Palladio: The Complete Buildings

by Manfred Wundram, Thomas Pape, Paolo Marton (Photography)

The classical Roman revivalist No other architect in the history of Western art has had an influence so spontaneous and yet so enduring as Andrea Palladio. Palladianism broke through all cultural stylistic barriers. It spread not only throughout the Neo-Latin nations but held Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the countries of Eastern Europe in its sway and formed the lineaments of English architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries. Palladio lived in an age which was extremely exciting for the historical development of architecture and his work was an important factor in the evolution from Renaissance to Baroque. This volume offers a thorough introduction to the architecture of Palladio and includes all works which researchers have attributed to him.

Genres: Architecture, Art, Collections, Nonfiction

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Manfred Wundram (1925-2015) studied art history, archaeology, music history, and German literature. He taught art history at Ruhr University in Bochum for many years and published widely on the Early and High Renaissance.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to find out more about the work of the architect who inspired those who designed and built much of Georgian and Regency Bath. This book seemed the perfect opportunity. There's much that is good about it: great photography, willingness to give over an entire double page spread to one picture when appropriate, nice maps showing the locations of all the buildings, large format, but...you knew there was going to be a but, right?

But the book is let down heavily by the text. There's an architectural glossary but it is cursory and needs to be much more comprehensive. Some of the definitions differ from others I've come across. The author clearly isn't a native English speaker and the proof-reading cannot have been done by one either: a few sentences are entirely unintelligible and typos are sprinkled through-out. I never worked out what the author meant by "plastic" - none of the ordinary definitions seem to fit. The style is weirdly elliptical. Whilst interesting, it's not pleasant reading. Finally, at the end, there's a five page essay on "Palladio's Legacy," except only the final three sentences were actually on topic, which is a real shame as it's an interesting topic and most of the essay was just recapitulation of previous material.

Despite these flaws, it served my purpose, giving me very clear ideas on what techniques and motifs of Bath architecture are taken from Palladio. I could have acheived the goal just by looking at the pictures, though.

[Servabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of wonderful old palazzos, some are even abandoned/left in ruins. Most of the old architecture remind me of the ones in streets of Budapest, with their dark bricks and rustic appearances contaminated with graffiti.

[Rob Menting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fraai uitgevoerd overzicht van het werk van Palladio.

[Jimena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Descriptiva excursión por las obras arquitectónicas de Palladio (desarrolladas aprox. 1530 d.c). Muchos consideran que este neoclásico copió a los griegos para levantar su arquitectura. Destacaría la magnanimidad de sus casas de campo, son una delicia para los sentidos. A parte de las columnatas embebidas en las paredes no encuentro otra característica para diferenciarlo de otros arquitectos. Si la hubiese, que seguro existe, mis ojos profanos no la ven.

[Katie Ferrari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful images with a few pages of information of some of Palladio's greatest works. Interesting read and brings back fond memories of my trip to Italy.