Across northern Italy, in search of Palladio's artistic perfection
Villa Foscari - or, as the locals know it, La Malcontenta - stands inconsolable, guarded by weeping willows like something from a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Legend has it that La Malcontenta ('the unhappy one') got its name after an aristocratic lady was confined there to be cured of the adulterous and gaming inclinations brought on by life in Venice.
My mother and I are in Northern Italy's Veneto region to mark the quincentenary of the birth of 16th Century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, on the trail of his extraordinary villas, churches and palaces.
Villa Foscari
Misery never looked so good: Palladio's magnificent Villa Foscari - otherwise known as La Malcontenta - is a truly sumptuous structure
Born Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, he was a miller's son who became a stone-cutter in Padua. He moved to Vicenza where his talents were recognised by scholars, first Trissino (who named him Palladio) and later the Barbaro brothers. They won Palladio numerous commissions and sent him to Rome for education and inspiration.
My understanding of architecture would be limited to the building blocks of Legoland if it had not been for my mother. She taught me how to read it, dissect it, appreciate it and digest it.
And she is not the only architect to have been inspired by Palladio. The designers of the White House in Washington and Banqueting House, Chiswick House and Marble Hill in London have all fallen under his spell.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1199184/Across-northern-Italy-search-Palladios-artistic-perfection.html#ixzz0NdIZIoLB
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