Villa Capra "La Rotonda"

Villa Capra "La Rotonda" is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio. The correct name is Villa Almerico-Capra. It is also known as "La Rotonda", "Villa Rotunda", "Villa La Rotonda", and "Villa Almerico". The name "Capra" derives from the Capra brothers, who completed the building after it was ceded to them in 1591. Like other works by Palladio in Vicenza and the surrounding area, the building is conserved as part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".

Inspiration

In 1565 a priest, Paolo Almerico, on his retirement from the Vatican (as referendario apostolico of Pope Pius IV and afterwards Pius V), decided to return to his home town of Vicenza in the Venetian countryside and build a country house. This house, later known as 'La Rotonda', was to be one of Palladio's best-known legacies to the architectural world.Villa Capra may have inspired a thousand subsequent buildings, but the villa was itself inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

Design

The site selected was a hilltop just outside the city of Vicenza. Unlike some other Palladian villas, the building was not designed from the start to accommodate a working farm. This sophisticated building was designed for a site which was, in modern terminology, "suburban". Palladio classed the building as a "palazzo" rather than a villa.

Building began circa 1566 of a square building, completely symmetrical, as though an imaginary circle touched the walls of the square at any given point ("illustration, left"). "La Rotonda" refers to the central circular hall with its dome. To describe the villa, as a whole, as a 'rotonda' is technically incorrect, as the building is not circular but rather the intersection of a square with a cross. Each of the four facades was to have a portico with steps leading up, and each of the four principal entrances was to lead via a small cabinet or corridor to the circular domed central hall. This and all other rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision according to Palladio's own rules of architecture which he published in the Quattro Libri dell'Architettura [A. Palladio, "I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura", Venezia (Venice) 1570, "libro" (book) II, p. 18 it icon] .

The design reflected the humanist values of Renaissance architecture. In order for each room to have some sun, the design was rotated 45 degrees from each cardinal point of the compass. Each of the four porticos has pediments graced by statues of classical deities. The pediments were each supported by six Ionic columns. Each portico was flanked by a single window. All principal rooms were on the second floor or "piano nobile".

Palladio, and the owner, Paolo Almerico, were not to see the completion of the villa. Palladio died in 1580 and a second architect, Vincenzo Scamozzi, was employed by the new owners to oversee the completion. One of the major changes he made to the original plan was to modify the two-storey centre hall.Palladio had intended it to be covered by a high semi-circular dome but Scamozzi designed a lower dome with an oculus (intended to be open to the sky) inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. The dome was ultimately completed with a cupola.

Interior

The interior design of the Villa was to be as wonderful, if not more so, than the exterior. Alessandro and Giovanni Battista Maganza and Anselmo Canera were commissioned to paint frescoes in the principal salons.

Among the four principal salons on the piano nobile are the West Salon (also called the Holy Room, because of the religious nature of its frescoes and ceiling), and the East Salon, which contains an allegorical life story of the first owner Paolo Almerico, his many admirable qualities portrayed in fresco.

The highlight of the interior is the central, circular hall, surrounded by a balcony and covered by the domed ceiling; it soars the full height of the main house up to the cupola, with walls decorated in trompe l'oeil. Abundant frescoes create an atmosphere that is more reminiscent of a cathedral than the principal salon of a country house.

Landscape

From the porticos wonderful views of the surrounding countryside can be seen; this is no coincidence as the Villa was designed to be in perfect harmony with the landscape. This was in complete contrast to such buildings as Villa Farnese of just 16 years earlier. Thus, while the house appears to be completely symmetrical, it actually has certain deviations, designed to allow each facade to complement the surrounding landscape and topography. Hence there are variations in the facades, in the width of steps, retaining walls, etc. In this way, the symmetry of the architecture allows for the asymmetry of the landscape, and creates a seemingly symmetrical whole. The landscape is a panoramic vision of trees and meadows and woods, with the distant Vicenza on the horizon.

The northwest portico is set onto the hill as the termination of a straight carriage drive from the principal gates. This carriageway is an avenue between the service blocks, built by the Capra brothers who acquired the villa in 1591; they commissioned Vincenzo Scamozzi to complete the villa and construct the range of staff and agricultural buildings. As one approaches the villa from this angle one is deliberately made to feel one is ascending from some less worthy place to a temple on high. This same view in reverse, from the villa, highlights a classical chapel on the edge of Vicenza, thus villa and town are united.

Current conditions

In 1994 the building was designated part of a World Heritage Site, and thus enjoys international protection [In 1996 the World Heritage Site "Vicenza, City of Palladio" was extended and renamed "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/712/multiple=1&unique_number=843] ] . It is in the ownership of Mario di Valmarana, a former professor of architecture at the University of Virginia. The villa has been his family's home for more than two centuries. It is his declared ambition to preserve Villa Rotunda so that it may be appreciated by future generations. The interior is open to the public on Wednesdays, except during the winter months, and the grounds are open every day.

Photo Gallery

Influence abroad

The building's owner could not have foreseen that the house he commissioned from the architect Andrea Palladio would become one of the most inspirational architectural prototypes for the next five hundred years.

England

Five houses have been built in Britain based on Palladio's Villa Rotunda: Henbury Hall, Cheshire, is the most recent; Chiswick House, Greater London, and Mereworth Castle, Kent, are protected as listed buildings; Foots Cray Place, Kent, and Nuthall Temple, Nottinghamshire have been demolished.

Poland

Palaces built in Poland based on Palladio's Villa Rotunda: Królikarnia Palace and Belweder in Warsaw, Skórzewski Palace in Lubostroń.

United States of America

For the competition to design the President's House in Washington, DC, Thomas Jefferson anonymously submitted a design that was a variation on the Villa Rotunda. Though James Hoban's Palladian design for what would become known as the White House was selected, the influence of the Villa Rotunda can also been seen at Jefferson's own iconic home of Monticello.

References

*dal Lago, Adalbert (1969). "Villas and Palaces of Europe". Paul Hamlyn, ISBN 600012352.

External links

* [http://www.cisapalladio.org/veneto/scheda.php?sezione=4&architettura=67&lingua=e Villa Almerico Capra called "La Rotonda"] cisapalladio.org - a site which provides descriptions, photographs and location maps for each of the villas en icon it icon
* [http://ville.inews.it/erotonda.htm "La rotonda"]
* [http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Villa_Capra.html "Commentary and Images of Villa Capra" from GreatBuilding.com]

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