Palazzo Antonini also known as Palazzo Palladio and Palazzo Antonini-Maseri (after 2018), is a palazzo in Udine, northern Italy. It was designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in the middle of the 16th century for the Antonini family, owner of various other palaces in Udine.
The present owner is the University of Udine.
The beginning of construction on the Palazzo Antonini is traditionally said to date to 1556, contemporaneous with the construction of the Bollani arch, another work by Palladio in Udine. The patron was Floriano Antonini, a young and ambitious member of one of the most high-profile families of Udine aristocracy. Antonini did not hesitate to resurrect erudite traditions by minting a foundation medal for the Palazzo, probably desiring to demonstrate that sophisticated taste was not the exclusive prerogative of aristocratic circles in the capital of the Serenissima, Venice. [1] In 1559, the palace was already partially inhabitable, but in 1563 building works were still in progress.
In the following century, at least two campaigns of works heavily altered the building’s appearance, going so far as to replace all the windows, except those to the right of the loggia on the back façade, as well as the internal staircases. In 1709, Martino Fischer executed the decorative ornaments, thereby contributing to the definitive transformation of the original Palladian interiors. In essence, all that remains of Palladio’s project are the plan (less the stairs) and the building’s basic volumes, the front and back loggias (whose pediments were never executed), and the components of the "Hall of the four columns".
The architect Valentino Presani supervised a reorganisation of the entire building during the 19th century. During this reorganisation, Odorico Politi painted the neoclassical-styled fresques in the rooms facing the garden (1818 ca.) [2] .
The garden was supervised by Pietro Quaglia da Polcenigo and Giuseppe Rho. [3] One of the first California redwoods arrived in Italy was planted in the garden in 1867 and is still living today. [4]
In the 1930s, the building became the location of the Treasury of the Bank of Italy.
The 1976 Friuli earthquake left the building partially damaged, so the paintings were removed from the walls and placed on wooden supports.
In 2009, the Bank of Italy left the building to the local Museum network Civici Musei di Udine. [5] So the paintings were placed in the local art gallery (Biblioteca d'Arte dei Civici Musei).
For some years, it seemed impossible to find a proper placement for the building. In 2018, dr Attilio Maseri, famous cardiologist based in Udine, purchased it and donated it to the University of Udine. [6] After the donation, the building was officially renamed "Palazzo Antonini-Maseri". [7]
This project opens the section in the I quattro libri dell'architettura (1570) dedicated to city palaces although, as was the opposite case in the Villa Pisani at Montagnana and the Villa Cornaro at Piombino, the Palazzo Antonini was actually a rather ambivalent building: it is truly an urban palace which assumes the typology of a suburban villa. In this respect, one must bear in mind that the palace rose on the borders of the urban centre, in an open area with gardens, just like the Palazzo Chiericati or the Palazzo Civena.
The design of its façades facing the street incorporates engaged Ionic half-columns, fashioned from blocks of stone, which forecast those at the Villa Sarego at Santa Sofia. A thick web of openings transforms the loggia onto the street into a sort of diaphragm transparent to the light. The entire edifice seems to be strapped by continuous bands of stone, from the plinth of engaged columns to the entablature, right up to the band corresponding to the upper frieze, where the small unframed windows of the granary open.
Andrea Palladio was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of the most influential individuals in the history of architecture. While he designed churches and palaces, he was best known for country houses and villas. His teachings, summarized in the architectural treatise, The Four Books of Architecture, gained him wide recognition.
The Palazzo Chiericati is a Renaissance palace in Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio.
Villa Chiericati is a villa at Vancimuglio in the Veneto, northern Italy. It was designed for Giovanni Chiericati by the architect Andrea Palladio in the early 1550s.
Villa Godi is a patrician villa in Lugo di Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It was one of the first projects by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, as attested in his monograph I quattro libri dell'architettura. The work was commissioned by the brothers Girolamo, Pietro and Marcantonio Godi, started in 1537 and concluded in 1542, with later modifications to the rear entry and gardens.
The Villa Pisani is a patrician villa designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, located in Bagnolo, a hamlet in the comune of Lonigo in the Veneto region of Italy.
The Villa Forni Cerato is a 16th-century villa in Montecchio Precalcino, Province of Vicenza, northern Italy. Its design is attributed to Andrea Palladio and his client is assumed to have been Girolamo Forni, a wealthy wood merchant who supplied building material for a number of the Palladio's projects. The attribution to Palladio is partly based on stylistic grounds, although the building departs from the Palladian norms.
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.
The Palazzo Porto is a palace in Piazza Castello, Vicenza, northern Italy. It is one of two palazzi in the city designed by Andrea Palladio for members of the Porto family. Only two bays of it were ever built, beginning shortly after 1571. Why the patron, Alessandro Porto, did not continue with the project is not known.
Villa Piovene is a Palladian villa built in Lugo di Vicenza, 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. It is part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto" since 1996.
Villa Serego or Villa Sarego is a Palladian villa at Santa Sofia di Pedemonte, San Pietro in Cariano in the province of Verona, northern Italy. It was built for the aristocratic Sarego family, and designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa is distinctive for its use of rusticated columns of the Ionic order.
The Wing of the Villa Thiene is a construction designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, located in Cicogna, a hamlet in the comune of Villafranca Padovana in the Veneto region of Italy.
Palazzo Porto is a palace built by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in Contrà Porti, Vicenza, Italy. It is one of two palaces in the city designed by Palladio for members of the Porto family. Commissioned by the noble Iseppo da Porto, just married, this building had a rather long designing stage and a longer and troublesome realization, partially unfinished.
The palazzo del Capitaniato, also known as loggia del Capitanio or loggia Bernarda, is a palazzo in Vicenza, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio in 1565 and built between 1571 and 1572. It is located on the central Piazza dei Signori, facing the Basilica Palladiana.
Palazzo Barbaran da Porto is a palazzo in Vicenza, Italy designed in 1569 and built between 1570 and 1575 by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio.
Palazzo Thiene is a 15th-16th-century palace in Vicenza, northern Italy, designed for Marcantonio and Adriano Thiene, probably by Giulio Romano, in 1542, and revised during construction from 1544 by Andrea Palladio.
Palazzo Thiene Bonin Longare is a patrician palace in Vicenza, northern Italy, designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, probably in 1572, and built after Palladio's death by Vincenzo Scamozzi. It is one of the city palazzi of the Thiene family that Palladio worked upon, the other being Palazzo Thiene in the near contrà Porti.
Palazzo Valmarana is a palace in Vicenza. It was built by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in 1565 for the noblewoman Isabella Nogarola Valmarana. Since 1994 it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".
Casa Cogollo is a small palazzo in Vicenza built in 1559 and attributed to architect Andrea Palladio. Since 1994 it has formed part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".
Palazzo Civena is a Renaissance palace in Vicenza, Italy, dating to 1540. It was the first palace designed by Andrea Palladio for Giovanni Civena.
Palazzo Schio is a patrician palace of the 16th century in Vicenza, northern Italy, whose facade was designed by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in 1560.
