Villa Farnese by Giacomo Vignola at GreatBuildings

Architect

Giacomo Vignola

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Location

Caprarola, near Viterbo, Italy map

Date

1560 timeline

Building Type

large house, country villa - a renaissance castle

Construction System

bearing masonry

Climate

mediterranean

Context

rural, town edge

Style

Italian Renaissance

Notes

Pentagonal plan with curving inner facades around a circular courtyard on the inside, and a moat around the outside. Elaborate multi-stage entry sequence. Famous circular staircase.

Images

Photo, façade from arrival plaza

Photo, looking up grand stair toward the villa

Photo, interior, summer dining hall

GreatBuildings Images

Google Images

Panoramio Images

Photo, interior, map room	Photo, interior fresco detail, summer dining hall	Photo, exterior, looking down into round courtyard
Photo, View from Summer Dining Hall over entry, looking out across town	Photo, exterior, ornamental garden

More Images
Aerial view of Villa Farnese

Photo, exterior, looking across round courtyard

Drawings

Axonometric Drawing	Elevation Drawing	Plan Drawing
Plan Drawing	Section Drawing	Site Plan Drawing

Contributions appreciated

Discussion

Villa Farnese Commentary

"Villa Farnese, Caprarola, (is) based on a regular polygon. Austere at the level of the 'podium' on which the building rests, the façades become lighter in the upper storeys, particularly in the circular courtyard with its alternate rhythms of pairs of engaged columns and semi-circular bays."

—Henri Stierlin. Comprende l'Architecture universelle. p191.

Resources

GreatBuildings Resources

Amazon Books

Sources on Villa Farnese

Robert Adam. Classical Architecture. London: Penguin Books, 1990. ISBN 0-670-82613-8. NA260.A26. axonometric drawing, fig e, p287. Derek Brentnall.

Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture. London: The Butterworth Group, 1987. ISBN 0-408-01587-X. LC 86-31761. NA200.F63 1987. plan, section, perspective, and detail drawings, p832. discussion, p833. — The classic text of architectural history. Expanded 1996 edition available at Amazon.com

A. Rosengarten. A Handbook of Architectural Styles. London: Chatto and Windus, 1910. NA200.R7 1910. elevation drawing of entry facade, f559, p399.

Alene Stickles, University of Oregon. Slides from photographer's collection, July 1993. PCD.3189.1011.1916.049. PCD.3189.1011.1916.048. Fresco detail, Summer Dining Hall, PCD.3189.1011.1916.047. Map Room, PCD.3189.1011.1916.046. Summer Dining Hall, PCD.3189.1011.1916.045. PCD.3189.1011.1916.044. PCD.3189.1011.1916.043. View from Summer Dining Hall over entry, PCD.3189.1011.1916.042. Facade, PCD.3189.1011.1916.041.

Henri Stierlin. Comprendre L'Architecture Universelle. Paris: Office du Livre S.A. Fribourg (suisse), 1977. longitudinal section drawing, p191. upper storey plan drawing, p191. ground plan drawing, p190-1. site plan drawing, p190. discussion, p191.

Kevin Matthews. The Great Buildings Collection on CD-ROM. Artifice, 2001. ISBN 0-9667098-4-5.— Available at Amazon.com

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Villa Farnese at Archiplanet — Find, add, and edit info at the all-buildings collaboration

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