Andrea Gondola Research Paper

Andrea di Pietro della Gondola was born on November 30, 1508 and died in August of 1580. It is said he was born in Padua, Republic of Venice and died in Vicenza. Andrea Gondola was an Italian architect and was regarded as the greatest architect of the 16th century in northern Italy. The palaces and villas he designed, along with his treatise made him one of the most influential figures in Western architecture. Some of his most influential works are the Villa Rotonda, originally known as Villa Capra, and his treatise “I Quattro libri dell’architettura”, which translates to “The Four Books of Architecture.” Andrea Gondola was apprenticed to a sculptor in Padua until the age of sixteen, when he moved to nearby Vicenza where he enrolled in the guild of the bricklayers and stonemasons. Gondola was employed in workshops as a mason where he specialized in monuments and decorative sculpture in the style of the Mannerist architect Michele Sanmicheli. By 1541 he had

In 1570 his treatise, “The Four Books of Architecture,” was published. The four books consist of his architectural principles along with his advice for other architects. Some think that the most critical element of the books was the set of meticulous woodcut illustrations which were drawn from his own works. The first book consists of technical questions and the classical orders. The second book is devoted to domestic architecture and the third to civic architecture. While the fourth book talks about ecclesiastical architecture. Choice Review writes, “Andrea Palladio 's seminal treatise (Venice, 1570) is undoubtedly the most influential book in Western architecture.” It goes on to say because of its clear and accurate illustrations it appealed to practical builders as well as to their erudite patrons. Through Palladio’s treatise he has exerted a dominant influence on architecture for over two centuries, particularly in northern