Villa Serego or Villa Sarego is a

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

villa at Santa Sofia di Pedemonte, San Pietro in Cariano in the

province of Verona The province of Verona (Italian: ''provincia di Verona'') is a province of the Veneto region in Italy. On its northwestern border, Lake Garda—Italy's largest—is divided between Verona and the provinces of Brescia (Lombardy region) and Trentin ...

, northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It was built for the aristocratic Sarego family, and designed by 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 ...

. The villa is distinctive for its use of rusticated columns of the

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

History

The villa was commissioned by the Venetian nobleman Marcantonio Sarego for an estate which came into his possession in 1552.www.cisapalladio.org website
accessed December 2008 A rough date for its execution is c. 1560–1570. A plan of the building appears in Palladio's '' I quattro libri dell'architettura'' of 1570, but it relates to a larger project than was actually completed. A habitable building is known to have existed by 1572 from Marcantonio's will of that date, but he died leaving some of the project as little more than foundations. In 1857, further construction took place, which makes the villa appear finished but does not fully respect the original design.

Architecture

Two limestone sculptures stand surrounded by semi-circular hedges in front of the villa. They appear to be the deities

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

(with attributes of the hunt) and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

(holding a harp), symbolic of the villa being both a rural retreat and a refuge for culture and beauty. The villa is built around a courtyard, which is derived from the atrium of

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

s. Palladio was familiar with such designs from his research into

ancient Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often consi ...

, but courtyards are rare in his own buildings. The colossal columns of the courtyard are executed in a rough aesthetic – Palladio refers to them being made of "non polite" stone. Although ultimately derived from ancient Roman buildings, the columns are reminiscent of

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

design and have features found in the architecture of

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

. They are practically unique in Palladio's work, but are echoed in a gateway at Villa Trissino (Meledo di Sarego). Villa Serego_sezione_Bertotti Scamozzi 1781.jpg, Cross section (drawing by Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, 1781) Villa Serego_pianta_Bertotti Scamozzi 1781.jpg, Floor plan (Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, 1781)

Conservation

In 1996,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

included the villa in the

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 Palladian Villas of the Veneto". It is not open to the public.

References

* {{Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio buildings Serego Palladian villas of Veneto

History

Architecture

Conservation

See also

References