Villa Chiericati (also known as Villa Chiericati-Rigo) is a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

at Vancimuglio in the

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It was designed for Giovanni Chiericati by the architect

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of ...

in the early 1550s. Palladio also designed the family's town house

Palazzo Chiericati The Palazzo Chiericati is a Renaissance palace in Vicenza (northern Italy), designed by Andrea Palladio. History Palladio was asked to design and build the palazzo by Count Girolamo Chiericati. The architect started building the palace in 1 ...

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

. In 1996,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

included the villa in the World Heritage Site '' City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto''.

Architecture

The villa is square. A portico projects from its principal facade. (This was the first time a temple

pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

had been incorporated into a villa's design). The principal rooms are built upon a piano nobile above a

semi-basement In architecture, a semi-basement is a floor of a building that is half below ground, rather than entirely such as a true basement or cellar. Traditionally, semi-basements were designed in larger houses where staff was housed. A semi-basement us ...

. The upper floor is very much of secondary importance. The design of the villa was to be the prototype for Palladio's later works at the

Villa Rotonda Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in northern Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa's correct name is Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, but it is also known as "La Rotonda", "Villa Rot ...

and the Villa Malcontenta. Work on the villa stopped after the death of Palladio's client. It was not finally completed until after it had been purchased by Ludovico Porto in 1574. In 1584 he employed the architect Domenico Groppino, who had collaborated with Palladio on other projects, to complete the villa. There is some debate as to the extent Groppino influenced the eventual design of the building. While the portico is undoubtedly by the hand of Palladio himself, the position of the windows is at variance with the architect's own advice in ''

I quattro libri dell'architettura ''I quattro libri dell'architettura'' (''The Four Books of Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture by the architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), written in Italian. It was first published in four volumes in 1570 in Venice, illustrated wi ...

'', where he warns against placing windows near the corner of a building lest it weaken the structure (the villa does in fact reveal signs of settlement here)."Palladio and the Veneto"
a catalogue of the villas maintained by www.cisapalladio.org, retrieved 14 February 2008. Image:Villa Chiericati plan.jpg, Floor plan (drawing by Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, 1781) Image:Villa Chiericatiside view.jpg, Cross section (drawing by Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, 1781)

References

External links

"Patrimonio Mondiale"
Italian World Heritage Sites, retrieved 15 February 2008 (gives information on opening times)
Image of Villa ChiericatiThe approach to Villa Chiericati
{{Andrea Palladio Houses completed in the 16th century Renaissance architecture in Veneto Andrea Palladio buildings Chiericati Palladian villas of Veneto

Architecture

See also

References

External links