PALLADIO
THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
OF THE PROVINCE OF TREVISO
villa Emo
Built between
1558 and 1560,
this villa was
commissioned
by Leonardo
Emo, a member
of one of the
FANZOLO DI
oldest families
VEDELAGO
in the Veneto,
which had owned estates in Fanzolo since
the 15th century. In 1565 he married
Cornelia Grimani, the niece of Francesco
Badoer, the commissioner of the namesake
Palladian Villa of Fratta Polesine.
He held highly prestigious offices in the
Magistratures of the Republic of Venice,
and was Podesta of Chioggia, Health
Minister, Director of the Fiscal Authority,
Minister of Justice, Director of Commerce
and Member of the Senate. The rural villa
pattern, which combined the demands of
country life with a new style inspired by
classical architecture, reached a new level
with Villa Emo. Andrea Palladio
(1508-1580) skilfully seconded the
www.provincia.treviso.it
Comune di Maser
Comune di Vedelago
villa di Maser
VILLA EMO
commissioner's request to use economical
materials such as bricks or plaster, while
conveying the classical principles of
harmony and proportion with architectural
lines and shapes reduced to the essential.
The main body of the building, used as the
owner's private residence, featured a
classical pronaos supported by four Doric
columns, a vestibule, a hall and three
symmetrically arranged rooms on either
these porticoes with the master's house.
The interiors of the first floor were frescoed
by Battista Zelotti (1526-1578), a friend
and close collaborator of Veronese.
They illustrate episodes from mythology
and Roman history and celebrate the
subduing of passions and the triumph of
marital virtues based on the popular cultural
and moral views of the new landowning
aristocracy. The decorative festoons of the
loggia and the rooms depict some ears of
maize, a cereal grass coming from the "New
World" which was soon "adopted" in the
Emo lands. The Villa belonged to the Emo
family for 450 years. In 2005 it was
acquired by the Credito Trevigiano Bank
which, in line with its mission as a "socially
committed" bank, wanted to lend its
support to the protection of this "World
Heritage Site" from greed and speculation
and assign it a new financial role - the farm
has now become the bank's headquarters and a modern cultural and socioenvironmental function.
"With loggias
on both sides,
featuring two
dovecotes at
their ends.
Underneath
these, a
wine-making
MASER
area, stables
and all the other places serving the Villa”.
So did Andrea Palladio in 1570 in his
"I quattro libri dell'Architettura" ("Four Books
on Architecture") describe the agricultural
function of Villa Maser, the only one of
Palladio's villas which has preserved up
until the present day its role as a
land-management centre with an abundant
production of high-quality wine, oil, fruit
and vegetables. Built between 1550 and
1560 for the Barbaro brothers on the
mediaeval foundations of a pre-existing
construction, the Villa was also conceived
as a portentous hydraulic engineering
work, housing the water collection tank
both for domestic use and land irrigation.
side, whereas the lateral porticoes were
intended to house, in Palladio’s own words,
“cellars, barns, and stables”, bordered on
both sides with “dovecotes, providing a
useful service to the owner and embellishing
the place”. This arrangement allowed
"a full-length roofed space" thanks to the
balanced alternation of porticoes and
columns. Around the mid-18th century
some radical restoration works unified
Villa Emo: aerial view, frescoes by Battista Zelotti
(detail), the first floor with frescoes by Zelotti,
a view of one of the porticoes.
VILLA DI
MASER
today the subject of scrupulous preservation
work. The view from almost all the rooms
stretches across the hills and plains from
the central axis of Viale dei Tigli, leading
south from Neptune's fountain.
Plastic decorations were commissioned to
Alessandro Vittoria, a brilliant pupil of
Sansovino, who carried out the stucco
works throughout the Villa. The exceptional character of Villa Maser also lies in the
key role taken by the commissioners in its
Surrounded by a spectacular landscape at
the foot of the green Maser hills, the Villa
consists of variously shaped constructions
with different uses, positioned along the
same axis: the estate house and porticoes
form a compact unit underlying the close
connection between architecture and
agriculture, art and landscape, entertainment
design: the humanistic culture of the
Barbaro brothers considerably influenced
Palladio’s work. At the back of the building
lies the Nymphaeum, an exedra with a
fish-pond featuring statues by Alessandro
Vittoria and Marc’Antonio Barbaro.
On the northern hillock, a charming cottage
houses the Museum of Carriages, a
fascinating collection of Italian and foreign
vehicles with origins spanning past centuries,
while the 19th-century Cellar lies to the
west. Along the provincial street, the
Tempietto (small Temple) was originally
intended as the Villa's Chapel and later
became the Parish Church of the village of
Maser. It was designed after the architectural
pattern of the Roman Pantheon, and was
enriched with soft stone statues by Orazio
Marinali and, inside, with stuccos by
Vittoria. Together with the Olympic Theatre
in Vicenza, the Tempietto is the last of
Palladio's works; in fact, he is said to have
died in Maser. Villa Maser has been
recognised by U.N.E.S.C.O. World
Heritage since 1996.
and production. It also features a marvellous
variety of decor. Inside, Paolo Veronese
painted one of the most extraordinary
series of 16th century frescoes in Veneto,
indicating the role played by the building in
the study of the arts and intellectual
contemplation, with the interiors of the Villa
clinked to the surrounding landscape and
The easternmost
of Palladio's
villas, Villa
Zeno in
Donegal di
Cessalto is also
among the least
known.
CESSALTO
Undergoing
substantial modifications over the centuries
as it was adapted for agricultural use, the
Villa is currently in need of renovation and
public visits are limited.
It has nonetheless preserved its original
charm arising from its position and the
architectural solution worked out by
Palladio, who outlined two different
designs for each façade and reversed the
the usual idea of arranging its constituent
parts. The main windowless façade faces
South and has one large thermal-style
glazing; the secondary one, facing North,
features a loggia supported by three
arcades - the latter being the only original
surviving portion. The Villa, built between
VILLA ZENO
1550 and 1560 for Vicenza Podesta Marco
Zeno - a representative of one of the most
powerful Venetian families - belongs to
Palladio’s great commissioning era as do
Villa Maser and Villa Emo.
Some peculiarities in its plans reveal that
Palladio converted a pre-existing building
to create the final shape of the Villa.
Above, Villa Maser: façade, Nymphaeum,
Tempietto, frescoes by Paolo Veronese (detail)
Above this side, a view of Villa Zeno
All Villas have been
included in the UNESCO
World Heritage.
INFORMATION
Tourist Bureau (IAT)
TREVISO
tel. +39 0422 547632 - [email protected]
CASTELFRANCO V.TO
tel. +39 0423 491416 - [email protected]
ASOLO
tel. +39 0423 529046 - [email protected]
www.provincia.treviso.it - www.turismo.provincia.treviso.it
PACKAGE HOLIDAY RESERVATION
TOURISM PROMOTION AUTHORITY
tel. +39 0422 541052 - fax +39 0422 591195
www.marcatreviso.it - [email protected]
RESERVATION FOR EVENTS AND
VISITS TO VILLAS
VILLA MASER
tel. +39 0423 923004 - fax +39 0423 923002
www.villadimaser.it - [email protected]
VILLA EMO FOUNDATION
tel. +39 0423 701244 - fax +39 0423 487043
www.villaemo.org - [email protected]
MASER and VEDELAGO
Maser and Fanzolo di Vedelago are both situated in the Province of Treviso
not far from Venice, and may be reached
by road: A27 Venezia-Belluno (exit Treviso nord); Maser is reached
via SR 348 and SS 248, while Fanzolo di Vedelago via SP 667 and SR 53.
Treviso
Milan
Venice
Bologna
PROVINCE OF BELLUNO
Vittorio
Veneto
Rome
PROVINCE OF
VICENZA
Valdobbiadene
Maser
Vedelago
PROVINCE OF
PORDENONE
Idea and layout: Frontiere, progetti per comunicare - www.frontiereprogetti.com
Photos: FAST Province of Treviso, Paolo Zambon, Ruggero Piccoli; archives
Villa Maser and Maser Town Council; archives of Fondazione Villa Emo;
Cover: drawings from "I quattro libri dell'Architettura" QLA, by A.Palladio
Translations: Studio Congia
Conegliano
Possagno
Maser
Asolo
Oderzo
Castelfranco
Veneto
ORGANISED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Montebelluna
Fanzolo di
Vedelago
by plane: Antonio Canova (Treviso), Marco Polo (Venice) airports
by rail: Montebelluna, Cornuda; Castelfranco Veneto, Fanzolo.
Cessalto
TREVISO
Comune di Maser
Padua
Venice
PROVINCE
OF PADUA
PROVINCE OF VENICE
Comune di Vedelago