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VICENZA

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 21 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VICENZA , a See also:

town and episcopal see of See also:Venetia, See also:Italy, See also:capital of the See also:province of Vicenza, 42 M. W. of See also:Venice by See also:rail, 131 ft. above See also:sea-level. Pop. (1901) 32,200 (town); 47,558 (See also:commune). It lies at the See also:northern See also:base of the Monti Berici, on both sides of the Bacchiglione, at its confluence with the Retrone. It was surrounded by 13th-See also:century walls, once about 3 M. in circumference, but these are now in See also:great See also:part demolished. Though many of the streets are narrow and irregular, the town has a number of See also:fine buildings, many of them the See also:work of See also:Andrea See also:Palladio. The best of these is the town See also:hall, otherwise known as the See also:basilica, one of the finest See also:works of the See also:Renaissance See also:period, of which Palladio himself said that it might stand comparison with any similar work of antiquity. It is especially noteworthy owing to the difficulty of the task the architect had to accomplish—that of transforming the exterior of the Palazzo della Ragione, a See also:Gothic See also:building of the latter See also:half of the 15th century, which the colonnades of the basilica entirely enclose. It was begun in 1549, but not finished till 1614, See also:long after his See also:death. He also designed many of the fine palaces which give Vicenza its individuality; only two of them, the Barbarano and Chiericati palaces (the latter containing the picture See also:gallery), have two orders of See also:architecture, the See also:rest having a heavy rustica basis with only one See also:order above it. Many palaces, however, have been wrongly attributed to him which are really the work of Scamozzi and others of his successors.

The famous Teatro Olimpico was begun by him, but only finished after his death; it is a remarkable See also:

attempt to construct a See also:theatre in the See also:ancient See also:style, and the See also:stage, with the See also:representation of streets ascending at the back, is curious. The See also:cathedral, which is See also:Italian Gothic,dating mainly from the 13th century, consists of a See also:nave with eight chapels on each See also:side, and a very high Renaissance domed See also:choir; it contains examples of the Montagnas and of Lorenzo da Venezia. The churches of S. Lorenzo (1280—1344) and S. See also:Corona (1260—1300), both of See also:brick, are better examples of Gothic than the cathedral; both contain interesting works of See also:art—the latter a very fine " See also:Baptism of See also:Christ," by Giovanni See also:Bellini. In S. Stefano is an imposing See also:altar-piece by See also:Palma Vecchio. The See also:church of SS. Felice e Fortunato was restored in A.D. 975, but has been much altered, and was transformed in 1613. The portal is of 1154, and the Lombardesque square brick See also:tower of 1160. Under it a See also:mosaic See also:pavement with the names of the donors, belonging to the See also:original church of the Lombard period (?), was discovered in 1895 (see F.

Berchet, III. Relazione dell' Ufficio Regionale per la conservazione dei monumenti del Veneto, Venice, 1895, p. 111). None of the churches of Vicenza is the work of Palladio. Of the See also:

Palladian villas in the neighbourhood, La Rotonda, or See also:Villa Palladiana, 12 m. S.R., deserves See also:special mention. It is a square building with Ionic colonnades and a central See also:dome, like an ancient See also:temple, but curiously unlike a See also:Roman villa. Vicenza also contains some interesting remains of the Gothic period besides the churches mentioned—the lofty tower of the town hall (1174–1311–1446; the Piazza contains two columns of the Venetian period, with S. See also:Theodore and the See also:Lion of S. See also:Mark on them) and several palaces in the Venetian style. Among these may be especially noted the small Casa Pigafetta dating from 1481, but still half Gothic, prettily decorated. Some of these earlier houses had painted facades.

The fine picture of " Christ bearing the See also:

Cross " (wrongly ascribed to See also:Giorgione), according to See also:Burckhardt once in the Palazzo Loschi, is now in the See also:Gardner collection at See also:Boston, U.S.A. The most important manufacture is that of See also:silk, which employs a large proportion of the inhabitants. Great See also:numbers of mulberry trees are grown in the neighbourhood. Woollen and See also:linen See also:cloth, See also:leather, earthenware, See also:paper, and articles in See also:gold and See also:silver are also made in Vicenza, and a considerable See also:trade in these articles, as well as in See also:corn and See also:wine, is carried on. Vicenza is the ancient Vicetia, an ancient town of Venetia. It was of less importance than its neighbours Venetia and See also:Patavium, and we hear little of it in See also:history. It no doubt acquired Roman citizenship in 49 B.C., and became a municipiv.m; and is mentioned two years later apropos of a dispute between the citizens and their slaves. Remains of a theatre and of a See also:late mosaic pavement with See also:hunting scenes have been found, three of the See also:bridges across the Bacchiglione and Retrone are of Roman origin, and See also:arches of the See also:aqueduct exist outside Porta S. Croce. A road diverged here to Opitergium (mod. Oderzo) from the See also:main road between See also:Verona and Patavium (See also:Padua) : see T. See also:Mommsen in Corp.

Inscr. Latin. v. (See also:

Berlin, 1883), p. 304. It suffered severely in the invasion of See also:Attila, by whom it was laid See also:waste, and in subsequent incursions. It was for some See also:time during the See also:middle ages an See also:independent See also:republic, but was subdued by the Venetians in 1405. Towards the end of the 15th century it became the seat of a school of See also:painting strongly influenced by See also:Mantegna, of which the See also:principal representatives were, besides Bartolomeo Montagna, its founder, his son Benedetto Montagna, Giovanni Speranza and Giovanni Buonconsiglio. See also:Good altar-pieces by the former exist in S. Bartolommeo, S. Corona, and the cathedral, and several pictures also in the picture gallery; while his son Benedetto had greater merits as an engraver than a painter. Some works by both of the last two exist at Vicenza—the best is a Pieta in See also:tempera in the gallery by Buonconsiglio, by whom is also a good Madonna at S. Rocco.

Andrea Palladio (1518–1580) was a native of Vicenza, as was also a contemporary, Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552–1616), who was largely dependent on him, but is better known for his work on architecture (Architsttura universale, 1615). Palladio inaugurated a school of followers who continued to erect similar buildings in Vicenza even down to the See also:

French Revolution. (T. As.) See G. Pettina, Vicenza (See also:Bergamo, 1905).

End of Article: VICENZA

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