Villa Zeno
Encyclopedia
Villa Zeno is a patrician villa
at Cessalto
, Veneto
, northern Italy, and is the most easterly villa designed by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio
. The building is near the highway between Venice
and Trieste
, but was built to face a canal which served as the primary means of arrival.
, the architect's influential publication of 1570, and has similarities to some of the other villas described there such as the Villa Saraceno
. It is also reminiscent of Villa Caldogno Nordera
, which is attributed to Palladio, but is not included in I Quattro Libri.
Palladio appears to have incorporated an existing building, and his villa has had several modifications. Its Palladian features include a facade
characterised by a triple-arched loggia
. The roof is capped with period clay tiles, and the structure is of brick covered with stucco
, typical of Palladio who was able to achieve great buildings with what are commonly regarded as inferior materials.
as part of the World Heritage Site
"City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
".
The villa is in need of restoration.
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 Cessalto
Cessalto
Cessalto is a comune with 3,137 inhabitants in the province of Treviso. It is home to a Palladian Villa, the Villa Zeno....
, 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...
, northern Italy, and is the most easterly villa designed by Renaissance architect 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...
. The building is near the highway between Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, but was built to face a canal which served as the primary means of arrival.
History
Palladio's building for the Zeno family has been dated to the 1550s. It is illustrated in I Quattro Libri dell'ArchitetturaI 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...
, the architect's influential publication of 1570, and has similarities to some of the other villas described there 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 :...
. It is also reminiscent of Villa Caldogno Nordera
Villa Caldogno Nordera
Villa Caldogno is a villa in the Veneto region of Italy, which is attributed to Andrea Palladio. It was built for the aristocratic Caldogno family on their estate in the village of Caldogno near Vicenza.- History :...
, which is attributed to Palladio, but is not included in I Quattro Libri.
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
characterised by a triple-arched loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
. The roof is capped with period clay tiles, and the structure is of brick covered with stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
, typical of Palladio who was able to achieve great buildings with what are commonly regarded as inferior materials.
Conservation
In 1996 it was designated by UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
as part of 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 need of restoration.