Full itinerary of Vincenzo Scamozzi's works online

Interesting news comes from Vicenza: the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura "Andrea Palladio," the foundation that has been conducting international research on the history of architecture (with particular reference to that of the Renaissance and Palladio) for more than fifty years, has recently published on its website(www.palladiomuseum.org) the first complete itinerary of the architecture of Vincenzo Scamozzi (Vicenza, 1548 - 1616), a distinguished artist, among the most important Venetian architects of all times, and an original continuator of Palladio, although a completely independent personality who interpreted the subject according to a different style than that of the Paduan.

Scamozzi is best known for the stage designs of the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, but his interventions were, of course, much more extensive: some of the most elegant palaces in Vicenza are due to his genius, and the same is true of buildings scattered a bit throughout the Veneto, from Venice (his is one of perhaps the most photographed monuments in the world: the Procuratie Nuove in St. Mark’s Square) to Padua (where he worked on the design of the church of San Gaetano), but they also trespass into Lombardy (the set design of the well-known Teatro Ducale in Sabbioneta is another of his masterpieces).

The catalog offered by the International Center is a precise and rich tool. For each of the twenty-five buildings surveyed (the list can be consulted in three modes: list, grid or map, in the latter case it is possible to navigate on a Google Maps map with the places marked, and upon clicking on the marker the relevant page will open) a detailed sheet is provided that includes basic information about the work (a summary of the history as well as notions of the style in which the building was made, with texts written by Guido Beltramini, director of the Center), the address and conditions of accessibility (i.e., whether it can be visited inside, and if so the visitor is provided with all the appropriate links and e-mails, or whether he or she has to be content to see only the exteriors), and a series of author’s photographs depicting the masterpiece. Also present is a search engine to make browsing more convenient. All available in Italian and English.

As stated by the Study Center, “the itinerary makes it possible to enjoy one of the key elements of Scamozzi’s poetics, namely the insertion of the building into its context and landscape. The hope is that the increased interest in Scamozzi’s heritage generated by initiatives like this will soon lead to increased accessibility to the buildings.” The initiative, the Center goes on to say, “is meant to be a tribute to the great scholar Franco Barbieri (1922-2016), the soul of the Palladian Center’s Scientific Council for over forty years and founder of the field of studies on Vincenzo Scamozzi’s architecture.” The guide to Scamozzi’s architecture is the result of sixty years of research that Franco Barbieri has devoted to the figure of the architect and stage designer from Vicenza, and this popular itinerary aims to present Scamozzi’s work to a wider audience than the circle of connoisseurs or scholars. We can say that this tool has all the prerequisites for spreading knowledge about the figure of Vincenzo Scamozzi: navigation is very easy and clear, the graphics of the site hosting the catalog are clean and elegant and adapted to mobile devices (so it has all the features that a good modern website should have), the information is timely and prompts in-depth study, and the photographs... entice a visit! So we leave you with the address to consult the catalog of Scamozzi’s works, which is http://www.palladiomuseum.org/scamozzi/, and with a double suggestion: go to the site and then go see these masterpieces in person!

Vincenzo Scamozzi’s set design in the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza

Villa Pisani, known as La Rocca (photo by Vaclav Sedy)

The Procuratie Nuove in Venice (photo by Vaclav Sedy)

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