ANDREA PALLADlO, 1508-1580

Andrea Palladj V.Photo Credir: r__ 0, IUaRoronda, Vicenza, Iraly, 1550s

'-'UIleraphotoArr .e, Venlce/Arr Resource, NY

60 Pal ladio

Andrea Palladio, originally named Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, first established

himself as a stonemason in Vicenza. In the mid-IS 30s, he came under the patron-

age of the amateur architect Giangiorgio Trissino, a wealthy Renaissance scholar who

bestowed the name Palladio upon Andrea and encouraged him undertake a classical

education in the arts and mathematics. With Trissino as a mentor, Palladio immersed

himself in the writings ofVitruvius and traveled to Rome to study the great architec-

tural works of Roman antiquity. Through his illustrations of ancient structures and

his own architectural designs-first country villas, the most famous of which may be

the Villa Capra (1566-71), also known as the Villa Rotunda) and later larger religious

buildings such as the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore (1564-S0)----;-Palladio became

well known throughout the Venetian region. Yet, perhaps his greatest architectural

contribution is I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, a text Palladio began in the 1550s

and finally published in 1570. In this treatise, known in English as The Four Books on

Architecture, Palladio discussed his architectural philosophy and offered practical guid-

ance for builders, thoroughly illustrated with woodcuts of his works. Unlike Alberti's

architectural writings, Palladio's text was intended for a nonacademic audience, for

anyone involved in construction. This lack of pretension no doubt contributed to the

work's popularity; within the next century, portions of I Quattri Libri had been trans-

lated into multiple languages. In eighteenth-century England, Palladio's work was

extremely admired, generating numerous classical designs in a style often referred to

as "Palladian," thus memorializing one of the most influential architects of the Italian

Renaissance.

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The Four Books on Architecture (ca. mid-1550s, published 1570)

The First Book on Architecture: Foreword to the Readers

Guided by a natural inclination, I dedicated myself to the study of architecture in my

. . any otheryouth, and since I always held the opinion that the ancrenr Romans, as 10 m

h . b ilding well, Ithings, had also greatly surpassed all those who came after t em 10 ill 1

elected as my master and guide Vitruvius, who is the only ancient writer on this art. Iset myself the task of investigating the remains of the ancient bUildings that have sur-

vived despite the ravages of time and the cruelty of the barbarians, and finding them

much worthier of study than I had first thought, I began to measure all their parts

minutely and with the greatest care. I became so assiduous an investigator of suchthings that, being unable to find anything that Wasnot made with fine judgment and

beautiful ProPOrtions, I repeatedly visited various parts OfItaly and abroad in order to

understand the totality of bUildings from their parts and commit them to drawings.

Acmdingly, seeing how diff"'m ,I.,U'u,1mann" of bUilding is from ,I., 'hi ngs ,I."I had observed in those structures and had tead about in Vitruvius and Leon BattistaAlberti and the other excellent writers Whocame after Vitruvius and also from those

,which J myself builr ""ndy, which h,ve hoen '''''Iy oPP'",i",d and praised bythose who employed me, I considered it WOrthyof man, Who is not born for himself

alone bur also co be of use '0 n'b,~, '0 make public ,I.,d"ign, nf'ho" building,

'hoc J have coll""d over 'uch, Inng p"i"" 'nd" 'u'h P""'nal risk, anr] '0 expoundb,i,ny whar it is abom 'hem 'hoc "'mod '0 rne '0 be '""" Wonhy of ,",,,id''''ion,and also ,I., rules 'hoc I have fullow,d 'nd "ill follow wher, bUilding; so thar ,1.0"who read my books may benefit from what is USefulin th d I hemselves

em an supp y t emse

Andren Palladio, The Four Books 011 An:hitectu re, trans. ROben

Tavernor d R'

an lchard Schofield (Cambridge,MA: MIT Press, 1997). 5-7. © 199 Massachusetts Institute of Techno 1 R .

. ogy. epnnted wirh permission ofthe publisher. Translarors' commentary omnted from this reprinting.

62 Palladia

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those things (of which perhaps there will be many) which I will have overlooked; so

that, little by little, one may learn to set aside those strange abuses, barbarous inven-

tions, and pointless expenses and (most importantly) avoid the common failures of

various kinds that have been seen in many buildings .... I hope therefore that this

manner of building will, to the benefit of all, soon achieve that level so desirable in all

the arts .... [Since} I must publish the results of those labors which, since my yourh, I

have devoted to studying and measuring the ancient buildings that I knew about with

asmuch care as I was capable of, and take this occasion to discuss architecture as briefly,

methodically, and clearly as I could, I thought it would be most appropriate to begin

with private houses; for it is plausible that they supplied the models [ragione} for pub-

lic buildings, since it is very likely that man previously lived by himself, and then, see-

ing that he needed the help of other men in providing those things which would make

him happy (if happiness is to be found down here), he quite naturally longed for and

loved the company of other men: so they formed settlements from a number of houses

and from settlements cities in which there were public places and buildings; and also

because, of all the branches of architecture, none is more essential to man nor more

often built than this. I shall discuss, therefore, private houses, and will then proceedto public buildings. I shall deal briefly with roads, bridges, squares, prisons, basilicas

(that is, places of judgment), xysti, palaestrae, which were places where men took exer-

cise, temples, theaters and amphitheaters, arches, baths, aqueducts, and finally I shall

deal with the fortification of cities, and with harbors. In all these books I shall avoidbeing long-winded and will simply provide the advice [avertenza} that seems essential

to me, and will make use of those terms widely used nowadays by craftsmen. For my

part, I can promise no more than long labor, great diligence, and the devotion which

I pur into understanding and practicing what I offer; if it pleases God that I have not

worked in vain I shall give thanks for his goodness, with all my heart, while still re-

maining greatly indebted to those who, through their own ingenious inventions and

the experience they gained, have bequeathed us the rules of this art, for they opened

up an easier and more direct route to the study of new things, and (thanks to them) we

know of many things that would perhaps have remained hidden. This first part will be

divided into two books; the first will be concerned with the prepararion of marerials

and, once prepared, how and in what form they are to be used from rhe foundations up

to the roof; and where those universal rules, which should be followed in all public as

well as private structures, should be applied. The second will be concerned with the

types [qualita.} of buildings suitable to various classes of men; first Iwill discuss build-

ings in the city and then well-chosen and convenient sites required for buildings in the

country [villa} and how they are to be laid Out [compartire}. And, as we have very few

ancient examples to refer to in this part, Iwill include plans and elevations [impiede}

of many buildings which Idesigned [ordinare} for various gentlemen, and the designs

of houses of the ancients with the most noteworthy parts of them following Virruvius'teachings about how they were to be made.

Chapter 1.On What Must Be Considered and Prepared Before Building Can Start

One musr consider carefully every aspect of the plan [pianra} and elevations [impiede}

of a building before starting to build. There are three things in every building (as

Vitruvius says) that have to be considered, without which none deserve credit; these

are usefulness or convenience [commoditaJ, durability, and beauty. For one could not

describe as perfect a building which was useful, but only briefly, or one which was

inconvenient for a long time, or, being both durable and useful, was not beautiful.Convenience will be provided for when each member [memb }' '. iare

ro ISgIVen ItS approprposition, well siruated, no less than digniry requires nor m I '1' d ds:ore t ran UtI Ity eman ,each member will be correctly positioned when the loggi [I ia] h 11 I

as oggla, a s, rooms, ce _lars and granaries are located in their apptopriate places D bil: . b d' . ura I Ity will e guaranteewhen all the walls are plumb vertical, rhicker below than b d d

a ove, and have soun anstrong foundations; and furrher, when the columns abov

d .

e Stan vertIcally over thosebelow and all rhe solid openings, such as doors and Window

s, are one above the other:so thar solid is above solid and void above Void. Beauty '11 d .

WI efJve from a gracefulshape and the relationship of the whole to rhe parts, and of rh

. . e parts among themselvesand to the whole, because bUlldlllgs rnusr appear to be like I

comp ere and well-defined

64 Palladio

bodies, of which one member [membro) matches another and all the members are

necessary for what is required. Having weighed up these things by mean of drawings

and the model, one must carefully calculate the entire cost involved, making provi-

sion for the money in good time and preparing the materials that are likely needed,

so that, when building, nothing is missing or hinders the completion of the work; for

the patron [edificatore] will get great credit and the whole building will be at a great

advantage if it is built at the appropriate pace, and all its walls, having been built up

at the same height together, settle to the same extent, for then they will not develop

those cracks seen so often in buildings which were constructed at different times and

brought to their conclusion haphazardly. Then, once the most skillful craftsmen avail-

able have been chosen, so that the work may be carried out in the best possible mariner

according to their advice, provision should be made for timber, stone, sand, lime, and

metals; on the subject of these materials one should heed the following rule [averrenza]

that, for instance, to make the woodwork of the ceilings [travamenta, solaro) of halls

and rooms, a sufficient quantity of beams should be provided so that, when putting

them all in place, there is a space as wide as a beam and a half between them. Simi-

larly, with stone, bear in mind that the jambs [etta) of the doors and windows do not

require pieces of stone thicker than one fifth of the width of the opening nor less than

one sixth. And if the ornament of a building is to be supplied by columns or pilasters

[pilasrri}, their bases, capitals, and architraves should be stone, and the other parts of

brick [pietro cotta). As to walls, take care to make them thinner as they rise; such a

rule should ensure the cost is reasonable and cut expenses considerably. Since I will

talk in detail about all these subjects in their proper place, it is enough for now to have

mentioned these general considerations here and to have made, as it were, a sketch of

the whole building. But because, as well as the quantity one must also consider the

type [qualita] and quality when choosing the best material, much will be gained from

having experienced the buildings of others, because, having learned from them, we can

already decide what is appropriate and suited to our own needs.

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