PART II

PALLADIO, INGEGNO AND HEROIC VIRTUE

CHAPTER FOUR

VICENZA AND THE HEROIC CITYSCAPE

The classical language of Palladio’s architecture in Vicenza juxtaposed ideas of the ‘ideal republic’ of classical Rome with Vicenza’s identity as part of an ideal Venetian Republic. His education and informed patronage had inspired a rejection of the traditional Venetian style as too faulty and poor a tradition over the heroic, virtuous and beautiful style of the ancients. Indeed, the primary interest of Palladio and the Vicentine Nobles, who were his patrons, was in the signification and form of architecture. So much so in fact that Daniele Barbaro’s strongest criticisms were reserved for the Venetian and Vicentine patrons and architects who rejected the designs and knowledge of the ancients in favour of the traditional Venetian style:

And if I may plead and plead again, especially with those of my country, that they remember that, as they do not lack wealth and the power to achieve honourable things, they must… persuade themselves that they don’t know that which indeed they don’t know… if it seems to them that the tradition of their buildings is superior, they fool themselves greatly, because, in fact, it is too faulty and poor a tradition: and if, on the other hand, they want to concede to usage certain things, which I too concede, at least they should be content to permit a moderation of that tradition by one who understands, because one can adjust a thing and temper it in such a way that the faults are removed and it can be modified to a rational and tolerable form, with advantages in use, convenience, and beauty… [i]

In the years between 1540 and 1575 the wealthy patrician classes of Vicenza sought to create palaces that would reflect for posterity the fortunes that they had made from their country estates, as well as their nobility, their wisdom and their virtue both to society and to God. Their palaces were intended to rival the elegance and nobility of those of Venice and recreate Vicenza as part of the Venetian Republic, as a vision equal to that of ancient Rome. In this period a dozen major projects for the construction or reconstruction of patrician houses in Vicenza were initiated employing Palladio as architect[ii]. While only a very few of these were completed, a consequence of their vast scale and the failure of the following generation to

Figure 8. View across the Piazzi dei Signori of Palladio’s Palazzo della Ragione[iii]

continue the work, these buildings dominate the architectural character of central Vicenza, spreading the Roman themes of Palladio’s great civic buildings, the Palazzo della Ragione and the Loggia del Capitaniato, throughout the city with the effect of making the city appear like a Vitruvian inspired stage set. The specific architectural plans and motifs of each of the palaces vary: the early Pallazzo Theine, for example, designed in 1542, is clearly influenced by Palladio’s recent trip to Rome. But judged in terms of their impact on the urban landscape, these palaces produce a remarkable organic unity. Those designed to overlook open spaces such as the Palazzo Chiericati (1548-9) (figs.11&12) and the Palazzo della Ragione (1549) (figs.8&9) overlook their piazza’s in a way that envelopes and unifies the entire area.

An interesting example of the differences in civic intention between Vicenza and its goals as a city that was not as focused on self recreation at this time is the contrasting treatment of Padua’s Sala della Ragione and the Vicentine Sala della Ragione – both fourteenth century buildings of similar design. While the Paduans simply sought to keep the exterior of the building in repair, the Vicentines had their building completely refaced in the classical style. To accomplish this task they sought the counsel of the most distinguished designers in Northern Italy: Sansovino, Serlio, Sanmicheli and Giulio Romano.[iv]

At that time in Vicenza Palladio was not yet regarded as the equal of these visitors for such a great task; when he presented a design in 1546, the council had him erect an entire bay to full scale in wood for closer study,[v] and even three years later the final vote on the award of the commission involved a choice between the models by Palladio, the existing façade and Giulio Romano. In the interim however Palladio had become established as the author of some major villa projects and his acquaintance with and education by Trissino made him appear the most qualified interpreter in architecture of the ideals of the local nobility. The design for the Sala della Ragione was severely circumscribed by the nature of the existing building: the old portico vaults had to be kept, and their lowness forced the architect to produce a low external arcade. This, more that aesthetic predilections, accounts for the choice of the Palladian motif, in which the arch springs from columns well inside the piers that divide the major bays and thus can be kept relatively low. The motif also helps with the adjustment in the differences in width from bay to bay, allowing the span of the arch to be kept uniform while the columns can be near to or as far from the piers as a particular bay width dictates.[vi]

Palladio’s vocabulary in this instance was taken more from recent Roman architecture than from antiquity – even the so called Palladian motif was borrowed from Bramante and his circle.[vii] But the fact that the Vicentine Palazzo della Ragione was called a basilica indicates an intention to give the civic centre the character of an ancient forum. This idea of a forum was then reflected in the two piazzas flanking the basilica: the Piazza dei Signori that was destined for the use of the nobility and accented with a great column, of 1464, bearing the winged lion of the Serenissima facing toward the principal east-west artery of the town, and the lower Piazza delle Erbe, which functioned (and still does) as a market, on the opposite side. The result bringing together of all the classes in one central civic space had already been anticipated in the medieval designs for the centre and was thus as much a matter of survival as of willed revival of antiquity but it was Palladio’s task to bring heritage into the public consciousness.

Figure 9, Palladio: Palazzo della Ragione, detail.[viii]

As designs for the Basilica were well underway, palace building and rebuilding became the fashion of the wealthy and status conscious in Vicenza. The enterprise changed the face of the medieval city, setting a standard of elegance for its time and for future generations. Interestingly, it is still unclear whether the initial stage of the first of the grand mansions, started for the Thiene family about 1542, was designed by Giulio Romano while he was consulting on the Basilica by Palladio.[ix] The palace for Iseppo Porto, of the later 1540’s, however, represents the mature, Roman master (fig.10). The symmetry of the façade with its colossal Corinthian columns makes a sharp contrast to the fifteenth-century Venetian Gothic Palazzo Colleoni-Porto

nearby on the same street; it is a work that proudly symbolises both a new era and a new independence from the old Venetian style.

Figure 10, Palladio: Palazzo Iseppo Porto (design from the Quattro Libri 1570)[x]

Palladio’s next major palace design in Vicenza was for Gerolamo Chiericati (figs.11 &12).[xi] The needs for the work were different, as this palace faces a large open area called the Isola near the principal access to the town from the east. There are no obvious reflections of the ancient Roman palace or of the Roman Renaissance in the plan or the façade, only the all’antica vocabulary of the façade and structure links

Figure. 11 Palladio: Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza, c.1550-57.[xii]

the Chiericati and Porto designs. The most striking innovation is the open portico on the ground floor and the wings of the upper floor. These features are the subject of a revealing petition from the patron to the city council in March 19, 1551. A petition that eloquently illustrates how the Vicentine nobility considered their residences to be contributions to the welfare of the city:

Since I, Gerolamo Chiericati, have decided to rebuild from the foundations my house located on the Piazza dell’Isola, having been advised also by expert architects and by many honourable citizens that a portico should be made along the façade of this house over the Isola for my greater convenience and for the ornament of the whole city… [the portico, thirteen feet wide, would cost much more, but would be much better, he says, so he therefore asks for a concession]. This being not only for the benefit of the public and of no harm or offence to anyone, but rather convenient and useful to the neighbours as is well known to all, and with all this, if I may add an obligation to my country I will remain eternally obligated and particularly tied by loving devotion.[xiii]

Figure 12, Palladio: Palazzo Chiericati, 1550[xiv]

The nature of the site prompted the architect and the patron to give the private dwelling the character of an ancient public forum as imagined in Palladio’s architectural treatise. A forum where in Palladio’s own words, ‘men in winter and summer might have a place to assemble, and treat about their occasions and affairs’,[xv] making their activities as well as their buildings a true stage set or theatre of power and self-representation for the Vicentine nobility.

If the Palladian urban landscape was a stage set for dramas acted out by the proud citizenry of Vicenza it was not isolated as such. The nobles who played upon that stage did not forget that its spectacle depended upon the resources found in the surrounding countryside. A different kind of stage set was appropriate for the county, one much more influenced by the organic forms of nature and by the knowledge of the divine powers that lay behind it. When the patrician entered such a world his dignity and gravitas had to harmonise with different rhythms, without of course compromising his own stature and the elements appropriate to it. To achieve this resolution in their country villas the Vicentines again turned to Palladio.