PALLADIO /]7)R-/r¡;D

the Architect I (1m Sl/re tha[' )'011 wilf rcgard me (lS

extrelllely forfunote lo have fOUlld gentlemel/ ofs1Ic1l noble and gellerOl/S charaeter al/d discrimilltlling judgel1lellts ¡hat tltey have becn cOl/vil/cen by /11)' arglllllellts and rejected ¡l1at obsolete approach 10 buildillg withollt gmce or bearlly.

The llame Palladio has been synonymous Valerio I3clli and Giulio Romano introduced with architecture for no less tllan Ave Paliadio to the world of Bramante and centuries. Tbe archilecl's llame is linked to RaphacJ. Moreover, he probably met such exceptiollal buildings as the Basilica al Sangallo and Michelangelo, his slightly olcler Viccnza and the Villa Rotonda in the contemporaries. Palladio con idered olllskirts of the cily, the greal Venelian architecture lo be a pr fession of the highest chllrches of San Giorgio Maggiore and JI importance, and joined theory and practice Redentore, and the Villa Barbara and lhe in publications and buildings as no other Villa Emo in the Venelo. architect did during the Renajssance periodo

Although he was educatcd far from He democratised archileclure by Rome, contact with Giangiorgio Trissino, prociaiming the value of domestic bllildings,

Mvdel vI ¡he Basilica, Vicenza (1546-1549) Model o[ ¡he Palazzo Chiericati, Viccnza (1550-1557)

Nlodels: 1:33 scalc. lime <lIld beech woad wilh details in biscuit porcelain © Centro Inlernazioll<lle di Studi di Archilelturd Andrea Palladiü. Vio

Leandro da Ponte, called B<lssano, The Tower of Babel (detail), c. 1590, oil on c,,"vas © The Nat;onal G,lilef)', London

consi lering that farms, granarie and bridges werc no les worthy of admiratíon than churches and palaces, and that any buildlng ouJd b made beautifuJ without Ilecessarily

using costJy materials. Moreover, Pallad io's profound knowledge of clas ical arehitecture enabled him to create a harmonious, inventive system of plans and elevatians rhar surprise and intrigue the onJooker.

Featuring more than L80 works -drawings, large-scale models, projeclion ,

Model of (he Villa Barbaro, M<lser (1554)

:Ilza

Palladio, Book 3 of J Quattro Libr; dell'Arclúteffara (The Four Books on Architecture), \lenice, 1570 ~) (l5MP Biblioteca, Vicenzi1

canvases and books- the exhibition traces Palladio's deveJopmcnt through his major projects, charting his rise from working as a

tone masan in Padua lo occupying a leading posilion as an illtellectuaJ and the favourite architect ol' rleh patrons in Vicenza and Veniee, the ecclesiasticaJ institutions and tJle Venetian State. The 'howal o lúghlights Palladio's commjtment to HLUllanisl11, a

philosophy nurtured by his respect fOl' Roman Antiquity, but which also spurred him on to

••

Palladio, Projecl Ior 'he Villa Pisani, e 1542 © RIBA Librdr)', Dra\\'ings élnd Archives Collectíon, Londoll

forge a new arcbiteclurallangllage in k epi ng with bis own times, devising ingenio LIS,

rational sollltions in bis search for lhe perfcct combination of beauty and Cunetionalily.

Finally, the show expl re how sllcccssive generaliolls of Eur pean architects up to lhe present day have been inf1uenced by Palladio's plans and buildings, as well as by his eJebrated treatise [QlIa/lra Líbri

dell'Arc/¡itettllra, thanks to which he ha been called rhe 'architects' architect'.

"

PaJladio, Temple al 'he Source of ,he CIi'umno, 1540-1550 © Pinacoteca Civica, G,lbincllo dej disegni e slampc, Vio?nz.}

An audiovisual prograll1me enlitled 'Palladio: Throllgh the eyes oC contemporary architects' will complement the exhibition. In lhe programme, Arata Isozaki, David

hipperfield and others offer their per ona1

; o,.

insights concerning this great Renaissance ard,itecl and his contemporary relevance.

lvlodel oIlhe C/wrch o{ 'he Redentore, Ven ice (1577)

Model o{ the Villa Almerico Capra. known as the Villa Rotor/da, Vicenza (1566)

.", ,

Giovanni Antonio Canal, Canaletto, San GlOrgio Maggiore [rain tIJe LlawlO di San Marco (c1ctaiJ), c. 1740, oíl on canvas @ ?vIanchester Art Galleries

Paolo CaliJri) called Veronese) SUSGl1na and the Eldcrs (detaíl)J c. 1580, oil OLl canvas ~~ ~'1tlsCO Nocional del Prado, ¡'v1auriJ