VILLA BARBARO
Villa Barbaro in Maser is a beautiful villa by the architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). It is on the mainland of Veneto and was a semi agricultural/semi pleasure villa for the brothers Marcantonio and Daniele Barbaro. They inherited the land at Maser from their father, and they decided to replace the old villa there with a splendid new building. It was built between 1549-1558.
The Villa Barbaro seen from the road passing in front of the garden.
Marcantonio Barbaro (1518-1595) was a highly educated man and served as a Venetian ambassador in both France and Turkey. He is said to have been a supporter of acceptance of jews and muslims in Venice, and was even an amateur sculptor.
Daniele Barbaro (1514-1579) also served as a Venetian ambassador, in England and in the Trent council. He held the rank of a cardinal. He was also an amateur architect, and published a translation of Vitruvius, with illustrations by Palladio.
Both brothers were educated humanists in the Venetian city state, and patrons and friends of Palladio. It's said that when the latter worked on the villa Barbaro, the brothers was also involved in the design and layout. Though, how much and exactly what is not known. The villa is famous for several things:
Designed by Palladio and frescoed by Veronese, it is a natural member of the World Heritage site. Both building and frescoes has in large survived and is one of the foremost evidences of Venetian villa splendor of the late 16th century.
As well as the actual building, there is a surviving landscape surrounding the building too - with an original "nymphaeum" behind the villa and a nice garden in front. There are also various apparatus (sundials etc) to read the time, the position of the stars and so forth.
Nearby is another Palladian building, the Pantheon inspired private chapel called "Tempietto" (small temple):
The Tempietto in Maser (ca. 1560) and Pantheon in Rome (ca. 126 AD).
Pantheon in Rome had such symmetrical bell towers on each side for many years. However, they were not original, and were removed in 1883 as they damaged the construction of the portico. They are said to have been added by Bernini, who was born after the construction of Palladio's Tempietto, but I don't know if the Palladian bell towers were original or added to reflect changes done to the Roman original.
The facade of the villa is particularly striking and not too typical to Palladio, which might trace some Barbarian (pun intended!) influence. Whereas Palladio seemed to favour either the classical temple facade with columns, or a three-parted facade reflecting the old Venetian building style, the Barbaro one has large central block and with narower side wings with perpendicular rooms on a long axis. At each end there were dovecotes.
The Palladian villa Emo in Veneto is built in a similar layout, but the facade of the Barbaro villa is much more elaborate. It is also somewhat unfulfilling. The upper balcony has an arch that's extended into the decorated pediment (the triangle on top), which makes the interaction between those two a bit... quarrelsome, to use a non-academic expression. Still, the facade is very rich and it has a hint of Roman triumphal arch architecture. The name of both brothers are carved in the entablature under the pediment, but with a dedication to their father Francesco.
This unusual facade appears in a Veronese painting of the late 1580's. In a depiction of "Susanna and the Elders" (today in Vienna) the facade has been used as a free-standing structure using only the upper part. As he must have known the villa very well after having worked there, it's not surprising he "quotes" it in one of his paintings.
"Susanna and the Elders", ca. 1588, Veronese (Kunsthistorischen Museum, Vienna)
The statues on top were, as far as I know, not something added to the Villa Barbaro, but they occur in almost all of Palladio's designs of villas from his "Quattro Libri", often way too large for the building. They are also found in several of his buildings in smaller versions.
Villa Chiericati in Veneto (1550s) and San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice (1566-1619).
The inside was frescoed by Paolo Veronese in the early 1560s. The concept is largely a "trompe de l'oeil", with painted balconies, doors and walls forming an architecture of which painted people and landscape emerges. The most famous frescoes are in the main block of the building. Especially the "Sala dell'Olimpo" is famous, with the upper walls decorated with balconies with members of the family greeting the visitors. The ceiling shows the Olympic gods Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Venus, Mercury and Diana.
For costume makers, especially the woman in blue dress is well known. She is thought to be Guistina Giustiniani, the wife of Marcantonio Barbaro. Some has pointed out that both the cutwork sleeves and her face reminds a lot of the woman in the Veronese painting "Bella Nani", but no definitive link has been established between the two depictions, and it might very well be Veronese's beauty ideal reflected in their faces.
1. "Portrait of Guistina Giustiniani" (assumed), ca. 1561, Veronese (In situ at Villa Barbaro, Maser)
2. "La Bella Nani", early 1560's, Veronese (Louvre, Paris)
See WGA for wonderful pictures of the inside of the Villa Barbaro:
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/v/veronese/07/
The Olympic room leads right out to the Nymphaeum, and in this room you can also look to each end of the long corridors going out from the main block and to the dovecotes. In each end there is a painted door with a person standing in the opening; these are said to be of Veronese himself, disguised as a hunter, and his mistress Elena in the other end (though, as always, this will remain mere speculations until a definitive link is found):
If you ever are in the Veneto area, I highly recommend a trip to Maser. This villa is so beautifully situated, and a spectacular view both on the outside and inside. They are open on Saturdays all year around, as well as several days of the week (which one depends on the season). Have a look at their official web site:
http://www.villadimaser.it/