Vincenzo Scamozzi (2 September 1548 – 7 August 1616) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and a writer on architecture, active mainly in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

and

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

area in the second half of the 16th century. He was perhaps the most important figure there between

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...

, whose unfinished projects he inherited at Palladio's death in 1580, and

Baldassarre Longhena Baldassare Longhena (1598 – 18 February 1682) was an Italian architect, who worked mainly in Venice, where he was one of the greatest exponents of Baroque architecture of the period. Biography Born in Venice, Longhena studied under the architect ...

, Scamozzi's only pupil. The great public project of Palladio's that Scamozzi inherited early in the process of construction was the

Teatro Olimpico The Teatro Olimpico ("Olympic Theatre") is a theatre in Vicenza, northern Italy, constructed in 1580–1585. The theatre was the final design by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and was not completed until after his death. The ...

at Vicenza, which Palladio had designed in the last months of his life.

Biography

Chiesa di San Lorenzo a Vicenza - Interno - Monumento di Vincenzo Scamozzi

Scamozzi was born in Vicenza. His father was the surveyor and building contractor Gian Domenico Scamozzi; he was Scamozzi's first teacher, imbuing him with the principles of

Sebastiano Serlio Sebastiano Serlio (6 September 1475 – c. 1554) was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. Serlio helped canonize the classical orders of architecture in his influential treat ...

, laid out in Serlio's book. Vincenzo visited

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1579–1580, and then moved to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1581. In 1600, he visited France and left a sketchbook record of his impressions of French architecture, which first saw the light of day in 1959. Scamozzi is famous for having inherited several unfinished projects from

at the time of Palladio's death in 1580 and for bringing them to their completed form.

The Idea of a Universal Architecture

Scamozzi - Idea della Architettura Universale - 1615

Scamozzi's influence spread far beyond his Italian commissions through his two-volume treatise, ''L'idea dell'architettura universale'' ("The Idea of a Universal Architecture"), which is one of the last works of the Renaissance dealing with the theory of architecture. It was originally published with woodcut illustrations at Venice in 1615. Scamozzi depended for sections of his treatment of

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...

Daniele Barbaro Daniele Matteo Alvise Barbaro (also Barbarus) (8 February 1514 – 13 April 1570) was an Italian cleric and diplomat. He was also an architect, writer on architecture, and translator of, and commentator on, Vitruvius. Barbaro's fame is chief ...

's commentary, published in 1556 with illustrations by Palladio; he also discussed issues of building practice. At that time, such treatises were becoming a vehicle for self-promotion. Scamozzi was aware of the potential value of publicity distributed through the established channels of the book trade and he included many of his own plans and elevations, as built, as they should have been built, and as idealized projects. His first book entitled ''Discorsi sopra l'antichita di Roma'' (Venice: Ziletti, 1583) had been quickly cobbled together with some illustrated commentary on the ruins of Rome, assembled in "the space of a few of days." According to his preface to the volumes, the images were stock productions that already existed. Over half were copied from a volume published by

Hieronymus Cock Hieronymus Cock, or Hieronymus Wellens de Cock (1518 – 3 October 1570) was a Flemish painter and etcher as well as a publisher and distributor of prints.

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in 1551. His major book came out one year before his death and was too late to influence his own success. Scamozzi's practice is sometimes spoken of as being a source of the

neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective ...

architecture as it was introduced by

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...

, another follower of

's own example.

Rudolf Wittkower Rudolf Wittkower (22 June 1901 – 11 October 1971) was a British art historian specializing in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, who spent much of his career in London, but was educated in Germany, and later moved to the Unite ...

referred to him as among "the intellectual father(s) of

neo-classicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, ...

Piazza San Marco

Scamozzi moved to

in 1581, where he had been invited to design the ''

Procuratie Nuove The Procuratie (English: Procuracies) are three connected buildings along the perimeter of Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Two of the buildings, the Procuratie Vecchie (Old Procuracies) and the Procuratie Nuove (New Procuracies), were ...

'' on the

Piazza San Marco Piazza San Marco (; vec, Piasa San Marco), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as ''la Piazza'' ("the Square"). All other urban spaces in the city (exc ...

itself. The ''

'' was built as a row of official housing for the Procuratorate of San Marco, presented as a unified palace front that continues the end facade of the

Sansovino Library The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark ( it, italic=no, Biblioteca Marciana, but in historical documents commonly referred to as ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositori ...

, with its arcaded ground floor and arch-headed windows of the first floor, but adding an upper floor to provide the necessary accommodation. In accomplishing this design, Scamozzi adapted a rejected project of Palladio's for a re-faced

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

, with colonnettes that flank the windows to support alternating triangular and arched pediments, upon which Scamozzi added reclining figures, to balance the richness of the Sansovinian decoration of the two lower floors. Eleven bays of this project were completed, and later were extended by

Baldassare Longhena Baldassare Longhena (1598 – 18 February 1682) was an Italian architect, who worked mainly in Venice, where he was one of the greatest exponents of Baroque architecture of the period. Biography Born in Venice, Longhena studied under the architec ...

(Scamozzi's only pupil) to fill the whole south flank of the piazza.

Chronology of works

All but one of the following works are in the territory of the

: * 1568-1575: Villa of Girolamo Ferramosca, Barbano di

Grisignano di Zocco Grisignano di Zocco is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is south of E70. It is an important traffic node because of the local highway junction, that allows businesses within a radius access to the Autostrada A4, the main highw ...

(

Province of Vicenza The Province of Vicenza ( it, Provincia di Vicenza) is a province in the Veneto region in northern Italy. Its capital city is Vicenza. The province has an area of 2,722.53 km², and a total population of 865,082 (as of 2017). There are 1 ...

) (with Gian Domenico Scamozzi) * 1569: Palazzo Godi,

(project, altered during later execution) * 1572-1593:

Palazzo Thiene Bonin Longare Palazzo Thiene Bonin Longare is a patrician palace in Vicenza, northern Italy, designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, probably in 1572, and built after Palladio's death by Vincenzo Scamozzi. It is one of the city '' palazzi'' ...

, Vicenza (reworked on a previous project by Palladio) * 1574-1615: Villa of Leonardo Verlato,

Villaverla Villaverla is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is west of SP349 and south of A31. Origins From Roman times, the original name of the nearby village that eventually became Villaverla was "Roveredum." The center of that first vi ...

(Vicenza) * 1575: Palazzo Caldogno, Vicenza * 1575-1578:

Rocca Pisana Rocca Pisana is a 16-century patrician villa in the comune of Lonigo, province of Vicenza, northern Italy, designed by the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi for the Pisani family. In Italy there are several villas called Villa Pisani, which take their ...

(Vettor Pisani Villa),

Lonigo Lonigo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16,400 inhabitants.Source: ISTAT - Bilancio demografico al 31/12/200 In its ''frazione'' of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani, a Renaissance ...

(Vicenza) * 1576-1579: Trissino-Trento (Pierfranceso Trissino Palace), Vicenza (with Gian Domenico Scamozzi) * 1580: Villa of Francesco Priuli, Treville di

Castelfranco Veneto Castelfranco Veneto ( vec, Casteło) is a town and ''comune'' of Veneto, northern Italy, in the province of Treviso, by rail from the town of Treviso. It is approximately inland from Venice. History The town originates from a castle built here ...

(

Province of Treviso The Province of Treviso ('' it, Provincia di Treviso'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso. The province is surrounded by Belluno in the north, Vicenza in the west, Padua in southwest, Venice in the so ...

) (north wing) * 1580-1584: Villa Nani Mocenigo,

Canda Canda is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italy, Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km southwest of Venice and about west of Rovigo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 958 and an area of .All dem ...

(

Province of Rovigo The Province of Rovigo (''Provincia di Rovigo'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rovigo. It borders on the north with the provinces of Verona, Padua and Venice, on the south with the province of Ferrara, o ...

) * 1580-1592:

Villa Capra "La Rotonda" Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in northern Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa's correct name is Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, but it is also known as "La Rotonda", "Villa Rot ...

, near Vicenza (completed construction of

's structure for Mario Capra, and added stables, not completed until 1620) * 1581-1586: Church of San Gaetano Thiene,

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

* 1581-1599:

Procuratie The Procuratie (English: Procuracies) are three connected buildings along the perimeter of Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Two of the buildings, the Procuratie Vecchie (Old Procuracies) and the Procuratie Nuove (New Procuracies), were ...

Nuove,

, Venice (continued with a different interior design by Francesco Smeraldi and completed in 1663 by Longhena) * 1582: Palazzo Cividale, Vicenza ttributed* 1582-1591: Library of San Marco, Venice (completion of

Jacopo Sansovino Jacopo d'Antonio Sansovino (2 July 1486 – 27 November 1570) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, best known for his works around the Piazza San Marco in Venice. These are crucial works in the history of Venetian Renaissance archi ...

's design) * 1584-1585:

, Vicenza (remodeling of structure designed by Andrea Palladio, wooden scene) * 1587-1596: Library of San Marco, Venice (the vestibule, ''Antisala'') * 1588: Villa Cornaro, Poisolo, Treville di Castelfranco Veneto (Treviso) (reconstruction) * 1588-1590: Teatro all'antica for Duke

Vespasiano I Gonzaga 250px, Vespasiano I Gonzaga. Vespasiano I Gonzaga, Duke of Sabbioneta (6 December 1531 – 26 February 1591) was an Italian nobleman, diplomat, writer, military engineer and condottiero. He is remembered as a patron of the arts and the founder ...

Sabbioneta Sabbioneta ( egl, label= Casalasco-Viadanese, Subiunèda) is a town and in the province of Mantua, Lombardy region, Northern Italy. It is situated about north of Parma, not far from the northern bank of the Po River. It was inscribed in the World ...

(

Province of Mantova The Province of Mantua ( it, provincia di Mantova; Mantovano, Lower Mantovano: ; Upper Mantovano: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Mantua. It is bordered to the north-east by the Province ...

) * 1590:

Villa Contarini Villa Contarini is a mostly Baroque-style, patrician rural palace in Piazzola sul Brenta, province of Padova, in the region of the Veneto of northern Italy. The villa is spread over a 40 hectare area, with canals, and a lake. Now owned by the gov ...

for Girolamo Contarini,

Loreggia Loreggia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about northeast of Padua. Loreggia borders the following municipalities: Camposampiero, Castelfranco Veneto, Pio ...

(Padua) (revised in construction) * 1590-1595: Church of

San Nicolò da Tolentino Nicholas of Tolentino ( la, S. Nicolaus de Tolentino, (c. 1246September 10, 1305), known as the ''Patron of Holy Souls'', was an Italian saint and Mysticism, mystic. He is particularly invoked as an advocate for the souls in Purgatory, especial ...

, Venice * 1591-1593: Statuary of Venice Republic (museum), Venice * 1591-1594: Monastery and Church of San Gaetano Thiene,

* 1591-1595:

Villa Cornaro Villa Cornaro is a patrician villa in Piombino Dese, about 30 km northwest of Venice, Italy. It was designed by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in 1552 and is illustrated and described by him in Book Two of his 1570 masterwor ...

for

Girolamo Cornaro Girolamo is an Italian variant of the name Hieronymus. Its English equivalent is Jerome. It may refer to: * Girolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler * Girolamo Cassar (c. 1520 – af ...

Piombino Dese Piombino Dese is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about north of Padua. Piombino Dese borders the following municipalities: Camposampiero, Istrana, Loreggi ...

(

Province of Padua The Province of Padua (''Provincia di Padova'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua. Geography It has an area of 2,142 km2, and a total population of 936,492 (2016) making it the most populated pr ...

) (completion) ttributed* 1591-1597:

Villa Duodo Villa Duodo, also known as the Villa Valier, is a villa situated at Monselice near Padua in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is attributed to the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi although some later parts are known to have been designed by Andrea Tira ...

and Chapel of San Giorgio,

Monselice Monselice (; vec, Monséłexe ) is a town and municipality (comune) located in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region, in the province of Padua about southwest of the city of Padua, at the southern edge of the Euganean Hills (''Colli Euganei ...

(Padua) * 1592-1616: Palace of Galeazzo Trissino al Corso, Vicenza * 1594-1600: Villa of Valerio Bardellini,

Monfumo Monfumo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about northwest of Treviso. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,447 and an area of .All demographic ...

* 1596: Villa Ferretti for Girolamo Ferretti on the

Riviera del Brenta The Riviera del Brenta is an area of the Metropolitan City of Venice of particular tourist-cultural interest due to the great architectural heritage of the Venetian villas built between the 15th and 18th centuries by the nobles of the Venetian Rep ...

, Sambruson del

Dolo Dolo is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, Italy. It is connected by the SP26 provincial road and is one of the towns of the Riviera del Brenta. The growth of the town of Dolo is due to the gradual downsizing of th ...

(Venice). The A. Everett Austin House in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, U.S.A. is an homage to the Villa Ferreti. * 1596-1597:

for

(Padua) (added stable wing) Villa-Molin-3

* 1597: Villa Molin, Mandria, (Padua) * 1597: Villa Priuli, Carrara (Padua) * 1597-1598:

Villa Godi A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

, Sarmego di

Grumolo delle Abbadesse Grumolo delle Abbadesse is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, north-eastern Italy. It is on SP24 provincial road. The ''frazione'' (hamlet) of Vancimuglio is home to Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 ...

(Vicenza) * 1601: Palazzo del Bò, Padua (university facade) * 1601-1606: San Giacomo di Rialto,

(altar of Scuola degli Orefici; with

Girolamo Campagna Girolamo Campagna (1549–1625) was a Northern Italian sculptor. Born in Verona, he went to Venice in 1572 and studied under both Jacopo Sansovino and Danese Cattaneo, and completed many of the latter's works. He was responsible for the fig ...

) * 1601-1636:

San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti is an ancient church in the sestiere of Castello, Venice, northern Italy, with a facade facing a Rio of the same name. It now serves as the chapel of the Civic Hospital of Venice. History By 1224, a hospital for le ...

Church and Hospital, Venice * 1604-1612: Cathedral of Sts. Rupert and Virgil,

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, Austria (project; completed in 1614-28 by

Santino Solari Santino Solari (1576 – April 10, 1646), was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked mainly in Austria. He was born at Verna near Como. In 1612, he was appointed chief architect of Salzburg by the archbishop Markus Sittikus. His w ...

) * 1605: Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice (sacristy door; with

Alessandro Vittoria Alessandro Vittoria funerary monument - San Zaccaria, Venice Alessandro Vittoria (1525–1608) was an Italian Mannerist sculptor of the Venetian school, "one of the main representatives of the Venetian classical style" and rivalling Giamb ...

) * 1605-1616:

(Padua) (six chapels for Via Romana) * 1607-1611:

San Giorgio Maggiore San Giorgio Maggiore ( vec, San Zorzi Mazor) is one of the islands of Venice, northern Italy, lying east of the Giudecca and south of the main island group. The island, or more specifically its Palladian church, is an important landmark. It ha ...

(church), Venice (completion of Palladio's facade) * 1607-1616: Villa Cornaro al Paradiso, Venice (twin pavilions) * 1609: Domenico Trevisan Villa, San Donà di Piave * 1609-1616: Palazzo Contarini degli Scrigni, Santrovaso on the

Canal Grande The Grand Canal ( it, Canal Grande ; vec, Canal Grando, anciently ''Canałasso'' ) is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city. One end of the canal leads into the lagoon near the Santa Lucia ...

, Venice * 1610 Villa Contarini degli Scrigni detta Vigna Contarena (Este) * 1614: Palazzo Loredan Vendramin Calergi,

(east wing; demolished in 1659 and rebuilt in 1660)

Notes

Bibliography

* * * Bibliography of the ''Idea'': http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/Scamozzi.asp?param=en
Charles Davis, ''Architecture and Light: Vincenzo Scamozzi’s Statuary Installation in the Chiesetta of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice''
in Annali di architettura n° 14, Vicenza 2002
Branko Mitrovic´ and Vittoria Senes, Vincenzo ''Scamozzi’s Annotations to Daniele Barbaro’s Commentary on Vitruvius’ De Architectura''
in Annali di architettura n° 14, Vicenza 2002
Konrad Ottenheym, ''A Bird’s-Eye View of the Dissemination of Scamozzi’s Treatise in Northern Europe''
in Annali di architettura, n° 18–19, 2007
Guido Beltramini, ''The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Scamozzi’s Idea della Architettura Universale in Palladian Territory''
in Annali di architettura, n° 18–19, 2007
Howard Burns, ''Inigo Jones and Vincenzo Scamozzi''
in Annali di architettura, n° 18–19, 2007 *

Giles Worsley Giles Arthington Worsley (22 March 1961 – 17 January 2006) was an English architectural historian, author, editor, journalist and critic, specialising in British country houses. He was the second son of Sir Marcus Worsley of Hovingham Hall, a ...

''Scamozzi’s Influence on English Seventeenth-Century Architecture''
in Annali di architettura, n° 18–19, 2007 * Uvres d'architecture de Vincent Scamozzi, architecte de la République de Venise, 1764

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scamozzi, Vincenzo 1548 births 1616 deaths Architects from Vicenza 16th-century Italian architects Italian architecture writers Italian male non-fiction writers