Villa Rotonda (Vicenza, Italy) : View of the north portico, from the northwest
- Creator:
- Palladio, Andrea, 1508-1580
Scamozzi, Vincenzo, 1552-1616 - Published/Created:
- Vicenza, Veneto, Italy
ca. 1565-1591 - Date Depicted:
- 5/1/1996
1500 AD - 1699 AD - Materials:
- stone
stucco - Notes:
- The building that probably bears most lasting witness to Palladio's longing for antiquity is the Villa Almerico-Valmarana, the so-called Villa Rotonda or Villa Capra, near Vicenza, the last of Palladio's villas to be built. It is a simple, centralized structure of the kind repeatedly conceived but seldom realized in the Renaissance. At its centre is a circular sala, to which lead four narrow passages from four massive temple-front porticos approached by flights of steps. The cupola of the central room was originally based on that at the Pantheon, Rome, but in its final execution, supervised by Vincenzo Scamozzi, it was made shallower and thus less sacred in appearance. In its relationship to the surrounding countryside the Villa Rotonda is one of Palladio's masterpieces and was enormously influential. Set on a low hill with gentle approaches, it appears to draw in nature from every direction, just as, from inside, the building seems to push out into the surrounding landscape. It is an almost pure celebration of the dream of life in the country. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Variant Titles:
- Villa Almerico-Valmarana
- Topics:
- Architecture -- Italy -- 16th century -- (YVRC)
- Period/Style:
- Renaissance
- Culture:
- Italian
- Accession Number:
- 1A1-PA-VA-C3
- Genre:
- architecture (AAT)
houses: country houses: villas (AAT) - Format:
- Image
- Content Type:
- Sculptures, Models, & Architecture
- Rights:
- Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement. - Access Restrictions:
- Yale Community Only
- Digital:
- architectural exteriors; landscapes; topographical views construction buildings; dwellings; houses; country houses; villas portico
- Source Creator:
- Gilchrist, Scott
- Source Title:
- Archivision Base Collection
- Source Created:
- 2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
5/1/1996 - Source Note:
- Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist
- Yale Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Digital Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Local Record Number:
- 4152
- OID:
- 10091325
- PID:
- digcoll:1869073