The Cappella alla Villa Capra, Vicenza

Speranza




This path leads between walls of brick and limestone rubble surmounted by statues of nymphs and satyrs to the gate of Palladio's Villa Capra, designed for Paolo Almerico in 1552.

The wall on the left is the flat facciata of the domestic offices of the Villa Capra, which are not included in the plan of the house itself.

Immediately opposite the gate is a little private chapel Plladio built for the owner of the villa.

The cartouche over the entrance shows a goat, Almerico's rebus, with nyumphs bursting from foliage on either side, while the pediment is crowned with a central statue of the Virgin and with figures of angels which are already decidely Baroque in feeling.