Yale University Press
June 30, 2006
Celebrated Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) devoted much of
his career to the city of Venice. Famous for public buildings he had designed in
his native Vicenza and country villas he had built for wealthy patricians there,
he arrived in Venice in the mid- 1550s confident of establishing a successful
new practice. Yet Palladio's Venetian career never matched his lofty
expectations. Failing to achieve the position of state architect or to earn the
kinds of commissions to which he was accustomed, he found himself working in a
category new to his practice : ecclesiastical architecture. It was his stunning
churches, however, including San Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore, that
established Palladio's lasting renown.
In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated book, Tracy E. Cooper
organizes Palladio's work in Venice according to different types of patrons. She
discusses his major monuments as well as less well-known work for charitable
foundations, convents, triumphal processions, and the rebuilding of the Ducal
Palace. She tells the compelling story of an established architect breaking into
a new market and of a Renaissance city in the midst of sweeping change.
352 p., 29 x 26 cm
EAN 9780300105827
