Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey is organized by the MUSEUM HOURS Royal Institute of British Architects Trust, London, in association Monday–Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm with the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Sunday, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm Palladio, Vicenza, and is presented in Washington, D.C., in ADMISSION partnership with the National Building Museum. Admission is free. A donation of $5 per person is suggested. LOCATION 401 F St NW, between 4th and 5th at the Judiciary Square Metro Station (Red Line Metro). Wheelchair curatorial team: Charles Hind and Irena Murray, Royal access at 4th and G Street entrances. Institute of British Architects (RIBA) British Architectural Library; Guido Beltramini, CISA Palladio; and Calder Loth, Virginia MUSEUM ShOP Department of Historic Resources. Coordinating curator for the The Museum Shop, located on the ground floor, is an exhibition at the National Building Museum: Chrysanthe Broikos. Washington’s finest source of design-and building- NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM related books and gifts, including jewelry, home September 2, 2010 through January 9, 2011 plaster models specially created and loaned by Timothy Richards furnishings, toys, and games. Museum members of Bath, England, and bas reliefs by Ivan Simonato. receive a discount on all purchases. support for the traveling exhibition is provided by MEMBERSHIP the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust, Regione del Museum membership offers such privileges as invitations to exhibition openings and special Veneto, British Architectural Library Trust, Dainese, The Gladys events; discounts on Museum Shop purchases, Krieble Delmas Foundation, Center for Palladian Studies in public programs, and tours; and a subscription to America, Inc., William T. Kemper Foundation, Samuel H. Kress the Museum Calendar. To become a member, call Foundation, Andrew D. Stone, and Richard Wernham and Julia 202.272.2448, ext. 3200 or visit www.nbm.org. West, among others. ABOUT US support for the presentation of the exhibition and associated The National Building Museum explores the educational programs at the National Building Museum is provided world we build for ourselves—from our homes, by Federazione Veneta BCC, Isabella del Frate Rayburn, Maurice skyscrapers, and public buildings to our parks, Kanbar, and Leo A. Daly III, FAIA, RIBA, among others. bridges, and cities. Through exhibitions, programs, and publications, the Museum seeks to educate the in addition, the national building museum is extremely public about achievements in architecture, design, grateful to the Embassy of Italy for its invaluable assistance, and engineering, urban planning, and construction. to Anne Kriken Mann as well as the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) for their special support. th cover: Conjectural portrait of Andrea Palladio, c. 1715. Engraved NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM 401 F Street NW Washington, DC 20001 after Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734). overleaf: Frontispiece to 202.272.2448 / www.NBM.org Andrea Palladio’s I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura (The Four Books on Red Line Metro, Judiciary Square Architecture), 1570. Unless otherwise noted, all drawings by Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). All brochure images courtesy RIBA British Architectural Library. FPO the late italian renaissance master Andrea Palladio (1508– this exhibition features drawings on both sides of the Atlantic. The spread of Anglo-Palladianism in America was and books from the peerless Palladio col- due, in large measure, to the accessibility and popularity of these practical English 1580) is the most influential architect of the last500 years. His architec- lections of the Royal Institute of British guides. Three of America’s most iconic homes—the White House, Mt. Vernon, ture synthesized the lessons of the ancient Romans with the achievements Architects, which were a gift from the 8th and Monticello—owe such publications a debt. Monticello features the two most of his predecessors and contemporaries, including Bramante, Raphael, and Duke of Devonshire in 1894. These works significant Palladian innovations found in the southern colonies (and states): the were collected by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl temple-fronted portico and the five-part house plan with its central block, flanking Michelangelo. Palladio’s mastery of the classical orders, proportion, and of Burlington (1694–1753), who returned pavilions, and connecting wings. harmony was unparalleled. His projects in Venice and the surrounding from a 1719 visit to the Veneto with a cache monticello’s architect, thomas jefferson (1743–1826), was Palladio’s region—known as the Veneto—set new standards in design and redefined of Palladio’s drawings. Two years later he foremost American disciple. He owned multiple copies of The Four Books and the potential of the art form, especially for domestic structures. Palladio’s acquired another group of drawings that had imaginatively integrated its plates with other sources. In Book Four, which featured already been in England for over a century, Palladio’s reconstructions of Roman temples, Jefferson first encountered the inspira- legacy was secured in 1570 with the publication of his I Quattro Libri originally purchased by Inigo Jones (1573– tion for his most influential architectural work, the Virginia State Capitol. Begun dell’Architettura (The Four Books on Architecture). One part theory, one part 1652) on a tour of Italy in 1614, just 34 years in 1785, the Capitol (modeled on the Maison portfolio, and two parts archaeology, this work has had a more profound after Palladio’s death. Through Jones, who was Surveyor of the King’s Works from Carrée in Nîmes, France) marked the birth of 1615 to 1643, the tenets of Renaissance architecture—as largely understood through the Classical Revival in America and established impact on the built world than any architectural treatise before or since. Palladio’s drawings and I Quattro Libri —spread to England. the precedent of designing the nation’s public in america, to an even greater extent than in though jones’s palladianism, also known as Anglo-Palladianism, became buildings in this style. Palladio’s treatise remained Europe, the illustrations and words of Palladio have left an the foundation for most English architecture of the 17th century, the first complete an authoritative resource for architects designing enduring legacy: classical forms have been appropriated and English translation of I Quattro Libri (from French) was not available in London until the most ambitious, classically inspired buildings incorporated into the mainstream of architectural expres- 1720. In the two decades following the appearance of this watershed publication, of the “American Renaissance” which began after sion. By liberally applying the signature motif of ancient edited by Giacomo Leoni, three additional English translations of The Four Books the Civil War and flourished well into the1930 s. temples, the columned portico, to the residential realm, appeared. Two of the three were at the drawings on view span Palladio’s Palladio forever elevated the potential of the humblest least partially subsidized by the leading approximately 40-year architectural career, from home. His five-part schemes linking a primary residence promoter of Anglo-Palladianism at the the late 1530s to 1577. They reveal his commit- and its accessory farm structures into a symmetrical and time, Lord Burlington. ted, long-term engagement with ancient Roman cohesive composition became models for how to organize concurrently, inexpensive architecture, his ability to synthesize lessons plantations, or nearly any group of related structures. pattern books, for use of builders or learned, his genius for constant innovation, and his Furthermore, his comprehensive reconstruction drawings carpenters, reprinted the more easily capacity to clearly communicate through drawings. of Roman temples inspired the design of our temples to copied elements of the treatise which In turn, the exhibition also shows how his message democracy—the nation’s public buildings—in the monu- then became commonplace in 18th- was disseminated in England and, finally, how mental classical style. century, neo-Palladian, domestic design Palladianism was adopted in America. Measured drawing of the Arch of Jupiter Ammon, Design for a palace, possible the Palazzo Poiana, Design for the Villa Repeta at Campiglia, early 1560s. Villa Rotonda, Vicenza. From Edward Hoppus and Verona, c. 1540. Vicenza, early 1540s. Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) Benjamin Cole’s English edition of Andrea Palladio’s and Vicenzo Scamozzi (1548–1616). I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura published as Andrea Palladio’s Architecture (1732–1735 )..