Villa Cornaro

The Villa Cornaro in Piombino Dese in the province of Padua, Veneto was designed by Andrea Palladio about 1552. According to Trevisan it presents itself as a kind of hybrid of a villa in the strict sense, ie country and city residence.

History

Commissioned the villa was Giorgio Cornaro, a younger son of the Venetian Cornaro family. The Villa Cornaro remained 253 years in possession of the Cornaro and then moved to 1951 times the owner. She then stood empty for longer and was restored in 1989 by the present owners, the American couple Gable, over a period of 20 years. The building, which can be visited today, was declared in 1996 by UNESCO with other villas of Palladio World Heritage Site.

Architecture

From the villa into the landscape open form, the pursuit of the interaction of interior and exterior space was acquired, what do the expansion here by the short side wings and the depth of the entrance portico significantly. At the City Palace, however, the two stories go back, and there are no agricultural annex buildings, which would be connected directly to the mansion. Thus the Villa has the sole function of a representative building without agricultural Nutzcharakter.

Section ( Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, 1781)

According to Ulmer of the central wing of the villa was ready in 1554, but was completed only in 1596.

Interior decoration

The interior remained for years without artistic design, but the original reddish brick floor from the time is still preserved. Only in 1588 was the son of the principal at Camillo Mariani ( 1567-1611 ) six -than-life stucco figures in order. They are members of the Cornaro family, including the Queen of Cyprus Caterina Cornaro. Situated they are in arcades niches in the prestigious salon of the villa, which is characterized by four free-standing Corinthian columns. Only a great-grandson of the builder took the more artistic decoration of the building in attack. The stucco work and frescoes in different rooms was only completed in 1716. There are 140 frescoes by Mattia Bortoloni that are framed by Bartolo Cabianca in stucco with putti and floral decor.