Villa Forni Cerato description and photos - Italy: Vicenza (Topic)

Villa Forni Cerato description and photos - Italy: Vicenza. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Villa Forni Cerato.

Photo and description

Villa Forni Cerato in Montecchio Precalcino in the province of Vicenza was probably designed by Andrea Palladio for Girolamo Forni, a wealthy merchant who supplied building materials for many of the architect's projects. Despite the fact that the building of the villa is somewhat different from other creations of Palladio, it is still attributed to this architect on the basis of stylistic commonality.

Villa Forni Cerato was built in the 1540s on the site of another building, which was not demolished, but modified. The double name - Forni Cerato - was given to her in 1610, when, by the will of Girolamo Forni, the building passed into the ownership of Giuseppe, Girolamo and Baldisser Cerato.

The dominant feature of the front facade of the villa is the loggia. Just like at Villa Godi, here a flight of stairs goes to the very base of the building and leads to a loggia with palladian windows - serliana, which stretches along the entire width of the loggia. The central axis is sharper here than in Villa Godi, partly due to the location of the windows. But this is not the only reason why Villa Forni Cerato is considered a definite breakthrough in the work of Palladio - it is here that the boundaries between floors are clearly visible on the facade for the first time. There are three floors in total - a basement, a drunken nobile and a mezzanine. The double sill runs along the Serliana and organically fits the loggia into the structure of the entire building. In addition, it serves as the upper and lower extremity of two balustrades, which are placed between the outer pilasters of the Serliana.

The building of Villa Forni Cerato has not undergone significant changes, except for its rear, which once also had a series of Palladian windows. later replaced by a balcony. However, the outline of this Serliana is still visible today. The reliefs on the facade, removed in 1924, are reminiscent of the copper engraving by Marco Moro, but they were probably not part of the original building. The current reliefs depicting river gods are copies of the 20th century. The same applies to the family crests on the pediment. Today, the only authentic sculptural decoration is the mask over the circular arch, attributed to Alessandro Vittoria.

Despite the fact that Villa Forni Cerato is in poor condition, since 1996 it has been included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

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Topic: Villa Forni Cerato description and photos - Italy: Vicenza.