07/08/2007. Vincenza: The Rotunda by Palladio.

Palladio’s Rotunda was one of the most interesting and beautiful pieces of architecture that we saw when in Vincenza. When I saw it, the first thing I thought of was the Roman Pantheon. Which combined the Greek and Roman temple building structures, that being of the circle and the square, respectively. He even had an oculus in the middle of the dome, much like that of the Pantheon. At the time when the Pantheon was built, it was a tricky piece of architecture. To get the square to support the dome is difficult. Although the walls are now covered in frescos of different sorts, when Palladio built it he meant for all the walls to be completely white. All around the outside of the building are Greek and Roman influenced sculptures that I can only assume were created when Palladio constructed the building. To see the interconnection between these two styles of the Greek and Roman is really quite interesting. This style is greatly influenced by renaissance ideals, such as the renewed interest in classical antiquity. Which can definitely be seen throughout the Rotunda, from the reference to the Pantheon, to the very Greek and Roman sculptures that are built outside. Then also from the frescos that were added later not by Palladio, but which also reference Greek and Roman culture.

The other rather interesting part about the Rotunda is the incredible symmetry that can be seen throughout the building. Palladio worked very hard to create this exact symmetry, to which there had to be a reason. I think that Palladio is once again trying to reference back to antiquity and to Roman and Greek temples which were very focused on symmetry and perfection. Even from the outside, one can see that each side of the building is exactly like the other. Palladio was obviously very interested in creating something that was perfect in scale and proportion. His whole style for the Rotunda is quite minimalist actually. He uses basic shapes, and when he initially built it he wanted all the walls to be white.

Being inside the Rotunda is a very interesting experience. Whenever I go into buildings such as that one, there are always sections of it that are roped off and inevitably are the parts of the building I am the most interested in exploring. I understand why I cannot just go around on my own anywhere in the building, but it would be amazing if I could. I especially wanted to go up and down the spiral staircases that were in the center of the dome. One of the reasons I wanted to go up the staircases was because halfway up the dome there was like a balcony that you could stand on and walk all the way around the dome. I would have loved to get to do that. It would have also been interesting to see what was in the rooms beneath the main floor. I always wonder why those rooms are barricaded off so that we can’t go in. I am sure that half the time, the stuff that they don’t let you see isn’t that interesting anyway, but just the very fact that it is blocked off makes it seem mysterious and important.