Palladio at 500

November marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andrea Palladio, the greatest and most influential architect of all time.

Palladio's designs are firmly grounded in the "classical language of architecture", but he adapted and manipulated the principles of architecture inherited from ancient Rome (he knew relatively little about Greek architecture). He designed many palazzi, villas and churches in a small area of north-east Italy, in and around Vicenza and Venice. However, his influence spread rapidly, driven in large part by the publication in 1570 of his monumental treatise, I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, or the Four Books of Architecture.

The Man of Mode will be posting about some of Palladio's designs and the way he influenced later buildings in England and America.