Palladio Woodcut

Palladio Woodcut Soane Museum Library

This is the sort of drawing which Soane’s pupils would be required to study. It is, in fact, a woodcut made from a drawing to illustrate a series of books called I Quattro libri dell’architettura by the famous Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-80). A woodcut is a print made from a wooden block where the white areas of the drawing have been cut away and ink applied to the raised areas of the block. This design is for the Villa Rotonda, also called the Villa Capra, in Vicenza, Italy. It shows the plan, and below, part elevation, part section. Palladio’s buildings were much copied and inspired other buildings all around the world.