DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61893#0169
Ch. in.
THROUGH ITALY.
Ill
The splendor of Vicenza is. not confined to. its
walls, but extends to the country for some distance
round, where private or public munificence has
erected several villas and magnificent edifices.
Among the former, we may rank the villa of the
Marchesi, called the Rotunda, an exquisite fabric
of Palladio’s, and among the latter the triumphal
arch, and the portico which lead to the church
on Monte Berico. The arch is said by some to
be the work of Palladio, in imitation of that of
Trajan at Ancona; and is like it, light and airy.
The portico is a noble gallery leading from the
town to the church, and intended to shade and
shelter the persons who visit the sanctuary in
which it terminates; and as its length is more
than a mile, its materials stone, and its form not
inelegant, it strikes the spectator as a very magni-
ficent instance of public taste. The church is
seen to most advantage at a distance; as, on a
nearer approach, it appears overloaded with orna-
ments. It is of fine stone, of the Corinthian order,
in the form of a Greek cross, with a dome in the.
centre; but wants in all its decorations, both in-
ternal and external, the proportions and the sim-
plicity of Palladio. The view from the windows
of the convent annexed to the church, is extensive
and beautiful.
It may be here the proper place to mention a
THROUGH ITALY.
Ill
The splendor of Vicenza is. not confined to. its
walls, but extends to the country for some distance
round, where private or public munificence has
erected several villas and magnificent edifices.
Among the former, we may rank the villa of the
Marchesi, called the Rotunda, an exquisite fabric
of Palladio’s, and among the latter the triumphal
arch, and the portico which lead to the church
on Monte Berico. The arch is said by some to
be the work of Palladio, in imitation of that of
Trajan at Ancona; and is like it, light and airy.
The portico is a noble gallery leading from the
town to the church, and intended to shade and
shelter the persons who visit the sanctuary in
which it terminates; and as its length is more
than a mile, its materials stone, and its form not
inelegant, it strikes the spectator as a very magni-
ficent instance of public taste. The church is
seen to most advantage at a distance; as, on a
nearer approach, it appears overloaded with orna-
ments. It is of fine stone, of the Corinthian order,
in the form of a Greek cross, with a dome in the.
centre; but wants in all its decorations, both in-
ternal and external, the proportions and the sim-
plicity of Palladio. The view from the windows
of the convent annexed to the church, is extensive
and beautiful.
It may be here the proper place to mention a