luce della ragione, 2004
► “Palladio aveva una missione: trasformare, sostituire l’architettura scomoda, malsana, brutta con architettura di gusto, dove fosse bello vivere, permettendo alle persone di vivere meglio […] aveva anche una mente da urbanista […] direi che quando creava un edificio, generava un ordine, creava collegamenti, riposizionava una strada, creava uno spazio che non c’era: penso a Palazzo Chiericati che genera una piazza su uno spazio difforme […]”.
Howard Burns, Il Giornale di Vicenza, 10 novembre 2006
Legami tra i siti Unesco italiani
Vicenza and... Genoa
The earliest Palazzi dei Rolli were built in the XVI century. In the history of architecture, they are one more case of urban development based on a consistent aesthetic pattern, supported by the local political ruling classes and inspired by Renaissance principles. In the life of the Palazzi dei Rolli too, similarly to what happened in Vicenza and in the local farmhouses, huge resources were invested by wealthy, high-class merchants and landowners. Note, also, that the Ligurian World Heritage site owes a lot to the supportive role played by Genoa’s municipal authorities: such a great maritime power as Genoa ventured into a project that was similar – though in an urban setting – to that of the Venetian elites that ruled the Republic of Venice, the glorious maritime city on the Mediterranean Sea.
Vicenza and... the Medici villas and gardens in Tuscany
Though in different ways, in Tuscany too, in the XV-XVIII centuries, the ruling elite worked out and spread the philosophy of living in a villa – spurred in this case by the Medici dynasty –; it was an unusual way of staying in and watching over an area that was markedly different from the medieval standards of high-class settlements, focussed on defensive/offensive buildings (castles, fortresses, towers), and aimed to celebrate the ancient Roman ideals of living in the country in pastoral otium.
Vicenza and... Venice
As from the 1560s, Palladio was called to design some very important places of worship in Venice, such as the façade of St Francesco della Vigna and the three churches that mark the landscape of St Mark’s Basin: the Church of St Mary of the Presentation, commonly known as the Old Maids (Isle of Giudecca), the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore (Island of San Giorgio Maggiore) and the Church of the Redeemer (Isle of Giudecca).
Note bibliografiche
Bibliografia
La città di Vicenza e la Villa di Palladio nel Veneto, Comune di Vicenza, 2009.
P. Portoghesi (a cura di), La mano di Palladio, Allemandi, Torino, 2008.
J.S. Ackerman, Palladio, Einaudi, Torino, 2000.
V. Sgarbi, Andrea Palladio. La luce della ragione, Rizzoli, Milano, 2004.
- Valore UNESCO
In the xv century, Vicenza was annexed to Venice, and in 1540 Venice’s upper classes opened new land far from the coast. Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, also known as Palladio, one of the greatest Western architects, was commissioned to design a number of new villas for the upper classes. Vicenza was embellished with private palaces and public buildings, while in the countryside Palladio designed outstanding villas, where function met elegance. The Palladian villa of the Veneto region sets a standard, an aesthetic and cultural benchmark in the history of architecture, something that did produce a very distinctive style that influenced the rest of the world. Palladio’s style took inspiration from classical forms and became widespread in Europe and in the USA.
The Architect
Andrea Palladio is universally known as one of the greatest architects who have ever lived and as a genius of Renaissance architecture. Palladio studied the art of the classic world, but he reworked ancient standards into an unrivalled aesthetic combination of Humanistic principles that can be instantly recognised by its sleek lines, well-balanced proportions and symmetrical geometries. His architectures combine ancient and modern features in a distinctive formula, in which the rational order fits in with the natural surroundings. Of humble origin, because of his talent Palladio was favoured by wealthy, educated patrons, so he had access to forms of protection and patronage that made him complete his artistic and cultural education; for instance, he often went to Rome to visit ancient Roman residential and religious monuments and there we had a chance to see Raphael, Bramante and Michelangelo’s works as well.
The bond between Palladio and Vicenza
Founded in the II century BC, Vicenza throve under Venice’s rule from the early XV century to the late XVIII century. Vicenza is regarded as “Palladio’s city” because the great architect’s skills changed the face of the city, so that it became inseparable from what Palladio did: Palladio’s pubic and private buildings are rooted into the today’s city (which used to have a Medieval Gothic appearance); they injected new life into the overall tone of the urban landscape. Though driven by one single artist, such aesthetic and cultural process went beyond the boundaries of the city and spread into the Veneto countryside as well, where lots of villas were built over 40 years of intensive work. The Palladian villas of the Veneto countryside figuratively and physically embody the functional dimensions of land management and the owners’ self-celebration. The heart of it all is the house-as-a-temple, decorated with a monumental staircase, crowned by a pediment, supported by the pillars of the loggia. Porticoes spill out of the main building like wings, often with towers at the ends. With Palladio, Vicenza and its surroundings get their identity back and are catapulted into Neoclassicism, gaining worldwide status, which is reflected in architecture and art history texts. Palladio became an inspiration for an unequalled movement in the history of architecture. The birthplace of such movement, Vicenza, still has many of its original buildings, and that’s why it is a living example of a total Humanistic concept, based on a contemporary view of antiquity.
The birth of Palladian villas: how the Republic of Venice became a landowner
In Venice, the ruling classes wanted to turn the inland of the region into farmland, and the young Palladio perfectly understood their practical requirements. Palladio’s works became the embodiment of the politics of the ruling classes of the Republic of Venice, wealthy noblemen and tradesmen who tried to make the hinterland more profitable.
The architectural features of the villa and the Philosophy of living in a villa
Eurhythmy: harmony and mathematical and geometrical proportions between the whole and its parts are the lofty message of Palladio’s lesson.
“L’architettura – Palladio writes – non è altro che una proporzion dei membri in un corpo, cussì ben l’uno con gli altri e gli altri con l’uno simetriati e corrispondenti, che armonicamente rendino maestà e decoro. […] dee il corpo con membri e questi con quello aver insieme armonica proporzione, e che da quello nasce poi quel bello che da gli antichi greci Heurithmia vien detto: che altro non vuol dire che cussì ben composto corpo che più non si desideri” (letter to Count Giovan di Pepolli).
The artist’s words clearly explain that rationality and function are inextricably linked to the symbolic and ideological expression that city and country villas must convey: they are a centre of power, but they are also a place of pleasure, culture and beauty. The Palladian villa is seen as the urban reworking of the ancient Roman villa, taking its distance from the medieval idea of the villa-as-a-castle, built for military/defensive purposes.
Palladianism
Palladianism was an unparalleled stylistic and cultural movement in the history of architecture, because of the influences that radiated from the Veneto region to the rest of the world, especially Western Europe, the United Kingdom and the Western States of the USA: between the late 16th century and the late 19th century, Italian, English, Russian, American, French, Polish, Czech and Irish artists looked to Palladio and took inspiration from his aesthetic solutions. Palladio is still an essential beacon of public and private architecture, hallowed as a world-class architectural archetype.
Per saperne di più
Some monuments included in the World Heritage list
Palazzo Barbaran da Porto – Contrà Porti 11
Palladio worked at it in 1570, refurbishing an existing building owned by Count Montano Barbarano. The façade has ionic half-columns and smooth rustication at the ground floor; Corinthian half-columns, aedicule-shaped windows with alternating pediments and little balconies with decorative balustrades and stuccowork on the upper floor. The loggia in the courtyard is extremely elegant. The building currently hosts the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio.
Loggias at Palazzo della Ragione – Basilica Palladiana – Piazza dei Signori
The refurbishment of the Gothic Palazzo della Ragione, also known as Basilica, opening out on to Piazza dei Signori, was one of Palladio’s first public commissions. What he did there made him universally known as the architect of Vicenza and the greatest architect in the region. Famous architects, such as Sansovino, Serlio, Sanmicheli, Giulio Romano, had been consulted first; then, Count Trissino persuaded the city council to call in Palladio (1546). Palladio’s design enclosed the two-floor, unevenly-shaped old building (palatium vetus) into a grid of arches, one on top of the other, inspired by classic standards and decorated with an unprecedented Serlian motif. The building was completed a long time after Palladio’s death and stands out for its powerful three-dimensional character, the light and shadow effects and the interplays of full and void, exuding a monumental, crisp rhythm.
Villa Almerico Capra, also known as “La Rotonda” – Vicenza
Designed by Palladio in 1566, built from 1567 to 1569. It is viewed as the most significant example of Palladio’s art, along with the Basilica. It has outstanding monumental value, emphasised by the surroundings, and shows perfect symmetry in its basic geometrical shapes that, used here in a lay (residential) building, not a place of worship, aim at further elevating the status of the villa, as the tangible embodiment of the humanistic ideals of harmony and purity. The villa has a square central footprint, with a round hall surmounted by a dome that originally ended in an oculus, like in Rome’s Pantheon. Each side has a six-pillar ionic vestibule, with a pediment decorated with statues on top, raised by a vast staircase on the main floor.
The rivalry between Palladio and Veronese
The Barbaro brothers commissioned Paolo Veronese to decorate the interiors at Villa Barbaro, asking the artist to fresco the walls with optical illusions that interacted with Palladio’s architectures. Veronese’s commission must have been discussed with Palladio, who probably disagreed with the patrons’ decision, as he eventually described the villa in his Second Book on Architecture but did not mention Veronese, while he usually mentioned the names of the artists who painted and sculpted his villas. Such odd omission hints at what must have been going on behind the scenes of the big art commissions, probably revealing a rivalry between two of the most talented artists, Palladio and Veronese, who, each one in his area, were equally respected and equally famous.
Villa Barbaro: the connections between 3 World Heritage sites (Vicenza, Villa d’Este, Botanical Garden of Padua)
Of all the monuments included in the World Heritage site of Vicenza, the design of a Palladian villa offers a chance to draw a connection between three Italian World Heritage sites. One of them is Villa Barbaro, at Maser, owned by the Barbaro family, one of Venice’s most important families in those years. When Francesco Barbaro died, in 1549, the work at the villa was supervised by his two sons and heirs, Daniele and Marcantonio.
Daniele Barbaro was bonded to Palladio by friendship and intellectual respect as well as by the usual relationship between a patron and an artist; Palladio translated Vitruvius’s classic treatise on architecture while listening to Daniele’s advice and went to Rome with him (1554); en route, he visited Villa d’Este at Tivoli and met Pirro Logorio, an architect and a Humanist, who was designing a villa for Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este – son of Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, and Lucrezia Borgia. Daniele Barbaro was also one of the patrons of the Botanical Garden of Padua.
The American love for Palladio
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States of America, defined Palladio’s Four Books as the “Bible” of modern architecture; the work boosted the success of Palladianism all over the world and is considered one of the texts that shaped Western architecture. Jefferson himself had two architectural complexes made: strictly based on Palladio’s style, they are in the US World Heritage List. One is Jefferson’s house in Charlottesville and has an Italian-sounding name, Monticello; the other is the University of Virginia. On December 6th, 2010, the US Congress passed Resolution no. 259, acknowledging Andrea Palladio as the “father” of American architecture.
Protagonisti
Andrea di Pietro della Gondola
Andrea di Pietro della Gondola (Padua 1508 – Vicenza 1580) began his career at the age of 13, as apprentice stonecutter in the studio of Bartolomeo Cavazza, architect and sculptor, at Sossano. Then, at the age of 16, he moved to Vicenza, where he met his patron, Count Gian Giorgio Trissino, a man of letters and a Humanist, who took him to Rome and gave him a chance to learn more about classic and early Renaissance art. Andrea renamed himself Palladio, maybe on Trissino’s suggestion, to emphasise the consistent relationships between his work and classicism: Pallas is the epithet of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and the arts. Palladio began an endless career, mainly in the Veneto region, especially in Vicenza and partly in Venice. In Venice in 1570, he published the Four Books on Architecture, a work he had started writing in his twenties and that consists in a four-book treatise, the summa of his work and his practical and theoretical view of architecture. It is a monumental work, with Palladio’s illustrations and designs, and descriptions of Palladian standards. Palladio had at least 5 children; he died at the age of 72, a fairly old age considering that the average life expectancy back then was no more than 35 or 40 years. He was buried in his family tomb in the Church of Santa Corona; in 1845, his body was transferred to a mausoleum specially built in his memory in the Cemetery of Vicenza, where it still is.Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States of America, defined Palladio’s Four Books as the “Bible” of modern architecture; the work boosted the success of Palladianism all over the world and is considered one of the texts that shaped Western architecture.Legami tra i siti Unesco italiani
Vicenza and... Genoa
The earliest Palazzi dei Rolli were built in the XVI century. In the history of architecture, they are one more case of urban development based on a consistent aesthetic pattern, supported by the local political ruling classes and inspired by Renaissance principles. In the life of the Palazzi dei Rolli too, similarly to what happened in Vicenza and in the local farmhouses, huge resources were invested by wealthy, high-class merchants and landowners. Note, also, that the Ligurian World Heritage site owes a lot to the supportive role played by Genoa’s municipal authorities: such a great maritime power as Genoa ventured into a project that was similar – though in an urban setting – to that of the Venetian elites that ruled the Republic of Venice, the glorious maritime city on the Mediterranean Sea.
Vicenza and... the Medici villas and gardens in Tuscany
Though in different ways, in Tuscany too, in the XV-XVIII centuries, the ruling elite worked out and spread the philosophy of living in a villa – spurred in this case by the Medici dynasty –; it was an unusual way of staying in and watching over an area that was markedly different from the medieval standards of high-class settlements, focussed on defensive/offensive buildings (castles, fortresses, towers), and aimed to celebrate the ancient Roman ideals of living in the country in pastoral otium.
Vicenza and... Venice
As from the 1560s, Palladio was called to design some very important places of worship in Venice, such as the façade of St Francesco della Vigna and the three churches that mark the landscape of St Mark’s Basin: the Church of St Mary of the Presentation, commonly known as the Old Maids (Isle of Giudecca), the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore (Island of San Giorgio Maggiore) and the Church of the Redeemer (Isle of Giudecca).
Glossario
Glossario
Dialectics, noun, the art of discussing or gathering; the word comes from ancient philosophy, in which it means a way of arguing and reasoning through the interaction of two opposite or different assumptions or principles. The result will be something new and unusual, which is neither original principle but encloses them both.
Open barn, a roof built next to a farmhouse, a country house; it serves a practical purpose as storage or as a working area (stables, cellars, barns, haylofts, granaries, mills, wells) for farming equipment and harvests. It also symbolically connects the executive and managerial role of the villa with the surrounding farmland. Open barns usually consist of large loggias with regular arches closed on the side.
Epithet, a noun, adjective or phrase that goes with a name and emphasises a distinctive feature.
Doric order, Ionic order, Corinthian order, In the classic tradition, Vitruvius’s lesson lists three main orders or architectural styles that are defined for the features and ornamentation of some parts of the body, especially the capital of a pillar; a fourth, less frequent, order is the Tuscan order; while the composite order is an addition of later theoretical reflections.
Giant order, when the pillars/half-pillars/pilasters on the façade of a building span and rise up to two or more floors.
Serlian window, a three-part window, with an arched part in the middle and two beamed parts on the sides; the name comes from the late 15th-century architect Sebastiano Serlio, who however took inspiration from a late ancient type of window.
Gable, a triangular decorative feature that stands over the vertical openings of a building (doors and windows).
Il sito per immagini 
1994, Phuket, Thailand, 18th session of the Committee
1996, Merida, Mexico, 20th session of the Committee
Cultural and serial Site
Renaissance
North East Italy
Veneto Region
Provinces of Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona and Vicenza
Criteri di Iscrizione
Criterion (i): Vicenza represents a unique artistic achievement in the many architectural contributions of Andrea Palladio, integrated within its historic fabric and creating its overall character. Scattered in the Veneto, the Palladian villas are the result of this Renaissance master’s architectural genius. The numerous variations of the villa pattern are evidence of Palladio’s constant typological experimentation, carried out by means of the reworking of classical architecture patterns.
Criterion (ii): Palladio’s works in the city of Vicenza and in the Veneto, inspired by classical architecture and characterized by incomparable formal purity, have exerted exceptional influence on architectural and urban design in most European countries and throughout the world, giving rise to Palladianism, a movement named after the architect and destined to last for three centuries.
Authenticity
When applied to an urban area, authenticity includes a consideration of the urban structure, the form of the individual buildings that make up the townscape, the use of traditional building materials and techniques, and the functions of the buildings. In these terms Vicenza as a whole has preserved its authentic character, especially in relation to la città di Palladio. The form of Palladio’s buildings is documented in his Quattro Libri dell’architettura (1570) and it has changed relatively little since they were constructed in the 16th century. The function of many of the palaces in Vicenza has changed from domestic to commercial, with consequent internal changes. The urban fabric of the city has undergone remarkably little change, and still retains the historic townscape known from early engravings. The authenticity of the villas is also high. Detailed archival, technical and scientific studies have aimed at identifying the original forms of the villas. From these, it has been possible to specify the appropriate materials and techniques for use in restoration and conservation projects.
Integrity
The property is composed of several elements, all showing its exceptional value: the perimeter includes the city of Vicenza with its twenty-three most representative Palladian buildings erected in the urban area and twenty-four of the most representative extra-urban villas. The 21st-century industrial development resulted in a strong transformation of the areas surrounding the city, affecting the original relationships between city and countryside. The villas have kept their integrity and are well preserved, within a territorial context which underwent several changes and for this reason was excluded from the site perimeter. Various parts of the property have been exposed to development pressures and the impact of agricultural and forestry regimes. There is some risk of flooding but these issues are being addressed by the property managers.
