Villa Thiene
Encyclopedia
Villa Thiene is a 16th century villa
at Quinto Vicentino
in the province of Vicenza
. The villa takes its name from the Thiene brothers who commissioned it. The building as it stands today is the work of several architects one of whom was Andrea Palladio
.
Since 1996, the villa has been conserved as part of a World Heritage Site
, the "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
". The World Heritage Site also includes the Palazzo Thiene
in the city of Vicenza
which belonged to same Thiene brothers, Marcantonio and Adriano.
. The extent of Romano's involvement in the project is not clear, in any case he died in 1546 while the villa was still under construction. One of Thiene brothers, Adriano Thiene, had to flee Vicenza in 1547 and building work appears to have been put on hold at that time.
A version of the villa is illustrated and discussed in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura
, Palladio's landmark publication of 1570. The plan shows two courtyards which were never completed. Courtyards are rather unusual among Palladio's villas, but the architect also proposed courtyards for Villa Serego
, another incomplete villa, where one of the courtyards was partially constructed.
Palladio's plan indicates that the present building was not originally intended for the mansion itself, but for one of the agricultural wings. However, there are sixteenth-century frescoes in the building, suggesting that it was decided at an early state that the building would not be purely utilitarian. The front and rear facades have been modified since the sixteenth century: the front facade is probably the closer to Palladio's intentions, although the brickword would originally have been rendered. The many holes were apparently done during war time, to extract metal used within the villa's construction.
The garden facade of Villa Thiene has been attributed to eighteenth-century architect Francesco Muttoni. Both the thermal window in the concluding gable and portals in the centre part are displeasing. These elements cannot be reconciled with Palladio's formal idiom.
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,...
at Quinto Vicentino
Quinto Vicentino
Quinto Vicentino is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is east of A31.The town is the birthplace of Urbano Lazzaro, the Italian partisan who identified and arrested Benito Mussolini in 1945. Its main attraction is Villa Thiene....
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...
. The villa takes its name from the Thiene brothers who commissioned it. The building as it stands today is the work of several architects one of whom was 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...
.
Since 1996, the villa has been conserved as part of a 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...
, the "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 World Heritage Site also includes the Palazzo Thiene
Palazzo Thiene
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....
in the city of 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...
which belonged to same Thiene brothers, Marcantonio and Adriano.
Architectural details
For Villa Thiene, Palladio appears to have adapted a design by Giulio RomanoGiulio Romano
Giulio Romano was an Italian painter and architect. A pupil of Raphael, his stylistic deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the 16th-century style known as Mannerism...
. The extent of Romano's involvement in the project is not clear, in any case he died in 1546 while the villa was still under construction. One of Thiene brothers, Adriano Thiene, had to flee Vicenza in 1547 and building work appears to have been put on hold at that time.
A version of the villa is illustrated and discussed 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 landmark publication of 1570. The plan shows two courtyards which were never completed. Courtyards are rather unusual among Palladio's villas, but the architect also proposed courtyards for Villa Serego
Villa Serego
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 Andrea Palladio...
, another incomplete villa, where one of the courtyards was partially constructed.
Palladio's plan indicates that the present building was not originally intended for the mansion itself, but for one of the agricultural wings. However, there are sixteenth-century frescoes in the building, suggesting that it was decided at an early state that the building would not be purely utilitarian. The front and rear facades have been modified since the sixteenth century: the front facade is probably the closer to Palladio's intentions, although the brickword would originally have been rendered. The many holes were apparently done during war time, to extract metal used within the villa's construction.
The garden facade of Villa Thiene has been attributed to eighteenth-century architect Francesco Muttoni. Both the thermal window in the concluding gable and portals in the centre part are displeasing. These elements cannot be reconciled with Palladio's formal idiom.