In his treatise The Four Books on Architecture, printed in Venice in 1570, the already renowned architect Andrea Palladio (Padua, 1508 - Maser, 1580) did not acknowledge his educational debts and the sources of his creations. He instead highlighted his “natural inclination” as well as his independent learning from architectural treatises and, above all, the works of “the ancient Romans … [who] greatly surpassed all those who came after them in building well” (First Book, “Foreword to the readers”).

Palladio’s surviving oeuvre – many buildings of different kinds, large quantities of drawings, and his Four Books in which he also published most of his projects – will offer primary study material to challenge the architect’s view as a critic of his own work by investigating his production either in the context of sixteenth-century and ‘Renaissance’ architecture or in relation to its ancient models.

The course is divided into thematic units that include lectures, seminars, and visits pertaining to different aspects of Palladio’s works and life. Lectures will cover broad issues of “Renaissance” architecture and architectural practice in order to provide the subject framework for the seminars, based on students’ presentations, in which related features of Palladio’s production will be explored. Visits to Palladio’s buildings in Vicenza and Venice, as well as to a few of his villas in the countryside, are intended as on-site seminars that aim to gain a deeper understanding of Palladio’s architecture and personality through insights into single projects.