Andrea Palladio: The Architect in His Time

More than any other architect in history, Andrea Palladio transformed the built landscape of the Western world. Elegant and powerful, his buildings won him acclaim in his lifetime and enduring fame in the four centuries since his death in 1589. His profound influence has crossed boundaries of both space and time; indeed, there are few major cities in the world without buildings that echo the crisp lines and impeccable design of his villas, palaces, and churches, and even the post-modernism of recent years can be seen as a reworking of themes first explored by Palladio. Though the great Renaissance architect's buildings have often been photographed and numerous specialized monographs have been written about his career, never before have his life and times been brought together in such a lively and comprehensive narrative as this volume. Richly illustrated with newly-commissioned photography as well as period plans and drawings, this book traces Palladio's rise from apprentice stonemason to a young intellectual engaged in a vivid debate about the importance of buildings in civic life. The book follows him through his first private residential commissions and the triumph of his Basilica in Vicenza, from the grand churches of San Giorgio Maggiore and the Redentore in Venice to the publication of his seminal Quattro Libri, or Four Books On Architecture, and culminates in the peerless villas that are associated with his name: the imposing Malcontenta and the aristocratic Rotonda. While the buildings are discussed in terms of their importance in art history, Palladio's remarkable career is also defined against the backdrop of the dramatic events and personalities of the age. Studying the pastwith an archaeologist's zeal, Palladio created an extraordinary series of buildings that deftly adapted the language of classical architecture to the requirements of sixteenth-century life. This handsome volume about Andrea Palladio, who has been revered and imitated for four hundred years, is indispensable not only for architects but for anyone with an interest in history and art.