Palladio, Andrea, << pahl LAH dyoh, ahn DREH ah >> (1508-1580), was an architect of the Italian Renaissance. He visited Rome frequently between 1541 and 1554, and he developed a great interest in and knowledge of ancient Roman architecture. That influence appears in his Four Books of Architecture (1570), an important work of Renaissance architectural theory. It also appears in his architectural works, notably in the Basilica in Vicenza (begun about 1547) and the Villa Rotonda (begun about 1567) near Vicenza. Palladio influenced architect Inigo Jones in England in the 1600’s and Georgian architecture in England in the 1700’s and in the United States in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Palladio’s influence reappeared in the late 1900’s in a movement in Europe and the United States called Postmodernism.
Palladio was born on Nov. 30, 1508, in Padua. His real name was Andrea di Pietro della Gondola. The Italian scholar Giangiorgio Trissino named him Palladio after Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. He died on Aug. 19, 1580.
