Description of the attraction
Palazzo Civena is a Renaissance palace in Vicenza, built in 1540. This is the first city palace designed by Andrea Palladio. It was built for the four Chiven brothers. The date "1540" is engraved on the medal, which is kept in the Civic Museum of Vicenza, and marks the beginning of the construction of the Palazzo. The building was likely completed two years later, shortly before Palladio began work on the Palazzo Thiene. Unfortunately, in 1750, Palazzo Civena was significantly rebuilt by Domenico Cerato, and during the Second World War, during the bombing it was half destroyed. Subsequently, only its facade was restored.
Palladio did not include the sketch of the Palazzo Civena in his treatise "Four Books on Architecture", but there are various author's drawings of the palace, from which it is clear that the architect changed the project several times. The original project can be restored from the publication of Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi in 1776: groups of rooms were placed on both sides of the atrium, and the Palladian windows are very similar to those found in the project of Palladian villas of the same period. Cherato later extended the atrium and modified the stairwells.
As Palazzo Civena was built in the early 1540s, it serves as a model for Palladio's early creations and architectural views prior to his fateful trip to Rome. Like the villa in Cricoli, the Palazzo stood out from the general building tradition in Vicenza: the polyphora (medieval type of window) in the center of the façade was replaced by a strict sequence of bay windows with pilasters. There is no doubt that here Palladio relied on Roman palaces from the early 16th century. At the same time, the facade of the building is devoid of plasticity, and seems to be cut out of a sheet of paper.
