Andrea Palladio

Andrea Palladio (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa palˈlaːdjo]; 30 November 1508 -19 August 1580) was an Italian architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered to be the most influential individual in the history of architecture. All of his buildings are located in what was the Venetian Republic, but his teachings, summarized in the architectural treatise, The Four Books of Architecture, gained him wide recognition. The city of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Biography

Palladio was born on 30 November 1508 in Padua and was given the name, Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola. His father, Pietro, called "Della Gondola", was a miller. From early on, Andrea Palladio was introduced into the work of building. In Padua he gained his first experiences as a stonecutter in the sculpture workshop of Bartolomeo Cavazza da Sossano, who is said to have imposed particularly hard working conditions. At the age of sixteen he moved to Vicenza where he would reside for most of his life. Here he became an assistant in the Pedemuro studio, a leading workshop of stonecutters and masons. He joined a guild of stonemasons and bricklayers. He was employed as a stonemason to make monuments and decorative sculptures. These sculptures reflected the Mannerist style of the architect Michele Sanmicheli.

Palladio (disambiguation)

Palladio is the name by which Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) is commonly known.

Palladio may also refer to:

Palladio (Jenkins)

Palladio is a composition for string orchestra by Karl Jenkins, written in 1995. The title refers to the architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). The work in three movements is in the form of a concerto grosso. Motifs of the first movement, Allegretto, were used for a TV commercial of De Beers, "A Diamond Is Forever", from 1993.

History

Motifs of the first movement, Allegretto, were used for a TV commercial of De Beers, "A Diamond Is Forever", from 1993. Then Jenkins completed a suite of three movements in the form of a concerto grosso for string orchestra, named Palladio, in reverence of the Renaissance architect.

Palladio was published in 1996 by Boosey & Hawkes. It takes about 16 minutes to perform. The composer comments:

"Harmonious proportions and mathematics" play a role in music as in architecture. The Renaissance architect Palladio based his designs on antique Roman models and studied especially the measurements of Vitruvius. Jenkins in turn based his music on Palladio's "harmonious mathematical principles".