Palladio

Name: Andrea di Pietro Della Gondola

Nickname/Alias: Andrea Palladio

Achievements: Palladian architecture

Born: November 30, 1508, Padua, Republic of Venice (Italy)

Died: August, 1580, Vicenza, Italy. Aged 71

Field & Discipline: Architecture

Language: Italian

Father:: Pietro della Gondola

Mother: Marta

Siblings: Unknown

Spouse: Allegradona

Children: Marcantonio; Orazio; Leonida; Silla; Zenobia  

Education: Unknown

Major Work:

Basilica, Vicenza

Villa Barbaro, Maser

Villa Rotonda, Vicenza

San Francesco della Vigna, Venice

Il Redentore, Venice

Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza

Publications:

"The Antiquities of Rome"

"On Architecture"

"The Four Books of Architecture"

Life & Times:

By 1528, Palladio was a professional stonemason, working in Vicenza on altar pieces, monuments, tombs, doorways and other architectural sculptures.  In 1530 he became influenced by the Mannerist style of an architect relative, Michele Sanmicheli, who had been working in Rome. 

In 1538 he went to work at the nearby Villa Trissino,  owned by Gian Giorgio [worked for] Trissino*, a wealthy scholar and diplomat, who was rebuilding the villa according to the teachings of [influenced by] Vitruvius*, an architect in Classical Rome, who laid down precise rules for the design of various public buildings.

Impressed by Palladio's work, Trissino offered to educate him, and Palladio accepted.  In the humanist tradition, Trissino give him a classical name: "Palladio",  referring to Pallas Athena, the deity of wisdom in classical mythology.  Through Trissino, Palladio learned how contemporary architects such as Jacopo Sansovino and painter-architect Sebastiano Serlio used Vitruvius’ ideas.

Much of Palladio's early work was eclectic.  His design for Villa Godi at Lonedo was reminiscent of the Villa Trissino and incorporated many of the features that Palladio would in later villa designs,  including a walled courtyard at the front of the house and symmetrical wings on each side,  for stables and outhouses.  The Palazzo Civena in Vicenza showed the influence of Sansovino and Serlio. 

In 1541, Trissino took Palladio to Rome, where he studied  the great architects of the Roman high Renaissance: [studied work of] Bramante*, Peruzzi and the painter [studied work of] Raphael*.  He measured the ruins at Tivoli, Palestrina and Albano. 

In 1549, Palladio got his first major government commission: the reconstruction of the Palace of Justice in Vicenza. 

Being awarded the commission was a great compliment,  since the commissioners had been trying to decide on an architect for nearly 20 years and they had already rejected the submissions of  Bramante and [beat] Romano* .  After Palladio's involvement, the Palace became known as the Basilica.  He was appointed superintendent of the building works,  and his reputation rose immediately.

Palladio was able to produce renovations which not only met the proportional rules decreed by Vitruvius but also blended harmoniously with the existing structures.  He surrounded the large hall of the Basilica with a two-storey arcade in white stone. The architectural motifs for the arcade were taken from Sansovino's library in Venice and from published work by Serlio. 

In 1549, he started work on the Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza.  Chiericati was a building commissioner whose family was one of Palladio's patrons. 

After Trissino died in 1550, Palladio became close to the brothers Daniele and Marc'Antonio Barbaro.   Daniele was a scholar and diplomat, while Marc'Antonio was a prominent Venetian statesman.  The two men commissioned Palladio  to design a villa.  He traveled to Trento with Daniele,  and then to Rome.  In Rome, he published "The Antiquities of Rome" in 1554, which became a guidebook.

With Daniele Barbaro, Palladio published in 1556 an edition of Vitruvius's "On Architecture", which had been written around 26 B.C.  As plates for the book, Palladio drew plans, sections and elevations of the  principal public buildings described by Vitruvius.   When Villa Barbaro was finished in 1558, the influence of Vitruvius was apparent.   [villa painted by] Veronese*  painted the frescoes.

Palladio was the main developer of the villa form,  and designed two distinct types.  One, like Villa Barbaro,  placed the main accommodation in the center, flanked by other buildings such as stables and kitchens.  The other, of which the Villa Serego at Santa Sofia is an example, arranged all the buildings in a single unit around a courtyard. 

By 1560, Palladio had begun over 30 buildings in and around Vicenza, most of which were villas and palazzos . In 1560, he got his first major commission in Venice: the Convent of the Carita.  Because the Convent was for a community, he used a sequence of spaces, a concept he borrowed from the plans of Roman baths, modified by Vitruvius.

This commission made Palladio's name in Venice.  In 1562, he was asked to design the facade for a Sansovino building there: the church of San Francesco della Vigna.  He designed a refectory for the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore and then, in 1564, was asked to rebuild the San Giorgio Maggiore church on a site opposite the Doge's Palace. It was Palladio's first opportunity to design an entire church.

Despite the animosity between Vicenza and Venice, Palladio continued to be given commissions in Vicenza.  Giovanni Chiericati, the brother of Girolamo (for whom Palladio had designed a palazzo)  asked him for a suburban villa. 

It turned out to be one of Palladio's most famous buildings.  The Villa Almerico, now known as the Villa Rotonda, was begun in 1565.  Situated outside Vicenza, it was,  like Villa Trissino, built on an elevated site and designed in harmony with its setting.

Palladio was now famous.   He was made a member of the Academy of Design, Florence.  In Venice, he met writer [a pal of] Vasari* and they became friends.  In 1568, he was invited to the Viennese court, but was too busy to go.  In 1570,  he  published his "Four Books of Architecture", a synthesis of his studies of classical architecture.

In 1614, English architect [influenced] Inigo Jones* traveled to Vicenza to meet him.  He brought with him a copy of "Four Books" and obtained some of Palladio's original drawings.  Jones continued the tradition of Vitruvian Palladianism in England,  the first country outside Italy to adopt the style. 

By the 18th century, Palladio's influence had spread to the United States and the Palladian villa style was popular in the plantation areas of the South, where the weather was humid.  American President [influenced] Jefferson* was attracted by neo-Palladianism,  and designed his own country house, Monticello, on Vitruvian-Palladian principles.

Palladio continued to work in both Venice and Vicenza (where he designed the famous Teatro Olimpico) up until his death. 

Extra Connections: Influenced [influenced] El Greco*.

His work related to that of [work related to] Hawksmoor*

Assessment: He was the strongest influence on Western architecture for more than four centuries.

Oneliner: Andrea Palladio,  great architect

Bibliography:

• Puppi, Lionello, Palladio, trans. Phaidon Press Ltd., Phaidon Press Ltd., London, 1975.
• Tavernor, Robert, Palladio and Palladianism, Thames and Hudson, London, 1991.