Villa Thiene

Villa Thiene is a sixteenth-century villa at Quinto Vicentino. The villa takes its name from the Thiene family who commissioned it (as well as a palazzo, also by Palladio). The villa as it stands today was only partly designed by Palladio.

Architectural Details

For Villa Thiene, Palladio appears to have adapted a design by Giulio Romano.

A version of the villa is illustrated in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura and discussed by Palladio. The architect designed a plan showing an imposing courtyard which was never completed. The work was begun originally for Count Ottavie Thiene and continued by his son Count Marcantonio Thiene and his uncle Count Adriano Thiene. The property was situated on a river locale, and one entered the loggia by a gate of the Doric order. Inside, were apartment rooms with some decorated with frescos by Giovani Indemio Vincentino. The present main facade of the Villa Thiene acquired its current appearance in the 19th century. At that time, the great portal in the centre of the facade was broken into the stone-work. This facade was probably not originally intended for the mansion, but for one of the villa's agricultural wings.

The garden facade of Villa Thiene can be attributed to Francesco Muttoni. Both the thermal window in the concluding gable and portals in the centre part are displeasing. These elements cannot be reconciled with Palladio's formal idiom. Since 1996, the villa has been conserved as part of a World Heritage Site, the "City of Vencenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". The villa's external brickwork has been stripped of the stucco which would have originally covered it. There are also many holes punctured into the villa's exterior, done during war time, to extract needed metal used within the villa's construction.

Design by Palladio for the villa (mainly unrealised), from I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura