Villa Caldogno is a villa

Villa

A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...

 in the Veneto

Veneto

Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...

 region of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, which is attributed to Andrea Palladio

Andrea Palladio

Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...

. It was built for the aristocratic Caldogno family on their estate in the village of Caldogno

Caldogno

Caldogno is a town and comune near Vicenza in Italy. Its population is 11,291.The Villa Caldogno Nordera in its territory is attributed to architect Andrea PalladioIt is the birthplace of footballer Roberto Baggio....

 near Vicenza

Vicenza

Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...

.

History

A Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 inscription on the facade (Angelus Calidonius Luschi Filius MDLXX) dates the completion of the building to 1570 when it belonged to Angelo Caldogno. However, Angelo's father, Losco Caldogno, appears to have started to build in the 1540s, probably incorporating walls from a pre-existing building. 1570 is possibly the date of the completion of the villa's decorative scheme.

The villa is not included in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura

I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura

I quattro libri dell'architettura is an Italian treatise on architecture by the architect Andrea Palladio . It was first published in four volumes in 1570 in Venice, illustrated with woodcuts after the author's own drawings. It has been reprinted and translated many times...

, Palladio's treatise of 1570, in which the architect discussed a number of his creations. However, it is similar to certain villas, such as the Villa Saraceno

Villa Saraceno

Villa Saraceno is a Palladian Villa in Agugliaro, Province of Vicenza, northern Italy. It was commissioned by the patrician Saraceno family.- Architectural significance :...

, that Palladio is known to have created in the 1540s and 1550s.

Decorative scheme

The villa has fresco

Fresco

Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

es by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo

Giovanni Antonio Fasolo

Giovanni Antonio Fasolo was a late Renaissance Italian painter of the Venetian school, active in Vicenza and surroundings.A native of Mandello del Lario, he appears to have trained in the Venice studio of Paolo Veronese. By 1557, he was an independent fresco decorator...

 (1530-1572), who decorated Palladio's Teatro Olimpico

Teatro Olimpico

The Teatro Olimpico is a theatre in Vicenza, northern Italy: constructed in 1580-1585, it is the oldest surviving enclosed theatre in the world. The theatre was the final design by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, Renaissance, and was not completed until after his death...

, and Giovanni Battista Zelotti

Giovanni Battista Zelotti

Giovanni Battista Zelotti was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance, active in Venice and her mainland territories.He appears to have been born in Venice, and trained with Antonio Badile and Domenico Riccio, as well as perhaps Titian. Bernasconi claims he trained with his uncle Paolo Farinati...

 (1526-1578), who decorated a number of villas designed by Palladio. The frescoes at Villa Caldogno Nordera have been compared to Zelotti's work at Villa Foscari

Villa Foscari

thumb|Villa Foscari: facing the [[Brenta]]Villa Foscari is a patrician villa in Mira, near Venice, northern Italy, designed by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio...

.

Conservation status

In 1996 UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 included the Villa Caldogno Nordera in the World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto

Palladian Villas of the Veneto

The City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto is a World Heritage Site protecting a cluster of works by the architect Andrea Palladio. UNESCO inscribed the site on the World Heritage List in 1994. At first the site was called "Vicenza, City of Palladio" and only buildings in the...

".
The villa is in municipal ownership and is open to the public.