Villa Cornaro is a patrician

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

in Piombino Dese, about 30 km northwest of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Italy. It was designed by the Italian Renaissance 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 on ...

in 1552 and is illustrated and described by him in Book Two of his 1570 masterwork, '' I quattro libri dell'architettura'' (The Four Books on Architecture). Villa Cornaro is an example of one of Palladio's designs whose influence can be seen in later architecture. In efforts on preservation, Villa Cornaro has not always remained in the possession of the state.

Architecture

The designing of the Villa Cornaro's main body took place between 1551 and 1552, with it being usable as of 1554. The side wings of the villa would not be brought to completion until 1596 by

Vincenzo Scamozzi Vincenzo Scamozzi (2 September 1548 – 7 August 1616) was an Italians, Italian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century. He was perhaps the most importan ...

. In this time period Palladio began to alter his use of orders, architectural styles, within buildings.The Villa Cornaro marks one of Palladio's first uses of the pedimented portico. The villa was designed in a period of time when Palladio's method of designing was changing. The north façade has a projecting central portico-loggia that is a flexible living space out of the sun and open to cooling breezes. The interior space of the villa showcases a symmetrical arrangement, a main principle of Palladio's architecture. Rooms of inter-related proportions composed of squares and rectangles flank a central axial vista, which extends through the house. As Rudolf Wittkower noted, by moving subsidiary staircases into the projecting wings and filling matching corner spaces with paired oval principal stairs, space was left for a central ''salone'', which is fully as wide as the porticos. The central core of the villa forms a rectangle in which there are six repetitions of a standard module. As of the year 1717, Mattia Bortoloni was commissioned for the creation of over one hundred frescos to decorate the Villa Interior. The frescos that occupy the first floor depict various scenes from the Old Testament; the second floor frescos display scenes of the New Testament. Other artistic endeavors that occupy the villa include six sculptural portraits portraying important figures to the family. Some of the depictions include

Catherine Cornaro Catherine Cornaro (; or ; ; 25 November 1454 – 10 July 1510) was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Cyprus, also holding the titles of Queen of Jerusalem and Queen of Armenia. She became queen consort of Cyprus by marriage to James II of ...

(the Queen of Cyprus), Doge Marco Cornaro (the builder of the villa), and Admiral Giorgio Cornaro. These additions to the Villa Cornaro were completed by sculptor Camillo Mariani.

Influence

Through its illustration in Palladio's ''I quattro libri dell'architettura'', in the 18th century Villa Cornaro became a model for villas all over the world. One such example is Marble Hill House (1724–29) in

Twickenham, London Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. Additionally the influence of

can be seen in the use of two story porticos in American architecture. Drayton Hall in Charleston, South Carolina is one example of an American structure that boasts this specific feature from Palladio's architecture.

Conservation

Richard Rush purchased the Villa Cornaro in 1969 from the Council of the Villas of the Veneto (L'Ente per le Ville Venete), an organization within Italian Government dedicated to preserving the national monuments of Italy in the Veneto. Rush and his wife, Julia, restored the villa and furnished it with antiques over a period of twenty years under the supervision of the Superintendent of Monuments. Existing since the 1550's, the Villa required some restoration, including but not limited to pillars damaged by American Planes During World War II . Other items, such as blown out windows, also required repairs. Since 1996 the villa has been conserved as part of a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

" City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".'' The villa is owned by Carl and Sally Gable, of

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, who purchased it in 1989 for $2 million from Dr. Rush. In 2017, the couple put up the villa for sale; the asking price was 35 million British pounds.Sally Gable and Carl I. Gable, ''Palladian Days: Finding a New Life in a Venetian Country House'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005),

Gallery

File:VillaCornaro 2007 07 14 back 4.jpg, Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese by Andrea Palladio (taken by Hans A. Rosbach) File:VillaCornaro 2007 07 14 room.jpg, Interior of Villa Cornaro by Andrea Palladio (taken by Hans A. Rosbach) File:VillaCornaro 2007 07 14 main hall.jpg, Main Hall, Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese by Andrea Palladio (taken by Hans A. Rosbach File:Villa Cornaro pianta Bertotti Scamozzi 1781.jpg, Ground plan by Bertotti Scamozzi, 1781

Notes

External links