A Renaissance masterpiece: Villa Barbaro in Maser

Paolo Veronese: "Holy Family with St. Catherine and the Infant St. John". 1560-1561. Villa Barbaro, Maser (Italy).

This hilarious #uglyartbaby inhabits one of the walls of Villa Barbaro in Maser, Italy. In this post, we are going to discover some interesting facts about this country-house residence, which was designed by the architect Andrea Palladio and decorated by the painter Paolo Veronese. Villa Barbaro is undoubtedly one of the jewels of the Italian Renaissance and a masterpiece of 16th-century art, as it is the result of the work of two of the most preeminent artists of that time. The villa is located in the village of Maser, in the province of Treviso (Veneto), and was commissioned by the Barbaro brothers, members of a patrician family from Venice that owned lands in that area. Daniele Barbaro (1514-1570) - a notable humanist and spokesperson for the Venetian Senate in the Council of Trento - was in charge of the intellectual program behind the design of the villa, while his brother Marc'Antonio (1518-1595) - ambassador and State senator for the Venetian Republic - took care of all the practical matters. 

Andrea Palladio: Villa Barbaro. 1554-1558. Maser, Veneto (Italy).

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) is acknowledged as one of the most influential architects ever. He was born in Padova, in Northern Italy, but his name is tightly associated with the city of Vicenza, where he started his career as a stonecutter and developed a brilliant architectural activity. He is mainly known for the design of country-side villas in the Veneto region, but he also built several palaces in Vicenza and some of the most famous churches in Venice. Palladio's style became the role model of classical architecture, which was spread out through his treatise I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture), published in Venice in 1570. The magnitude of his success can be seen in the fact that he is the only architect whose name was used to name a style: Palladianism, which was the main architectural movement in England and in the United States during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Monument to Andrea Palladio, Piazzeta Palladio, Vicenza (Italy).

Villa Barbaro follows the design pattern that characterises Andrea Palladio's villas. Following the local tradition, the country-side villa in the Veneto region is an entity that combines leisure spaces with areas dedicated to agricultural activities. These two different uses can be clearly identified in the structure of the villa: the central body of the building is destined to the residential area, whereas the two lateral wings contain the farming facilities. The classical architectural design - based on a neat combination of arches, pillars and columns - gives unity to the ensemble. The main facade is articulated by four monumental Jonic columns that hold a highly-decorated tympanum. The most singular element of the villa is the nymphaeum, a garden fountain that is unique in the context of Palladio's villas production. This semi-circular structure - decorated with mythological figures and classical motifs - contains a basin that collects the water of a natural spring that comes from the surrounding forest. This element can be related to the humanist profile of Daniele Barbaro and to the trip that the owner of the villa and Palladio did together to Rome in 1554. In the Eternal City, the architect and the scholar met local architects and studied the monuments of Antiquity. In this context, they discovered the nymphaeums, which were taken from the Roman tradition in garden design and became very common in Rome's Renaissance villas.

Andrea Palladio: Main facade, Villa Barbaro, Maser (Italy).

Andrea Palladio: Nymphaeum, Villa Barbaro, Maser (Italy).

The Venetian painter Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) decorated the interior of Villa Barbaro with a cycle of magnificent frescoes. Veronese is one of the leading figures of Renaissance painting in Venice in the 16th century, along with Tiziano and Tintoretto. Veronese's intervention - which took place between 1559 and 1562 - is characterised by a complete transformation of the interior spaces of the villa through the use of pictorial resources such as painted architecture and trompe-l'oeil. The walls seem to be opening themselves to vast landscapes that are very much alike to those that can be seen through the open windows. The ceilings are inhabited by Greek Gods and Goddesses, religious figures and portraits of the members of the Barbaro family. The meaning of the decorative programme - designed by Daniele Barbaro himself - alludes to Universal Harmony and the glorification of the Barbaro family. The opulence and richness of Veronese's style creates a striking contrast with the simplicity and minimalist elegance of Palladio's architecture, a unique combination that turns this villa into a true Renaissance masterpiece.

Paolo Veronese: Frescoes of the Sala a Crociera. 1559-1562. Villa Barbaro, Maser (Italy).

Paolo Veronese: Frescoes of the Sala del Cane (left) and Sala dell'Olimpo (right). Villa Barbaro, Maser (Italy).

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