Villa Caldogno

Coordinates: 45°36′26″N 11°30′24″E / 45.60722°N 11.50667°E

Villa Caldogno (also known as Caldogno Nordera) is a villa in the Veneto region of Italy, which is attributed to Andrea Palladio. It was built for the aristocratic Caldogno family on their estate in the village of Caldogno near Vicenza.

Villa Caldogno Nordera

History

A Latin inscription on the facade (Angelus Calidonius Luschi Filius MDLXX) dates the completion of the building to 1570 when it belonged to Angelo Caldogno. However, Angelo's father, Losco Caldogno, appears to have started to build in the 1540s, probably incorporating walls from a pre-existing building. 1570 is possibly the date of the completion of the villa's decorative scheme.

The villa is not included in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, Palladio's treatise of 1570, in which the architect discussed a number of his creations. However, it is similar to certain villas, such as the Villa Saraceno, that Palladio is known to have created in the 1540s and 1550s.

Villa Zeno: the attribution of Villa Caldogno to Palladio rests on similarities to buildings such as Villa Zeno

Decorative scheme

The villa has frescoes by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (1530-1572), who decorated Palladio's Teatro Olimpico, and Giovanni Battista Zelotti (1526-1578), who decorated a number of villas designed by Palladio. The frescoes at Villa Caldogno Nordera have been compared to Zelotti's work at Villa Foscari.

"The little Concert": fresco in the salon by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo

Conservation status

In 1996 UNESCO included the Villa Caldogno Nordera in the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". The villa is in municipal ownership and is open to the public.

References

On-line reference

(English) (Italian) Centro Internazionali di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio sets the architecture of the Villa in context.