Villa Saraceno
Encyclopedia
Villa Saraceno is a Palladian Villa
in Agugliaro
, Province of Vicenza
, northern Italy. It was commissioned by the patrician Saraceno family.
's earlier works. In 1570 the building was illustrated in an imagined state in its architect's influential publication "Four Books of Architecture".
However, the villa had been constructed in a more modest form, and existing farm buildings were retained rather than being replaced by the architect's "trade-mark" wings. The reasons for the divergence between the published plan and the actual building are not entirely clear, but it is not the only one of Palladio's villas to be different from the published plan.
The villa is one of Palladio's simpler creations. Like most of Palladio's villas it combines living space for its upper-class owners with space for uses related to agriculture. Above the "piano nobile
" is a floor which was designed as a granary.
As it stands today, the villa has a nineteenth-century wing which links it to a fifteenth-century building.
. By 1994 the Trust had completed its restoration, converting the property, which includes adjacent farm-buildings not by Palladio, into a holiday home sleeping up to 16 people. The many people who have since stayed in the villa include Witold Rybczynski
, who used it as a base when researching his book on Palladio.
The restoration has been praised for its sensitivity, and since 1996 the villa has enjoyed an additional level of protection, being conserved as one of the buildings which make up the World Heritage Site
"City of Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto
". The principal rooms of the villa are open to the public on a limited basis,
but the Trust attracted some criticism in the past for not promoting the building as part of the World Heritage Site.
In 2008 the Landmark Trust celebrated the 500th anniversary of Palladio's birth with a new guidebook for the Villa Saraceno in English and Italian and extended opportunities for visiting.
The architecture of the Villa Saraceno is set in context by the Centro Internazionali di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio (www.cisapalladio.org).
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 Agugliaro
Agugliaro
Agugliaro is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is located east of road SP247.In the hamlet of Finale di Agugliaro is the sixteenth-century Villa Saraceno, which was designed by Palladio and is conserved as part of a World Heritage Site. Other patrician villas in the...
, Province of Vicenza
Province of Vicenza
The Province of Vicenza is a province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Its capital city is Vicenza.The province has an area of 2,723 km², and a total population of 840,000 . There are 121 comuni in the province...
, northern Italy. It was commissioned by the patrician Saraceno family.
Architectural significance
Villa Saraceno has been dated to the 1540s, which makes it one of Andrea PalladioAndrea 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...
's earlier works. In 1570 the building was illustrated in an imagined state in its architect's influential publication "Four Books of Architecture".
However, the villa had been constructed in a more modest form, and existing farm buildings were retained rather than being replaced by the architect's "trade-mark" wings. The reasons for the divergence between the published plan and the actual building are not entirely clear, but it is not the only one of Palladio's villas to be different from the published plan.
The villa is one of Palladio's simpler creations. Like most of Palladio's villas it combines living space for its upper-class owners with space for uses related to agriculture. Above the "piano nobile
Piano nobile
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...
" is a floor which was designed as a granary.
As it stands today, the villa has a nineteenth-century wing which links it to a fifteenth-century building.
Restoration and current use of the villa
The villa fell into a poor state of repair in the twentieth century but retained some of its original frescoes. It was acquired in 1989 by the British charity the Landmark TrustLandmark Trust
The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then gives them a new life by making them available for holiday rental...
. By 1994 the Trust had completed its restoration, converting the property, which includes adjacent farm-buildings not by Palladio, into a holiday home sleeping up to 16 people. The many people who have since stayed in the villa include Witold Rybczynski
Witold Rybczynski
Witold Rybczynski , is a Canadian-American architect, professor and writer.Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh of Polish parentage and raised in Surrey, England before moving at a young age to Canada. He attended Loyola High School , located on Sherbrooke street, in Montreal-Ouest...
, who used it as a base when researching his book on Palladio.
The restoration has been praised for its sensitivity, and since 1996 the villa has enjoyed an additional level of protection, being conserved as one of the buildings which make up 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 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 principal rooms of the villa are open to the public on a limited basis,
but the Trust attracted some criticism in the past for not promoting the building as part of the World Heritage Site.
In 2008 the Landmark Trust celebrated the 500th anniversary of Palladio's birth with a new guidebook for the Villa Saraceno in English and Italian and extended opportunities for visiting.
External links
The architecture of the Villa Saraceno is set in context by the Centro Internazionali di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio (www.cisapalladio.org).