Palazzo Civena

Palazzo Civena is regarded as the first city palace designed by Andrea Palladio in Vicenza. Built for the Civena brothers from 1540 to 1544, its regular façade of arches and paired pilasters marked a departure from the traditional central polifora of Vicentine palaces.

Why it matters

The Civena brothers bought and demolished an older building near Ponte Furo to make way for their palace. A foundation medal dated 1540, now in the city museum, commemorates the first stone. Palladio’s design used a regular sequence of bays and paired pilasters, drawing on early sixteenth-century Roman palaces and opening a new phase in the development of his urban architecture. Although the palace was not included in the Quattro Libri, autograph drawings document the project.

What to notice

The façade is organized around five lower arches and a strict rhythm of windows framed by stonework. Paired pilasters divide the bays, while perforated parapets and stone capitals add detail to the plastered elevations. Inside, a rectangular, barrel-vaulted atrium ends in a serliana motif. Rooms arranged in two blocks flank the central axis, a plan related to Palladio’s villas of the same period.

Context and history

The palace was likely completed around 1542, following the initial design of 1540. Domenico Cerato extended the atrium in 1750, and a southern expansion followed in 1762; lateral wings were added in 1820. The building was half destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. Its original plan was reconstructed using Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi’s 1776 survey. Palazzo Civena is included among the components of Vicenza’s UNESCO-listed Palladian heritage.