Eighteen Renaissance
villas by
the architect Andrea Palladio survive today in the Veneto area around Venice,
Italy. Many of them are open to the public. They are visited each year by
thousands of architects, art historians, tourists and others who want to
admire their beauty, feel closer to history and better understand the foundations
of the modern world.
Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) remains the most influential
architect in the history of architecture. About 450 years ago his country
houses -- called "villas" -- began to appear in the countryside of the
Veneto, the mainland province around Venice.
Palladio's villas revolutionized Western architecture
in the 17th and 18th centuries, produced the school of Southern architecture
in the 19th century, and changed the way homes look in our contemporary
world. His influence was ensured by his revolutionary treatise The
Four Books of Architecture (1570).
The villas represent Palladio's response to the unique
needs of his contemporary world. In the villas Palladio re-worked what
he perceived to be timeless and universal principles newly re-discovered
from the past. Fortuitously, the needs of his time have remained needs
of the modern world. As a result, Palladio's architectural insights and
solutions remain vital and relevant.
