Andrea di Pietro Della Gondola (Palladio)

(1508-1580)

presented by Billy Wilson

Andrea di Pietro della Gondola was born in 1508 in Padua, which was a province of Venice.  When he was thirty he met Gian Giorgio Trissino.  Trissino educated Gondola in many ways, focusing mainly about architecture.  Trissino also worked to increase Gondola’s reputation among the people of Venice.  Also, it was Trissino who gave Gondola the name Palladio, after Pallas Athene, the Greek goddess of wisdom.  Trissino also used the name for an angelic messenger in an epic poem he composed.

“Andrea Palladio remains the most influential architect in the history of architecture. About 450 years ago his country houses -- called "villas" -- began to appear in the countryside of the Veneto, the mainland province around Venice.”

“Palladio's villas revolutionized Western architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries, produced the school of Southern architecture in the 19th century, and changed the way homes look in our contemporary world. His influence was ensured by his revolutionary treatise The Four Books of Architecture (1570)”

“Olympic Theater [also called the Teatro Olimpico] was completed in 1585, and is one of the world's greatest theaters still in use. The permanent stage set represents the ancient streets of Thebes and is covered by a dome, with trompe l'oeil clouds and sky, giving the illusion of an outdoor Roman amphitheater.”

The Olympic Theater was built in Palladio’s hometown of Vicenza 5 years after his death there.  It was the last of his works and was the first example of a modern theater.

http://www.a-zoftourism.com/Historical+Buildings-in-Vicenza-id13810-p0.htm

http://www.boglewood.com/palladio/home.html

http://www.comune.vicenza.it/olimpico/teatro.htm

http://www.garoldini.it/uk/itin2.html

http://www.chiavedivolta.com/architettura-en.html