Palladio in Venice

By Alberto Weissmuller

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) was one of the most influential architects of the western world. This volume presents his artistic career in relation to the last thirty years of his life, concentrating mainly on his activity in the city of the Lagoon. His ef

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 8872001749
• ISBN13: 9788872001745
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Grafiche Vianello Srl
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 1.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 12.0" x 0.8" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

A Beautiful Book on a Beautiful Subject

This is a stunning, beautiful book. It is graced with gorgeous photographs of Palladian Venice - really breathtaking views always illumined by just the right light rendered in perfect color registers. The production, by the famous art publishing house, Vianello (Ponzano, Trevisio), is absolutely painstaking, with no expense spared in rendering the richly conceived catalog of photographs. From richly atmospheric exteriors, to glowing interiors, to photographs of contemporaneous landscape paintings each photograph (maybe 130 of them) pulls you racing through the book. Particularly interesting as examples of the scholarship-production symbiosis are the "zenithal" shots of some of Palladio's larger compositions. These are shot from directly above the buildings, in bright sunlight as near to noon as possible, rendering a very interesting, almost schematic view showing the rythyms and scale of the work. The zenithal shot of the church and monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore is a great example of the expertise embodied in this book. The two-page spread is shot from an altitude of about 1200 ft. with a medium telephoto lense. The glare of the white roof of the basilica is very well managed next to the variagated earthen tiles on the roofs of the surrounding compound. Individual tiles are clearly resolved while, within the glare of the basilical roof (so easy to let it wash out), you can make out the seams of each concourse. It is a production standard that is really hard to achieve but which is evident throughout this book. The eye-candy quotient being as high as it is, it takes a pass or two to appreciate the scholarship of Weissmuller's work. I found myself needing to pull back to appreciate what the zenithal shot of San Giorgio Maggiore was showing about the geometric rythyms of Palladio's design - so hard to explain, but so easy to see from this angle. All of these photographs work to illustrate Weismuller's well studied observations of Palladio's aesthetic. The narrative portion of the book covers Palladio's work from a biographical perspective with a particular emphasis on the municipal (as in city-state!) politics of his era. Of all artists, the master of monumental architecture most requires political clout to see his ideas expressed in brick and stone. Weimuller's thoroughly researched history of Palladio's patronages is very informative and an important element in the understanding of his development.