Vincenzo Scamozzi (1548-1616) is the last amongst the great architects of the 16th century in Italy and Europe, protagonist of the shifting period between the era of Renaissance certainties and the complexity of the century of science, inaugurated by Galileo Galilei. This fascinating theorist and designer, has been considered for a long time only as a student of his fellow-citizen Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), forty years older than him.
The architect, with his difficult character, was considered as a sort of evil Salieri, envious of the Mozart-Palladio.
The exhibit aims at destroying this prejudice, rediscovering a great architect who, since Palladio, proposed an extremely personal idea of architecture, not based on individual talent nor practise on the field, but on a solid theoretical base of an enormous quantity of scientific and technological knowledge he will gather, at the end of his life, in two large books, entitled, the idea of universal architecture, published in Venice in 1615.
A sophisticated control of the light, which anticipates the baroque style, the extraordinary capacity to embed the buildings in pre-existing environments, and the strong "scientific" rationality guiding his projects, make Vincenzo Scamozzi an extremely "modern" architect, worshipped by contemporary architects as well, like Peter Eisenmann. This monographic exhibition is the first one ever dedicated to Scamozzi.
It is organized by the Andrea Palladio Architecture International Centre in the Palladio Museum in palazzo Barbaran da Porto, Vicenza, sponsored by the Cassa di Risparmio di Verona, Vincenza, Belluno and Ancona Foundation.
About 200 original works will be on exhibit; models, paintings, sculptures, drawings, printings and books, gathered from thirty different European and American museums. The exhibit includes the collection of al his design drawings, precious paintings by Paolo Veronese, busts of Alessandro Vittoria, manuscripts and ancient editions. The "rediscovery" of Scamozzi is not limited to the walls of palazzo Barbaran da Porto; visitors will have the chance to embark in a itinerary in Scamozzi's world, amid the twenty main sites where Scamozzi worked in Veneto and Sabbioneta, with a comprehensive guide, given at the entrance of the exhibit together with the ticket, showing the main features of every building, the way to reach them, their exact position and the opening time.