Palladio is distinguished among the renowned professors of his age as the chief modifier of the revived style of Roman architecture. The celebrity however which attaches to his name, though just in regard to its extent, is not always correctly appreciated: inasmuch as a bigoted admiration for his precepts and designs, on the ground of their intrinsic excellence, has too frequently supplanted that more sober estimate, which results from a consideration of the circumstances under which those precepts and examples were given to the world. Neither have succeeding ages been sufficiently discriminating in respect to the predecessors and contemporaries of Palladio, several of whom either effected or assisted in effecting much, of which the credit has been given by the world at large too exclusively to him.

Our less informed readers should therefore be apprised that, for more than a century before the time of Palladio, the ancient Roman style of architecture had been in progress of revival. Brunelleschi, who died in 1444, was the first to exhibit, in the upper part of Florence cathedral, some departure from the Italian Gothic, and an approach towards the more classic models of old Rome. Alberti, his pupil, published a system of the Five Orders, and Bramante, Raphael, and San Gallo, successively advanced the restored style in the famous Basilica of St. Peter, then erecting. Sansovino, in several costly edifices at Venice, and San Micheli, in many at Verona, anticipated the best efforts of Palladio, and Vignola also distinguished himself as a practical architect and author. Serlio was the first to measure and describe the ancient examples of Rome; and in 1537, published the first part of his ‘Complete Treatise on Architecture.’

Much therefore had been already done to facilitate the operations of a succeeding candidate for architectural distinction. Materials had been amassed, and it only remained for a comprehensive genius to analyse them more closely, to modify them in detail, and to enlarge, by the exercise of a chastened fancy, the range of their combinations. At this juncture the subject of our memoir commenced his professional career.

Andrea Palladio was born at Vicenza, November 30, 1518. His parents are said to have been “in the middle rank of life;” in belief of which, Temanza discredits the traditionary account that he worked as a common mason at the Villa di Cricoli, and that the name ‘Palladio’ was bestowed upon him, as a kind of ennoblement, by his patron Trissino, who is said to have been his first architectural instructor. It is at least certain that, if Trissino taught him not, he assisted in stimulating his professional ardour. Vitruvius and Alberti appear to have been his early studies, and allusions are made to his proficiency in geometry and polite literature at the age of twenty-three. The knowledge which he derived from books, far from satisfying, prompted him to seek a deeper insight into the details and the principles of his art; and, during several visits to Rome, he employed himself in delineating from admeasurement the ancient remains of that city.

Among the earliest testimonies to his growing fame, was the commission he received to make certain costly additions to the Basilica, or Hall of Justice, in his native town. The building, before alteration, seems to have been a dilapidated example of the Italian Gothic style. It was the opinion of Giulio Romano, who was also consulted on the subject, that whatever new work might be necessary to afford strength or supply convenience, the character of the old building should be strictly preserved; and the appropriate and unprejudiced idea of that architect merits quite as much praise as the realized design of his more fortunate competitor. But the romantic rage for the restored architecture of Pagan antiquity was too prevalent for the common sense of Giulio to find support; and the GrÆco-Roman arcades of Palladio were carried round the Gothic basilica, just as, under the same infatuation, the Corinthian portico of Inigo Jones was subsequently attached to the old Cathedral of St. Paul’s in London.

Considering the particular arrangements and present mixed style of this noted Basilica to have been peremptorily insisted on by the public, we can then concede to Palladio the merit of an honourable conquest over difficulties. The adjoined wood-cut represents in simple outline one of the seven bays or compartments, which form the longitudinal elevation of the main building. The relative situations of the perpendiculars a to b, as well as their height, were unalterable. The heights a to c, and c to d, were also fixed. If, therefore, simple arches had been adopted, affording the required superficies of aperture, their limited height must have borne a very disproportioned ratio to their extended breadth. If columns had been employed alone, the great width of the interspaces would have been offensively opposed to the laws which govern that department of architectural design. The application, therefore, of the smaller columns is here most admirable. By this measure, a central arch of good proportions is obtained, and a sufficient supply of light is secured to the interior by the lateral openings under the imposts, and by the circular apertures above them.