Villa Trissino

Villa Trissino is an incomplete aristocratic villa designed by Andrea Palladio. It is situated in the hamlet of Meledo in the "comune" of Sarego in the Veneto, and was intended for the brothers Ludovico and Francesco Trissino.

It is not to be confused with Villa Trissino Trettenero, which is 20 km away just outside Vicenza.

Details

Palladio included the project in book two of Quattro Libri
"The Four Books of Architecture", published in Venice in 1570. Palladio refers to the building as having been begun, and praises the site which includes a small hill. However, it is debatable how much of the multi-level design illustrated in the book was constructed - probably only a small part of the design was ever attempted. [ [http://www.cisapalladio.org/veneto/scheda.php?sezione=4&architettura=37&lingua=e CISA A.Palladio 2008] ] This did not prevent the plan from being influential: Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia shows some similarities to it.

A number of Palladian villas differ from the illustrations in the "Four Books of Architecture". For example, at Villa Saraceno there is a Palladian house, but not the wings of the design published in 1570, and Villa Serego is also incomplete. At Villa Trissino, the twenty-first century visitor will find no Palladian house, only the start of the two extending wings can be seen. There is also a small rusticated gateway which recalls the Villa Serego.

Functions of the Palladian Villa

Most of Palladio's villas were designed for patrons who were members of the aristocratic families of Vicenza or Venice. However, the buildings were partly intended for agricultural uses, and what survives at Meledo is two sections of the villa's extending colonnade, which would have been used for the utilitarian functions, something like a farmyard. Villa Trissino, like most of the Palladian villas, was the centre of an agricultural estate.

Dovecote

At the end of the wing in the photo there is a dovecote, a feature also found at Villa Barbaro. The dovecote of Villa Trissino is decorated with frescoes, indicating that even within the utilitarian portions of the villa, great care was given to create aesthetic beauty. The frescoes are by Forbicini (a Veronese painter mentioned by Vasari), who also worked on other Palladian buildings.

Conservation status

In 1996 Villa Trissino was designated as part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto". [ [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/712/multiple=1&unique_number=843 UNESCO] Website for the World Heritage Site] The buildings are in a poor state of conservation.

References

ee also

Palladian Villas of the Veneto