The Villa Pisani is a patrician 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,...

 designed by 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 Bagnolo, a hamlet in the comune of Lonigo

Lonigo

Lonigo is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16.000 inhabitants.In its frazione of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani, a Renaissance patrician villa designed by Andrea Palladio, which is part of a World Heritage Site...

 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 Italy.

History

The Pisani were a rich family of Venetian nobles who owned several Villas Pisani, two of them designed by Andrea Palladio. The villa at Bagnolo was built in the 1540s and represents Palladio's first villa designed for a patrician family of Venice: his earlier villa commissions were from provincial nobility in the Vicenza area. The villa at Bagnolo was at the centre of an agricultural estate, as were most of the villas commissioned from Palladio. It was designed with rusticated

Rustication (architecture)

thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...

 features to complement its rural setting; in contrast, the Villa Pisani at Montagnana

Villa Pisani (Montagnana)

The Villa Pisani is a patrician villa outside the city walls of Montagnana, Veneto, northern Italy.- Architectural details :It was designed by Andrea Palladio about 1552, for Cardinal Francesco Pisani...

 in a semi-urban setting utilizes more refined motifs.

In 1570 Palladio published a version of the villa in his Four Books of Architecture. The executed villa differs noticeably from the design. The deviations may have been in response to certain conditions on the actual site.

An engraved ground plan of 1778 by Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, gives a clear idea of the villa as it appeared in the 18th century.
There was originally a a long barchessa (wing) at the back of the courtyard terminating in dovecote

Dovecote

A dovecote or dovecot is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in...

s that kept the villa supplied with squab

Squab (food)

In culinary terminology, squab is a young domestic pigeon or its meat. The meat is widely described as tasting like dark chicken. The term is probably of Scandinavian origin; the Swedish word skvabb means "loose, fat flesh". It formerly applied to all dove and pigeon species, such as the Wood...

; this wing was admired by Vasari, but it was demolished in the nineteenth century and replaced by a structure that bears no relation to the Palladian facade it faces.

The interior features a central T-shaped salone with barrel vault

Barrel vault

A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...

ing inspired by Roman baths

Roman Baths

The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath. The house is a well-preserved Roman site for public bathing....

; it is decorated with fresco

Fresco

Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

es.

In 1996, UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 included the villa in the 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...

 "City of Vicenza and the 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...

".

See also

• 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...
  
  
• Villa Pisani
  Villa Pisani
  Villa Pisani is the name shared by a number of villas commissioned by the patrician Pisani family of Venice. However, Villa Pisani usually refers to a large, late baroque villa at Stra on the mainland of the Veneto, northern Italy. It was begun in the early 18th century for Alvise Pisani, the most...