PALLADIO'S VILLA AT MASER AM) POSSAGNO, TREV1SO. 



364. SECTION OF THE CHURCH AT MASER. 



From O. Ji. Scanfozzi. 



the practical point of view, the 

 foundation work would have 

 been greatly lessened. The rise 

 of the ground disappears in 

 the photograph of the approach 

 (Fig. 366). 



The site has been a deter- 

 mining factor in the scheme. 

 The house is ledged into the 

 rock so that the principal floor 

 is level with the back court, an 

 oblong of about one hundred 

 and eighty by fifty-four feet, 

 extended in the centre by a 

 great niche, or apsidal recess, 

 sixty feet across (Fig. 369). 

 The principal rooms form a 

 communicating series looking 

 into this court for summer 

 coolness and shade. Behind 

 these rooms the long line of 

 the arcade forms a sure protec- 

 tion against the fierce rays of 

 the sun on a full southern exposure. The smaller rooms filling in the angles of the cruciform 

 saloon are the winter rooms, and these enjoy the sunshine of the east, west and south, and 

 are also provided with large fireplaces. 



The entrance to the house has always been noted as a peculiarity. Ignoring 

 the centre block, the visitor passes up five steps at the nearest arch of the arcade and 

 then ascends a wide flight occupying the width of this covered way, landing direct into 

 the latin cross hall of the villa. There is a vista through the entire depth of the 

 house. The centre room of the back block looks direct across the back court into 

 the great apse, with its pool of water in front, and into the depth of the grotto recess 

 beyond. The exuberant, but rather amateurish, ornamentation of this great apse is calculated 

 not only to raise the architect's doubts as to the artistic standing of Vittoria the Stuccatore, 

 but also to make him wonder how far Palladio approved of it (Figs. 369 and 373). 



The owners of the villa, 

 Daniel e and Marcantonio Bar- 

 baro, were both remarkable men. 

 Daniele,the Patriarch of Acquila, 

 was known for his learned com- 

 mentary on Vitruvius. He had 

 been Ambassador in England in 

 the reign of Elizabeth, and there 

 is a room at Penshurst, called 

 the Venetian Ambassador's 

 Room, which he is stated to 

 have occupied. Marcantonio, 

 besides being a Venetian patri- 

 cian and a man of business, 

 seems also to have been an 

 amateur sculptor. Some of this 

 work in the great niche is attri- 

 buted to him. It is quite 



certain that the two brothers 



365. PLAN OF THE CHURCH AT MASER 



From O. IS. Snnnozzi. 



