Renaissance Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) is arguably the most influential architect in the Western world. Inspired by classical Roman architecture, he designed country villas, palaces, and churches for the nobility of Vicenza that were notable for their pleasing proportions, grace, and symmetry.
His influence was profound on architects of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in Britain, where country houses were modeled on Palladio’s designs. In this richly illustrated seminar, art historian Bonita Billman traces the hallmarks and features of Palladio’s architecture, from the magnificent villas he created in his homeland to the country houses and mansions that were built by great British architects in the era of the European Grand Tour.
9:30 to 10:45 a.m. The Villas of Andrea Palladio
An overview of Palladio’s domestic architecture is presented, including the grand Villa Rotonda in Vicenza and Villa Foscari La Malcontenta, two of his most-admired designs. Palladian features, including piano nobile room arrangements, tripartite windows, and frescoed walls were emulated in later architectural styles.
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The Grand Tour
For affluent young men in the 18th century, the Grand Tour of Europe was a capstone experience that finished an education—a cultural conduit for taste. These travelers later commissioned Palladian-style houses from Saint Petersburg to the American colonies. Grand Tourists brought home portraits by Pompeo Batoni, old-master paintings, neoclassical sculpture, antiques, prints, and other art and needed an appropriate place to put their treasures. Souvenirs of the Grand Tour changed the cultural heritage of Britain. English baroque architect Inigo Jones, who had taken the tour, was part of the first wave of Palladians in Britain in the 17th century—an impetus cut short by the English Civil War and its subsequent political instability. The lovely Queen's House in Greenwich by Jones is a very early British Palladian structure.
12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Lunch (participants provide their own lunch.
1:30 to 2:45 p.m. British Palladianism
Palladian influence reached its height in the 18th century. Gentleman-architect Lord Burlington was especially influential in promoting the Palladian style. His own villa, Chiswick— austere on the outside, luxurious within—served as a chief exemplar. Burlington’s protégé William Kent handled the interiors and the gardens, becoming the first “landscape gardener.” Colen Campbell’s villa Mereworth rejects the baroque excesses of Sir Christopher Wren. Stourhead, home of the Hoare family, is a period gem set in a stunning picturesque park setting with temples and follies. The scandalous Sir Francis Dashwood, Grand Tourist and founder of the Hell-Fire Club, reshaped his estate West Wycombe Park over 45 years.
3 to 4:15 p.m. Robert Adam and the Adam Style
Robert Adam, who made his own Grand Tour study of Roman architecture, felt British Palladianism was too sober and heavy in translation. In the 1760s and 70s, he sought to create a lighter, more ethereal version of classical architecture and decoration, with delicate stuccowork ceilings, woven rugs, inset paintings and satinwood furniture—what we now call the Adam Style. Working with craftsmen like Thomas Chippendale and Josiah Wedgwood, Adam created grand rooms as total design concepts. A number of Adam’s many noteworthy country houses are covered, including Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, for the Curzons; Syon, London home of the Dukes of Northumberland; and Osterley, the London home of the Childs, a family of bankers.
Billman is an instructor in art history at Georgetown University’s School of Summer and Continuing Studies.
Smithsonian Connections
The grand buildings of Washington, D.C., would look quite different were it not for the work of Palladio and his influence on Thomas Jefferson. Take a look.
