Savour the voluptuous forms of one of the most famous Italian architects at Royal Academy of Arts exhibition
This year marks five hundred years since the death of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. The Royal Academy of Arts is proposing an exhibition thirty years after the last exhibition in London.
The exhibition ‘Andrea Palladio: his life and legacy’ is organized by CISA – the International Centre of Studies of Architecture Andrea Palladio – and it arrives in London in January 2009 after its debut in the Italian city of Vicenza, where the artist came from and where it has been visited by about 100.000 visitors.
Andrea Palladio was one of the most important Italian architects, but his importance lies in the effect he had on architecture over time and even to this day. He worked in the Northeast region of Italy around the area of Venice. He looked at the rigorous and polished shapes of the Classic Style, but hunted through the tradition with a different eye. His modern mind was able to change and reinvent tradition, creating a revolutionary road for future generations of architects.
His architectural language was encompassed both functional needs and aesthetic lines. He designed public buildings and churches. He planned houses, the famous Italian villas that it is possible still now to see in the countryside of the Italian region of Veneto, between green hills, waterways and classic fountains with water games created by ancient human hands.
Above all these noble dwelling houses, together with the city palaces, became famous exemplars able to influence both European and American architecture. The exhibition presents original drawings, scale models, 3D animation, paintings and books to show the Palladio’s genius from all angles.
His lines have the white and clean consistency of the Reinassance’s elegance and the essential simplicity, a prophetic quality for times to come.
New aspects of Andrea Palladio’s style are noticeable nowadays. They are not simply remnants, but a living dialogue between generations. And in the heart of London among the visual power of high technology you will enjoy a deep emotional response to his architecture like being in a Palladian Italian villa of a long-ago Italy, remote but still full of vibrant life.
Andrea Palladio: his life and legacy, Royal Academy of Arts – Main Galleries, London, 31 Jan—13 Apr, is open 2009 daily 10am to 6pm. Info: 020 7300 8000 www.royalacademy.org.uk
