Palazzo Pretorio (Cividale del Friuli)
Encyclopedia
The Palazzo Pretorio or Palazzo dei Provveditori veneti is a palace in Cividale del Friuli
, northern Italy
, attributed to the architect Andrea Palladio
and built between 1565 and 1586. Until 1990 it is the home of the National Archeological Museum (Museo archeologico nazionale) of Cividale.
Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari
testifies the existence of a project by Palladio for the Palazzo Pretorio at Cividale, for which he executed a model; he also writers that the architect was present at the building’s foundation ceremony. The desire of the Civic Council to construct the Palazzo Pretorio dates to 1559, but the laying of the foundation stone had to wait until March 1565, when the financial means became available.
The palace was completed in 1586. Palladio's contribution in the building is not immediately recognizable, even if the peculiar basement
of arcuated portico
, with its stone bosses, may derive from Palladio’s studies of the Roman
antiquities in Dalmatia
, specifically the amphitheatre in Pula. What seems probable is that the building’s execution was at least undertaken without Palladio’s control, and without particular respect for his original project.
Cividale del Friuli
-External links:*...
, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, attributed to the architect Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
and built between 1565 and 1586. Until 1990 it is the home of the National Archeological Museum (Museo archeologico nazionale) of Cividale.
Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
testifies the existence of a project by Palladio for the Palazzo Pretorio at Cividale, for which he executed a model; he also writers that the architect was present at the building’s foundation ceremony. The desire of the Civic Council to construct the Palazzo Pretorio dates to 1559, but the laying of the foundation stone had to wait until March 1565, when the financial means became available.
The palace was completed in 1586. Palladio's contribution in the building is not immediately recognizable, even if the peculiar basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
of arcuated portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
, with its stone bosses, may derive from Palladio’s studies of the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
antiquities in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, specifically the amphitheatre in Pula. What seems probable is that the building’s execution was at least undertaken without Palladio’s control, and without particular respect for his original project.