Four Books on Architecture

Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) – one of the key figures of the Italian Renaissance, architect, theorist, and expert in ancient architecture. Rising from a common stonemason to an architect, he combined strong craft skills and high cultural aspirations of Northern Italian admirers of ancient classics, among whom he was introduced by the humanists G. Trissino and D. Barbaro. The most famous works designed by him in Vicenza include Villa Almerico Capra La Rotonda, the Palladian Basilica, the Teatro Olimpico, and the Cathedral of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. Thanks to his students and followers, his creative principles and experience have had a radical influence on the fate of world architecture. Palladianism – a special direction of European classicism of subsequent centuries, based on the treatise "Four Books on Architecture" first published in Venice in 1570. Having undergone numerous reprints and translations into foreign languages, this classical work retains its significance today, serving not only as a literary document of the 16th century but also as a model of high architectural culture.