Villa Pisani

Montagnana, Italy

Villa Pisani was designed by Andrea Palladio about 1552, for Cardinal Francesco Pisani. Pisani was also a patron of the painters Paolo Veronese and Giambattista Maganza and the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria, who provided sculptures of the Four Seasons for the villa, which is in fact provided with fireplaces to dispel winter chill.

Construction of the villa was under way by 1553, and it was completed in 1555. The central block is an uncompromising rectangle, with a pedimented tetrastyle portico, Ionic over Doric, that has been sunk into its wall-plane so that the columns are embedded half-columns. On the garden front, the similar structure instead forms a screen across the fronts of a recessed portico surmounted by a loggia, which become in single recessed central feature. The Doric frieze runs uninterrupted round the building, further binding all elements together. There are no surviving autograph drawings related to this project. However, Palladio published a version of the building in his I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura. The woodcut shows an idealized, amplified form of the villa, in which the central block is flanked by arched gateway structures that end in tall, three-storey tower-like pavilions.

In 1996 UNESCO included the Villa Pisani in the World Heritage Site 'City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto'. The villa continues to be in private ownership.

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Details

Founded: 1553-1555
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

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4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Francesca Zatti (18 months ago)
Before crossing Porta Padova in Montagnana a Villa distracts the gaze. Rarely open to the public, this Casa Pisani, to be correct (the Palace was the doge's representation in the city, the Villa had/has barchesse, stables, stables... which are missing here) is set between the mighty walls that do not lower even with a glance, and the traffic is always very heavy. This...House has a lot to talk about. Palladian in all respects, interiors among the most beautiful and rare, furnishings thanks to the last owners who allowed us to peek. To access it, you need to keep your antennas straight...
Corona Perer (2 years ago)
Villa Pisani was built by Palladio in the mid-16th century. Pisani was a wealthy Venetian nobleman who wanted to create not only a villa for his holiday but also for the agricultural activities of his surrounding possessions. The villa was built next to the castle of San Zeno and establishes the testimony of the power and style of the Serenissima which is opposed to the ancient and fascinating medieval city walls erected by the Cararresi. What you see in the photo is the back of the villa very close to the castle moat because the very beautiful frontispiece which bears a description by Francesco Pisani overlooks a very busy intersection with traffic lights on S.R 10 (lower Padua), a very long ancient road (it is the old via napoleonica) which even reaches as far as Turin.
freedom comunica (2 years ago)
The exterior is very interesting and looks uninhabited, even though it isn't. He would need interventions. Located at an intersection with traffic lights, it is highly polluted by exhaust fumes. 2 steps from Porta Padova.
Roberto Righi (4 years ago)
Palladio's only permanently inhabited villa entirely furnished with furniture from the 1800s, the visit is made even more interesting thanks to the owner's exquisite hospitality and his precious historical-artistic insights. Unmissable stage in Montagnana.
Travelling Off Track (4 years ago)
Bello
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