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Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana / La Rotonda, Via della Rotonda 45
(Andrea Palladio; planned in 1566-1567, built in 1657-1605 and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi)
This is Palladio's most famous villa and one of the masterworks of the world architecture. It stands outside the city of Vicenza in the countryside that stretches from the banks of the Bacchiglione River to the Berici Hills. It was built for the canon Paolo Almerico, who, some years before, had commissioned Palladio to design the dome and the north portal of the Cathedral of Vicenza. The canon left the papal court in 1565, returned to Vicenza and wanted to settle down in a quiet country house. The construction of the villa took almost forty years to complete, and both the architect and his client died before they could see the work done. The property was overtaken by the brothers Odorico and Mario Capra, and Palladio's work was finalized by Vincenzo Scamozzi, his spiritual heir. Since 1912 the villa belongs to the Valmarana family.
Because the owner was a cleric and did not have a working farm Palladio classified the building as a palazzo rather than a villa. It is a completely symmetrical building with a square plan and four façades. Each façade has a projecting portico with steps leading up to it. Each portico consists of six Ionic columns that support the tympanums graced by the statues of classical deities. The whole is contained within an imaginary circle which touches each corner of the building and the centres of the porticoes. It is a combination of the perfect volumes: the sphere and the cube.
Each portico opens via a small cabinet or corridor to the circular central hall, from which the name La Rotonda is derived. Following the model of the Pantheon in Rome, the hall is covered with a dome. The hall soars the full height of the villa up to the dome with walls decorated in trompe-l'œil. The abundant frescoes create an atmosphere that is more reminiscent of a cathedral than the principal salon of a country house. With the use of the dome, applied for the first time to a residential building, Palladio faced the theme of the central plan, which until then had been reserved for religious architecture. There had been some examples of a residential building with a central plan before, but the Rotonda remains unique, since it perfectly corresponds to itself, being an ideal model of architecture.
The dome is surrounded by a balcony and access corridors and corner rooms on two levels. All the rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision. In order for each room to have some sun, the design was rotated 45° from the cardinal points of the compass. Among the four principal rooms on the piano nobile are the West Salon, or the Holy Room (because of the religious nature of its frescoes and ceiling), and the East Salon (containing an allegorical biography of Paolo Almerico in fresco). The frescoes were made by Alessandro and Giovanni Battista Maganza and Anselmo Canera. The basement is dedicated to the service rooms.
The villa was also designed to be in perfect harmony with the landscape. This was in complete contrast to buildings such as Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola's Villa Farnese (planned in 1556-1559), which clearly dominates over the landscape in Caprarola near Rome. Thus, even though the Rotonda looks perfectly symmetrical, it actually has certain variations (such as in the façades or in the width of steps), designed to allow each façade to complement the surrounding landscape.
Originally, the main entrance was the one towards the river. The current entrance faces the northwest portico, which is connected to the gate with a straight carriageway. This carriageway is an avenue between the service blocks, commissioned by the Capra brothers and built by Scamozzi. When approaching the villa on this side one might think that one is ascending from below to a temple on a hilltop.
The Villa La Rotonda has been imitated many times over the centuries, particularly in England and the United States. Famous examples include Lord Burlington and William Kent's Chiswick House in London (1725-1729), Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia (1768-1809), and James Hoban's White House in Washington, D.C. (1792-1800). The villa has also been famous among writers. Goethe, for example, visited it several times and said that Palladio had succeeded in designing a Greek temple suitable for living. For me it was Hofmannsthal's beautiful description of the villa at the end of an essay about his trip to Italy that made me want to go Vicenza in the first place.
Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana / La Rotonda, Via della Rotonda 45
(Andrea Palladio; planned in 1566-1567, built in 1657-1605 and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi)
This is Palladio's most famous villa and one of the masterworks of the world architecture. It stands outside the city of Vicenza in the countryside that stretches from the banks of the Bacchiglione River to the Berici Hills. It was built for the canon Paolo Almerico, who, some years before, had commissioned Palladio to design the dome and the north portal of the Cathedral of Vicenza. The canon left the papal court in 1565, returned to Vicenza and wanted to settle down in a quiet country house. The construction of the villa took almost forty years to complete, and both the architect and his client died before they could see the work done. The property was overtaken by the brothers Odorico and Mario Capra, and Palladio's work was finalized by Vincenzo Scamozzi, his spiritual heir. Since 1912 the villa belongs to the Valmarana family.
Because the owner was a cleric and did not have a working farm Palladio classified the building as a palazzo rather than a villa. It is a completely symmetrical building with a square plan and four façades. Each façade has a projecting portico with steps leading up to it. Each portico consists of six Ionic columns that support the tympanums graced by the statues of classical deities. The whole is contained within an imaginary circle which touches each corner of the building and the centres of the porticoes. It is a combination of the perfect volumes: the sphere and the cube.
Each portico opens via a small cabinet or corridor to the circular central hall, from which the name La Rotonda is derived. Following the model of the Pantheon in Rome, the hall is covered with a dome. The hall soars the full height of the villa up to the dome with walls decorated in trompe-l'œil. The abundant frescoes create an atmosphere that is more reminiscent of a cathedral than the principal salon of a country house. With the use of the dome, applied for the first time to a residential building, Palladio faced the theme of the central plan, which until then had been reserved for religious architecture. There had been some examples of a residential building with a central plan before, but the Rotonda remains unique, since it perfectly corresponds to itself, being an ideal model of architecture.
The dome is surrounded by a balcony and access corridors and corner rooms on two levels. All the rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision. In order for each room to have some sun, the design was rotated 45° from the cardinal points of the compass. Among the four principal rooms on the piano nobile are the West Salon, or the Holy Room (because of the religious nature of its frescoes and ceiling), and the East Salon (containing an allegorical biography of Paolo Almerico in fresco). The frescoes were made by Alessandro and Giovanni Battista Maganza and Anselmo Canera. The basement is dedicated to the service rooms.
The villa was also designed to be in perfect harmony with the landscape. This was in complete contrast to buildings such as Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola's Villa Farnese (planned in 1556-1559), which clearly dominates over the landscape in Caprarola near Rome. Thus, even though the Rotonda looks perfectly symmetrical, it actually has certain variations (such as in the façades or in the width of steps), designed to allow each façade to complement the surrounding landscape.
Originally, the main entrance was the one towards the river. The current entrance faces the northwest portico, which is connected to the gate with a straight carriageway. This carriageway is an avenue between the service blocks, commissioned by the Capra brothers and built by Scamozzi. When approaching the villa on this side one might think that one is ascending from below to a temple on a hilltop.
The Villa La Rotonda has been imitated many times over the centuries, particularly in England and the United States. Famous examples include Lord Burlington and William Kent's Chiswick House in London (1725-1729), Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia (1768-1809), and James Hoban's White House in Washington, D.C. (1792-1800). The villa has also been famous among writers. Goethe, for example, visited it several times and said that Palladio had succeeded in designing a Greek temple suitable for living. For me it was Hofmannsthal's beautiful description of the villa at the end of an essay about his trip to Italy that made me want to go Vicenza in the first place.