| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Lonigo,Province of Vicenza,Veneto,Italy |
| Part of | City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto |
| Reference | 712bis-007 |
| Inscription | 1994 (18thSession) |
| Extensions | 1996 |
| Coordinates | 45°21′26″N11°22′17″E / 45.357140°N 11.371381°E /45.357140; 11.371381 |
  Location of Villa Pisani, Bagnolo in Veneto  Villa Pisani, Bagnolo (Italy) Show map of Italy | |
TheVilla Pisani is a patricianvilla designed by Italian Renaissance architectAndrea Palladio, located in Bagnolo, a hamlet in thecomune ofLonigo in theVeneto region of Italy.
The Pisani were a rich family of Venetian nobles who owned severalVilla Pisani, two of them designed by Andrea Palladio. The villa at Bagnolo was built in the 1540s and represents Palladio's first villa designed for a patrician family of Venice:[1] his earlier villa commissions were from provincial nobility in the Vicenza area. The villa at Bagnolo was at the centre of an agricultural estate, as were most of the villas commissioned from Palladio.[2] It was designed withrusticated features to complement its rural setting; in contrast, theVilla Pisani at Montagnana in a semi-urban setting usees more refined motifs.
In 1570, Palladio published a version of the villa in hisI quattro libri dell'architettura.[3] The executed villa differs noticeably from the design. The deviations may have been in response to certain conditions on the actual site.
Anengraved ground plan of 1778 by Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi, gives a clear idea of the villa as it appeared in the 18th century. There was originally a longbarchessa (wing) at the back of the courtyard terminating indovecotes that kept the villa supplied withsquab; this wing was admired byVasari, but it was demolished in the nineteenth century and replaced by a structure that bears no relation to the Palladian façade it faces.[4]
The interior features a central T-shapedsalone withbarrel vaulting inspired byRoman baths; it is decorated withfrescoes.
In 1996,UNESCO included the villa in theWorld Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".
