Villa La Rotonda
UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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Location | Vicenza, Veneto, Italy |
Part of | City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto |
Reference | 712bis-04 |
Inscription | 1994 (18th Session) |
Extensions | 1996 |
Area | 9.00 hectares (22.2 acres) |
Website | Official website |
Coordinates | 45°31′53″N 11°33′37″E / 45.5315°N 11.5603°E |
Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in Northern Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, and begun in 1567, though not completed until the 1590s. The villa's official name is Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, but it is also known as "La Rotonda", "Villa Rotonda", "Villa Capra", and "Villa Almerico Capra". The name Capra derives from the Capra brothers, who completed the building after it was ceded to them in 1592. Along with other works by Palladio, the building is conserved as part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".
Inspiration
In 1565 a priest,
Design
The site selected was a hilltop just outside the city of Vicenza. Unlike some other
The design is for a completely symmetrical building having a square plan with four facades, each of which has a projecting portico. The whole is contained within an imaginary circle which touches each corner of the building and centres of the porticos (illustration, left).
The name La Rotonda refers to the central circular hall with its
The design reflected the
Building began in 1567. Neither Palladio nor the owner, Paolo Almerico, were to see the completion of the villa. Palladio died in 1580 and a second architect, Vincenzo Scamozzi, was employed by the new owners to oversee the completion. One of the major changes he made to the original plan was to modify the two-storey central hall.
Palladio had intended it to be covered by a high semi-circular dome but Scamozzi designed a lower dome with an oculus (intended to be open to the sky) inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. The dome was ultimately completed with a cupola.
Interior
The interior design of the Villa was to be as wonderful, if not more so, than the exterior.
Alessandro and Giovanni Battista Maganza and Anselmo Canera were commissioned to paint frescoes in the principal salons.
Among the four principal salons on the piano nobile are the West Salon (also called the Holy Room, because of the religious nature of its frescoes and ceiling), and the East Salon, which contains an allegorical life story of the first owner, Paolo Almerico, his many admirable qualities portrayed in fresco.
The highlight of the interior is the central, circular hall, surrounded by a balcony and covered by the domed ceiling; it soars the full height of the main house up to the cupola, with walls decorated in trompe-l'œil.
Abundant frescoes create an atmosphere that is more reminiscent of a cathedral than the principal salon of a country house.
Landscape
From the porticos, views of the surrounding countryside can be seen; this is purposeful as the Villa was designed to be in harmony with the landscape.
This was in contrast to such buildings as Villa Farnese of just 16 years earlier.
While the house appears to be completely symmetrical, it actually has deviations, designed to allow each façade to complement the surrounding landscape and topography. Hence, there are variations in the façades, in the width of steps, retaining walls, etc. In this way, the symmetry of the architecture allows for the asymmetry of the landscape, and creates a seemingly symmetrical whole. The landscape is a panoramic vision of trees, meadows and woods, with Vicenza on the horizon.
The northwest portico is set onto the hill as the termination of a straight carriage drive from the principal gates. This carriageway is an avenue between the service blocks, built by the Capra brothers, who acquired the Villa in 1591; they commissioned Vincenzo Scamozzi to complete the villa and construct the range of staff and agricultural buildings.
Current conditions
In 1994 UNESCO designated the building as part of a World Heritage Site.[3]
A former family owner of the villa was Mario di Valmarana (1929-2010), a former professor of architecture at the University of Virginia.[4] It was his declared ambition to preserve Villa Rotonda so that it may be appreciated by future generations. His brother was Lodovico Valmarana (1926-2018), Count of Valmarana and Nogara, whose father Count Andrea Valmarana (1891-1976) purchased the villa in 1912, with the villa now owned by Lodovico's son, Count Nicolò Valmarana. The interior is open to the public Friday through Sunday,[5] and the grounds are open every day.
Film
In 1979 the American film director Joseph Losey filmed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni in Villa La Rotonda and the Veneto region of Italy. The film was nominated for several César Awards in 1980 including Best Director, and has generally been praised as one of the finer cinematic adaptations of opera.
Photo gallery
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Front
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Side
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Service corridor leading up to buildingfaçade
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carved marble fireplace mantel over a fireplace
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Open pedimentover doorway
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Palladio: I quattro libri
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Palladio: I quattro libri
Influences
England
Five houses have been built in England based on Palladio's Villa Rotonda:
Palestinian Territories
The "House of Palestine" (Bayt al-Filastin), built at the top of biblical
Poland
Palaces built in Poland based on Palladio's Villa Rotonda include the Królikarnia (Rabbit House) Palace, the Belweder in Warsaw and the Skórzewski Palace in Lubostroń.
Belarus
The interior of the main building of the Gomel Palace in Gomel in the Eastern Belarus is based on Villa Rotonda.
United States
For the competition to design the President's House in
See also
References
- ^ A. Palladio, I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, Venezia (Venice) 1570, libro (book) II, p. 18 (in Italian)
- ^ HKW, Communal Villa, Lecture, 2015. 31 minute mark. https://www.hkw.de/en/app/mediathek/video/47405
- ^ In 1996 the World Heritage Site "Vicenza, City of Palladio" was extended and renamed "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".[1]
- ^ UVA Today (Oct 14, 2010). "In Memoriam: Mario di Valmarana". Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
- ^ Villa la Rotonda (2021). "Orari". Retrieved August 23, 2021.
Sources
- dal Lago, Adalbert (1969). Villas and Palaces of Europe. ISBN 978-0-600-01235-1.
External links
- Official website in English
- Description of the building written by the Palladio Museum in Vicenza (in English and Italian)
- "La rotonda"
- "Commentary and Images of Villa Capra" from GreatBuilding.com
- Virtually visit an interpretation of the Villa Capra in Second Life.
- Architectural analysis of Villa Capra
- "Solar Orientation and Historic Buildings". solarhousehistory.com.