Visit to Villa Barbaro and Villa Emo
Friday, Dec. 11, 9.20 am - 16.30 pm
Meeting point: 9.20 at Tronchetto
This trip will give you the unique opportunity to visit two UNESCO World Heritage sites and to see two of the most beautiful villas designed by the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in the second half of the 16th century: Villa Barbaro and Villa Emo.
The Villa di Maser (Villa Barbaro) is one of the greatest masterpieces of Andrea Palladio (1508-80). It is situated in the middle of a flourishing estate whose Historic Winery produces wines of great quality.
Open all year round, it maintains the fascinating character of a home where the owners still live and work, and during the many events staged, its beauty and magic atmosphere can be enjoyed throughout the changing seasons.
Climbing roses, wisteria, and bignonia adorn the entrance courtyard and welcome visitors to the villa.
The visit continues inside with the six rooms with frescoes by Paolo Veronese, which represent his largest and most important fresco works and from where one can see the Ninfaeum with stuccoes by Alessandro Vittoria.
Villa Emo is a patrician villa near the village of Fanzolo di Vedelago. It was designed by Andrea Palladio in 1559 for the Emo family of Venice and remained in the hands of the Emo family until it was sold in 2004.
It is one of the most accomplished of the Palladian Villas, showing the benefit of 20 years of Palladio’s experience in domestic architecture. It has been praised for the simple mathematical relationships expressed in its proportions, both of the elevation and the dimensions of the rooms. In 1570 Palladio published a plan of the villa in his treatise I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura. Unlike some of the other plans he included in this work, the one of Villa Emo corresponds nearly exactly to what was built.
The main series of frescoes in the villa is grouped in an area with scenes featuring Venus, the goddess of love. Zelotti appears to have begun work on the frescoes in 1565. In the Great Room, the events in the frescoes concentrate on humanistic ideals, exemplary scenes such as Virtue portrayed in a scene from the life of Scipio Africanus.
The visit is compulsory for students attending the courses “Art and Architecture in Renaissance Venice” and “Training in UNESCO World Heritage Studies”.
For students attending this course, the visit is offered by VIU.
Students and professors wishing to join the visit can add their name on the roster, according to availability. The cost of the visit is € 12.
You can have lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria “La Cucina del Palladio” (Vedelago, near Villa Emo). The group menu proposed is classic pizza + water at the cost of 8 euros per person (to bring to the front office by Wed. 9).
The only alternative to the lunch at the restaurant is to bring with you a packed lunch and eat outdoors, as there are no other restaurants or bars near Villa Emo.
Money will be collected at the front office no later than Wednesday, December 9th, at 5 pm.