Palladian window................. Palladian door................Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Andrea Palladio


Frontispiece, Volume I, The Architecture of A. Palladio, third edition by Giacomo Leoni, London, 1742.
See also: Center for Palladian Studies in America

Neoclassicism - Terminology
Neoclassicism/Neoclassical
(Neo-Classical)
Literally: "New Classicism."
European and American architecture style inspired by Classical Greek - and especially Roman - ruins.
Georgian Four King Georges in England. George III ruled England when Neoclassicism was popular.
Georgian Neoclassical Neoclassicism named after George III in England. Encompasses both Palladian and Adamesque Neoclassical styles.
Palladian Neoclassical Earlier version of European Neoclassicism based on the books of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio who studied Roman ruins in Italy.
Adam style/Adamesque Later version of European Neoclassicism based on Robert's Adam's studies of excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii.
Colonial Styles of architecture during America's colonial period, i.e., before the Revolutionary War. The most prominent style was Georgian because most the colonies were English owned.
Federal The American term for Adamesque after the Revolutionary War. "Federal" is a a patriotic term.
Roman Classicism/ / Jeffersonian Classicism / Classic(al) Revival Neoclassical version inspired by Renaissance-inspired Palladian Neoclassical style. Thomas Jefferson owned three copies of Palladio's books and used Palladian ideals in designing Monticello, etc.

This vision of Neoclassicism competed with the simpler Federal style.
Beaux-Arts Classicism A very rich, lavish and heavily ornamented classical style taught at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the 19th century. Influenced the last phase of Neoclassicism in the United States


Andrea Palladio, 1508-1580, an Italian Renaissance architect.

Palladio was born in Padua in 1508, of humble family, but grew up in Vicenza. He was originally trained as a sculptor (a not unusual thing for Renaissance architects) and as a stone mason. A generous patron, Count Giangiorgio Trissino, took him to Rome in 1541 where he turned to the study of ancient buildings. He published the first scholarly guide book to classical Rome in 1554.

Most of his life he spent in Vicenza. He built churches, town and country houses, public buildings and bridges in Venice and on the Venetian mainland and in and around Vicenza. He died in Vicenza in 1580.

Palladio's work is indebted the Roman architect Vitruvius (The Ten Books on Architecture) and Leon Battista Alberti ( De Re Aedificatoria).

Palladio ranks among the most influential architects of all time, primarily because of his 4-volume book, The Architecture of A. Palladio, first published in 1570, ten years before his death. A second edition followed in 1581, a year after his death, another in 1601, and so on in remarkable succession.

Palladian style-influenced architecture is classified as Neoclassical.


England: In England, Inigo Jones (1573-1652) imported Palladianism and helped usher in the Renaissance.

Palladio's buildings ("Palladianism") were used as models in England in the early 18th century by Lord Burlington and Colen Campbell.

Palladio studied Roman ruins; In the 18th century, Robert Adam would study excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum and be more influential than Palladio in the development of English Neoclassicism and American Federal style.


America: Palladio's books influenced American architecture in the late 18th century in America, as promoted by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson owned five editions of Palladio's Four Books of Architecture. Jefferson's Monticello and the University of Virginia are two examples of Palladian influence. See Classical Revival / Jeffersonian Classicism / Roman Classicism

Two examples of early Palladian Georgian buildings are the Governor's Palace (1706-1714) in Williamsburg, Virginia, and Drayton Hall (1738-42) near Charleston, S.C.

Palladio studied Roman ruins; In the 18th century, Robert Adam would study excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum and be more influential than Palladio in the development of English Neoclassicism and American Federal style.

In Buffalo, an example of Georgian Revival patterned after Palladian models is Lockwood Library on the UB campus.


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