Art Pursuits - Villas of the Veneto

Art Pursuits Study Tour Programme

Villas of the Veneto
Architecture and life-style in the age of Palladio

16 – 22 September 2008

Day 1	Early afternoon flight with BA from London Gatwick to Venice. Coach transfer to Vicenza, centre-stage for many of Palladio's buildings. Introductory talk and dinner in the hotel.
Day 2	Morning walk through Vicenza to admire Palladio’s town architecture, from his ingenious town hall, better known as the Basilica, to the fabulous Teatro Olimpico, the first purpose-built secular theatre building since Antiquity. After lunch (independent), a short coach trip will take us to the hills outside Vicenza to visit Palladio’s most famous building, Villa Rotonda, and the nearby Villa Valmarana ai Nani, frescoed by Giambattista Tiepolo and his son Domenico. Dinner in a restaurant near the hotel.
Day 3	Excursion to the wooded Euganean Hills south of Padua, where Petrarch spent the last years of this life in the remote village of Arquà. On to Luvigliano, where the bishops of Padua had their splendid villa designed in the 1530s. After a light lunch and wine tasting (included) visit the delightful belvedere of Villa Emo Capodilista and the marvellous park of Villa Barbarigo of the 1660s, the best Baroque garden in the Veneto. Return to Vicenza for an independent dinner.
Day 4	Palladio’s unfinished Villa Thiene at Quinto Vicentino is a fascinating conundrum. From there continue to Villa Godi, Palladio’s earliest house in the country, austere on the outside, but with beautifully frescoed interiors. After lunch in a restaurant adjacent to the villa (included), visit Villa Caldogno embellished with charming scenes of country life. Return to Vicenza for an independent dinner.
Day 5	The 1550s were the period of Palladio’s greatest activity as a villa architect: in the morning enjoy the royal Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese and the tall and proud Villa Foscari at Malcontenta. After lunch (included) return to Vicenza for some free time and independent dinner.
Day 6	Three grand villas situated to the south and south-west of Vicenza are today’s destinations: Palladio’s Villa Pisani at Bagnolo and Villa Poiana at Poiana Maggiore embody the perfect symbiosis of farmstead and country palace, while the nearby Rocca Pisana by Vincenzo Scamozzi, majestically placed on the top of a hill, demonstrates Palladio’s influence on the next generation. Near Vicenza, the eighteenth-century Villa Cordellina with frescoes by Tiepolo shows Palladio's enduring appeal. Return to Vicenza for dinner at a local restaurant.
Day 7	In the morning visit Villa Barbaro at Maser and Villa Emo at Fanzolo, the most beautiful of them all, with their magnificent fresco cycles by Paolo Veronese and Giambattista Zelotti. After a lunch break in the charming hill town of Asolo, continue to Treviso, where we will enjoy a wine tasting at Villa Giustinian before continuing to Venice airport for our evening flight, arriving at London Gatwick at 21:20.