Villa Gazzotti Grimani
Encyclopedia
The Villa Gazzotti Grimani (1542) is a Renaissance
villa
, an early work of architect
Andrea Palladio
, located in the village of Bertesina, near Vicenza
in the Veneto
region of northern Italy
. In 1994 UNESCO
designated Villa Gazzotti Grimani as part of the "Vicenza, City of Palladio" World Heritage Site
. (Two years later the World Heritage Site was expanded to include Palladian villas outside the core area and accordingly it was renamed as "City of Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto
").
.
The external form of the villa shows the person who commissioned it to have been a man who wanted to make his influence clearly visible. For the first time Palladio presents the body of the building as a clearly defined cube. The three-fold arcade
in the central section, which is reminiscent of Villa Godi
, is crowned by a triangular gable and is the dominant shape of the facade
. It is less the embodiment of an original body of thought of Palladio's - comparable examples can be found both in Villa Agostini in Cusignana
and in the architecture of Giovanni Maria Falconetto
- than of his endeavour to give existing forms of new expression. What is new is that the three-fold arcade takes up the entire height of the one-story building. Equally, the use of a triangular gable as a symbol of dignity has no counterpart in Venetian secular architecture of that time. A wide flight of steps was originally meant to lead up to the loggia
; the narrow flight of steps which now leads up to the center arcade in the loggia is a latter addition.
The body of the building rests on a base, from which it is divided by means of a ledge which runs along the entire width of the facade. On the one hand this serves to protect the working areas from damp, but on the other hand, it also raises the villa above the surrounding landscape. This use of a base is to be found in a number of Palladio's villas, but it was not his invention; Giovanni Maria Falconetto
placed the Villa Vescovile in Luvigliano
, which was begun in 1534, on a base.
Along with this adoption of contemporary architectural thinking, the Villa Gazzotti also shows what was in the Venetian territories a new way of treating wall surfaces. It is not the closed parts of the facade, but the open loggia which takes up the dominating position on the villa's facade. Beyond this, the way in which Palladio treats his facade makes it clearly recognisable that it is his intention to give the wall surface plastic structure. Eight pilasters with composite
capitals that project gently from the surface of the wall divide the facade into eight vertical rhythms. At the same time, the central part, distinguished by its three-fold arcade, is offset slightly from the rest of the facade. The windows are connected firmly to the body of the building by means of a lower window ledge which runs along the entire width of the facade and is offset along with pedestals of the pilasters. In contrast to the Villa Godi
and the Villa Piovene
, the windows are no longer merely perforations in the wall, but through their plastic profiles and the protruding triangular gables at their tops have become independent structural elements on the facade.
Even though Palladio endeavoured to open up the wall, which is usually seen as a border, the facade of Villa Gazzotti still has a lot of unshaped wall surface above the windows. Nonetheless, the multiple layering of the wall by means of the arrangement of pilasters, window profiles and triangular gables is a clear indication that Palladio is now endeavouring to model and shape the massive body of the building derived from Venetian
two-towered buildings through the use of a plastic structure and wide openings. The capitals which conclude the pilasters carry a multiple offset and variously-terraced entablature
The villa is currently in need of restoration
, particularly the exterior stucco
which has peeled to expose the underlying brickwork
. The restored Villa Saraceno
is an example of how impressive restored stucco can look.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
villa
Villa
A villa 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 small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
, an early work of architect
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
, located in the village of Bertesina, near Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
in the Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
region of northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In 1994 UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
designated Villa Gazzotti Grimani as part of the "Vicenza, City of Palladio" World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. (Two years later the World Heritage Site was expanded to include Palladian villas outside the core area and accordingly it was renamed as "City of Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto
Palladian Villas of the Veneto
The City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto is a World Heritage Site protecting a cluster of works by the architect Andrea Palladio. UNESCO inscribed the site on the World Heritage List in 1994. At first the site was called "Vicenza, City of Palladio" and only buildings in the...
").
Architectural details
The villa was designed and built in the 1540s for the Venetian Taddeo Gazzotti and, like a number of Palladio's buildings, it incorporates a pre-existing structure. In 1550, before the building was completed, Gazzotti was facing financial problems and sold the villa to Girolamo GrimaniGrimani
The Grimani family were a prominent Venetian patrician family, including three Doges of Venice. They were active in trade, politics and later the ownership of theatres and opera-houses...
.
The external form of the villa shows the person who commissioned it to have been a man who wanted to make his influence clearly visible. For the first time Palladio presents the body of the building as a clearly defined cube. The three-fold arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
in the central section, which is reminiscent of Villa Godi
Villa Godi
Villa Godi is a patrician villa in Lugo di Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It was one of the first projects by Andrea Palladio, as attested in his monograph I quattro libri dell'architettura...
, is crowned by a triangular gable and is the dominant shape of the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
. It is less the embodiment of an original body of thought of Palladio's - comparable examples can be found both in Villa Agostini in Cusignana
Giavera del Montello
Giavera del Montello is a comune in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about 40 km northwest of Venice and about 15 km northwest of Treviso....
and in the architecture of Giovanni Maria Falconetto
Giovanni Maria Falconetto
Giovanni Maria Falconetto was an Italian architect and artist. He designed the first fully Renaissance building in Padua, the Loggia Cornaro, a garden loggia for Alvise Cornaro built as a Roman doric arcade...
- than of his endeavour to give existing forms of new expression. What is new is that the three-fold arcade takes up the entire height of the one-story building. Equally, the use of a triangular gable as a symbol of dignity has no counterpart in Venetian secular architecture of that time. A wide flight of steps was originally meant to lead up to the loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
; the narrow flight of steps which now leads up to the center arcade in the loggia is a latter addition.
The body of the building rests on a base, from which it is divided by means of a ledge which runs along the entire width of the facade. On the one hand this serves to protect the working areas from damp, but on the other hand, it also raises the villa above the surrounding landscape. This use of a base is to be found in a number of Palladio's villas, but it was not his invention; Giovanni Maria Falconetto
Giovanni Maria Falconetto
Giovanni Maria Falconetto was an Italian architect and artist. He designed the first fully Renaissance building in Padua, the Loggia Cornaro, a garden loggia for Alvise Cornaro built as a Roman doric arcade...
placed the Villa Vescovile in Luvigliano
Torreglia
Torreglia is a comune in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about 45 km west of Venice and about 14 km southwest of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,978 and an area of 18.8 km²....
, which was begun in 1534, on a base.
Along with this adoption of contemporary architectural thinking, the Villa Gazzotti also shows what was in the Venetian territories a new way of treating wall surfaces. It is not the closed parts of the facade, but the open loggia which takes up the dominating position on the villa's facade. Beyond this, the way in which Palladio treats his facade makes it clearly recognisable that it is his intention to give the wall surface plastic structure. Eight pilasters with composite
Composite order
The composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order. The composite order volutes are larger, however, and the composite order also has echinus molding with egg-and-dart ornamentation between the volutes...
capitals that project gently from the surface of the wall divide the facade into eight vertical rhythms. At the same time, the central part, distinguished by its three-fold arcade, is offset slightly from the rest of the facade. The windows are connected firmly to the body of the building by means of a lower window ledge which runs along the entire width of the facade and is offset along with pedestals of the pilasters. In contrast to the Villa Godi
Villa Godi
Villa Godi is a patrician villa in Lugo di Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It was one of the first projects by Andrea Palladio, as attested in his monograph I quattro libri dell'architettura...
and the Villa Piovene
Villa Piovene
Villa Piovene is a Palladian villa built in Lonedo di Lugo, province of Vicenza, northern Italy. The building was commissioned in the 16th century for the aristocratic Venetian Piovene family, their architect believed to have been Andrea Palladio...
, the windows are no longer merely perforations in the wall, but through their plastic profiles and the protruding triangular gables at their tops have become independent structural elements on the facade.
Even though Palladio endeavoured to open up the wall, which is usually seen as a border, the facade of Villa Gazzotti still has a lot of unshaped wall surface above the windows. Nonetheless, the multiple layering of the wall by means of the arrangement of pilasters, window profiles and triangular gables is a clear indication that Palladio is now endeavouring to model and shape the massive body of the building derived from Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
two-towered buildings through the use of a plastic structure and wide openings. The capitals which conclude the pilasters carry a multiple offset and variously-terraced entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
The villa is currently in need of restoration
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
, particularly the exterior stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
which has peeled to expose the underlying brickwork
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
. The restored Villa Saraceno
Villa Saraceno
Villa Saraceno is a Palladian Villa in Agugliaro, Province of Vicenza, northern Italy. It was commissioned by the patrician Saraceno family.- Architectural significance :...
is an example of how impressive restored stucco can look.