Villa Pojana

Last updated
Villa Pojana
Villa Pojana photo by Marcok 2009-08-08 n04 rect.jpg
Front of the villa
Villa Pojana
Alternative namesVilla Poiana
General information
Architectural style Palladian
Location Pojana Maggiore, Vicenza, Italy
Year(s) built1548–1549
Design and construction
Architect(s) Andrea Palladio


Villa Pojana or Poiana, is a patrician villa in Pojana Maggiore, a town of the Province of Vicenza in the Veneto region of Italy. It was designed by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It is conserved as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".

Contents

History

The Villa Pojana was built in the years 1548–1549 for Bonifacio Pojana, a member of the Pojana family who had been local landowners for centuries. Bonifacio's military background is expressed on the one hand by the severity and austere purity of the architecture [1] and on the other hand by the decorative programme described below.

Architecture

Palladio's design was inspired by ancient Roman baths, which he had studied during a trip to Rome. [2] The main floor is characterized by a large hall with a barrel vault ceiling (see also Villa Pisani in Bagnolo). At each side of the central hall, secondary rooms extend, each with a different type of vault. Villa Pojana remains one of the most curious examples of Palladian architecture, even though the Villa was never completed and some of its latter development strayed from Palladio's original design. Of what was built, Palladio demonstrated some of his most creative work, especially in the building's main feature on the façade, a serliana with five circular holes (oculi), inspired from ancient Roman models, yet not derivative from any specific source. Other notable elements are the broken pediment, stripped classical features, and statues that depict both military and agricultural deities.

Decorative details

The bust of Bonifacio Pojana, committant of the villa, upon the entrance. The sculpture may be a work of Bartolomeo Ridolfi, author of the stuccos. Villa Pojana photo by Marcok 2009-08-08 n07.jpg
The bust of Bonifacio Pojana, committant of the villa, upon the entrance. The sculpture may be a work of Bartolomeo Ridolfi, author of the stuccos.

Palladio himself documented the interior decorations as being by Bernardino India, Anselmo Canera, and Bartolomeo Ridolfi. [3] Canera and India were both painters of the frescos (India of the grotesques), while Ridolfi was a decorator and sculptor, responsible for stuccos and all fireplaces.

In the atrium, elegant stucco frames, whose floral designs entwine around trompe-l'œil reliefs, enclose monochromes of river gods, while here and there appear patches of sky populated with other deities. The bust of Bonifacio Pojana looks down from over the main entrance, and above him are the family's coat of arms and military trophies. Other decorations depict Pompeian scenes with the backgrounds and landscapes strewn with picturesque ruins and broken columns, whilst monochromatic figures of warriors stand watch in the trompe-l'œil niches. The frescoed ceiling, with the allegory of Fortuna, is attributed to Giovanni Battista Zelotti.

The most significant fresco can be found in the central hall: called the Emperors' Salon it shows a family from classical times, dressed in tunics and togas. They kneel in front of an altar whilst the pater familias extinguishes the torch of war at the feet of the statue of Peace which stands on the altar. It is a clear allusion to the peace painfully achieved in the sixteenth century after the War of the League of Cambrai which allowed Venetians to enjoy the delights of the terra firma. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Palladio</span> 16th-century Italian Renaissance architect of the Republic of Venice

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa La Rotonda</span> Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in northern Italy

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Emo</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site

Villa Emo is one of the many creations conceived by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It is a patrician villa located in the Veneto region of northern Italy, near the village of Fanzolo di Vedelago, in the Province of Treviso. The patron of this villa was Leonardo Emo and remained in the hands of the Emo family until it was sold in 2004. Since 1996, it has been conserved as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Badoer</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, Italy

Villa Badoer is a villa in Fratta Polesine, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It was designed in 1556 by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio for the Venetian noble Francesco Badoer, and built between 1557 and 1563 on the site of a medieval castle, which guarded a bridge across a navigable canal. This was the first time Palladio used his fully developed temple pediment in the façade of a villa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venetian window</span> Tripartite window

A Venetian window is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) and is almost a trademark of his early career. The true Palladian window is an elaborated version. Both the Venetian window or Serlian window and the Palladian window were inspired by Hellenistic and Roman examples which are part of the classical tradition and related to prestige and sacredness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Chiericati</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, Italy

The Palazzo Chiericati is a Renaissance palace in Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Barbaro</span> Building in Veneto, Italy

Villa Barbaro, also known as the Villa di Maser, is a large villa at Maser in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It was designed and built by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, with frescos by Paolo Veronese and sculptures by Alessandro Vittoria, for Daniele Barbaro, Patriarch of Aquileia and ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I of England and his brother Marcantonio, an ambassador to King Charles IX of France. The villa was added to the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palladian villas of the Veneto</span>

The Palladian villas of the Veneto are villas designed by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, all of whose buildings were erected in the Veneto, the mainland region of north-eastern Italy then under the political control of the Venetian Republic. Most villas are listed by UNESCO as part of a World Heritage Site named City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Foscari</span> Villa in Mira, Italy

Villa Foscari is a villa in Mira, near Venice, northern Italy, designed by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The home was constructed by Palladio for two patrician brothers. It was built in the mid 1550s. It is also known as La Malcontenta, a nickname which—according to a legend—it received when the spouse of one of the Foscaris was locked up in the house because she allegedly did not live up to her conjugal duty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Godi</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, Italy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernardino India</span> Italian painter

Bernardino India (1528–1590) was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance, born and mainly active in Verona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Battista Zelotti</span> Italian painter (1526–1578)

Giovanni Battista Zelotti was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance, active in Venice and her mainland territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Antonio Fasolo</span> Italian painter

Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (1530–1572) was a late Renaissance Italian painter of the Venetian school, active in Vicenza and surroundings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Forni Cerato</span> Building in 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Caldogno</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, Italy

Villa Caldogno is a villa in the Veneto region of Italy, which is attributed to Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It was built for the aristocratic Caldogno family on their estate in the village of Caldogno near Vicenza. It is also known as the "Villa Nordera" after Dr. Ettore Nordera who owned the property through a large part of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Trissino (Meledo di Sarego)</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, Italy

Villa Trissino is an incomplete patrician villa designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, situated in the hamlet of Meledo in the comune of Sarego in the Veneto, north-eastern Italy. It was intended for the brothers Ludovico and Francesco Trissino.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Porto, Vicenza</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo del Capitaniato</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, Italy

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 in 1571 and '72. It is located on the central Piazza dei Signori, facing the Basilica Palladiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Barbaran da Porto</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Veneto, Italy

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.

Anselmo Canera, or Canneri, was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance, born and mainly active in Verona. He is noted for his frescoes and his collaborations with other Italian artists such as Bernardino India and Paolo Veronese.

References

  1. Muraro, Michelangelo; Paolo Marton. Venetian Villas. Könemann. p. 134. ISBN   3-89508-242-2.
  2. "VILLA POIANA". Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio Fondazione. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  3. Venetian Villas, p. 134
  4. Venetian Villas, p. 134.