Sabbatical 2010 - Bulletin No.3 - 16th June

Three days in Vicenza have convinced me that an earlier bulletin than usual is appropriate. Vicenza and the architecture of Palladio has given us a great deal of pleasure even if we have had almost biblical levels of rain at times.

A good drive here on Monday was the last we saw of the sun. Then on Tuesday in the rain we walked round Vicenza aided by the excellent and almost indispensible audio guide, and visited a couple of villas outside Vicenza, the Villa Caldogno and the Villa Cordellina Lombardi (which was built for a Venetian lawyer after the style of Palladio).

Today we began with the quiet Villa Chiaricati, still a farmhouse, and rather dilapidated – its owner said his grandfather bought it in 1880. Then to the spectacular and accomplished Villa Almerico – Capra, usually called La Rotonda. After lunch in Bassano della Grappa we visited the Villa Piovene and Villa Godi, the first of Palladio’s villas.

I am going to let the pictures largely speak for themselves. But what they cannot do is to reveal the excitement of effectively “discovering” these buildings. There is huge joy in turning a corner to see one of these, in its actual setting. The other wonderful thing is that most of the villas we saw today are still lived in.

Our walk around Vicenza, and two nearby villas

This is the Teatro Olimpico, the world's first indoor theatre, designed by Palladio on the lines of Roman amphitheatres.

La Basilica.  Not a church, but Palladio using the proper meaning of the word.  He won the design competition for this building in about 1546.  To get an historical perspective on him, Edward VI was on the throne in England, and Bess of Hardwick built Hardwick Hall (more glass than wall) in 1590.

Here is the elegant Piazza dei Signori - not a single one of Palladio's buildings in this picture (but they are just behind me).

Villa Caldogno

The Villa Cordellina Lombardi - hmm, Venetian lawyers did well.  Built in 1735 in the Palladian style, there are frescoes by Tiepolo inside.  We also learnt from a guide at Vicenza's art gallery that he had a fresco of Law, supporting Truth, defeating Slander.  Now in the gallery, a few years ago Berlusconi asked to have it.  The Mayor refused, but Berlusconi has had a double sized copy made which hangs behind the lectern in the press-briefing room as a warning to the press.

Four villas today

The Villa Chiaricati is a wonderful contradiction.  The rambling wisteria growing up the column cocks a snook of dilapidation at Palladio's symmetry.  The villa is crumbling - these buildings must eat money - still a farmhouse, though the elderly owner lives in the buildings on the right.  It stands in the plain on the main road and the address is 1, via Nazionale.

And lived in - look what's in the portico, below.

La Rotonda - real grandeur.

The Villa Piovene is still lived in by descendants of the original Piovenes who built it.

And finally, the Villa Godi, Palladio's first villa.  You may think it strange that all the pictures of the Villa Godi in all the books are all taken from this viewpoint.  Visit it to see why.  Oh and ring beforehand to check the opening times too.  The web said it would be open, but it wasn't.