SCAMOZZI, VINCENZO. — Architect and theorist, born in Vicenza in 1552, died in Venice on 7 August 1616.
He perfected the instruction received from his father, who was also an architect, within the sphere of the Accademia Olimpica in Rome from 1578 to 1580. Upon his return, he won the competition for the continuation of Sansovino’s Libreria (1582), thus embarking upon a career that was extensive and assured, making him one of the leading architects in Europe and bringing him commissions in Italy and abroad. S. never disavowed his origins, tenaciously anchored in the Serlian manner, the fruit of his youthful academic education, to which may be attributed his intention of gathering in a treatise everything that can and must serve the formation of the perfect builder. L’idea dell’architettura universale is the final Renaissance compendium on the subject and lays the foundations of Neoclassical theory. Particularly noteworthy is the new conception of eclecticism, extended from the study of ancient classical and Renaissance architects to consideration of every building method, including the Gothic, until then so vehemently despised. In order to study it, S. undertook a journey (1599–1600) through Europe, of which there survives (in the Museo di Vicenza) an autograph manuscript account, with drawings of French Gothic cathedrals intended for the treatise Libri VI dei Templi, which was never published.
Scamozzian thought also informs the artist’s practical activity. He cannot properly be called a pupil of Palladio, even though chronological and environmental coincidences may suggest this. He exerted a profound influence in the field of architecture, also as a builder, both in Vicenza and in Venice, where he was a persistent impediment to innovation; and abroad as well, influencing English architecture, and in Austria with the design for the cathedral of Salzburg (1606–1607).
Works (limited to the fundamental stages of his style): 1569, design for the Palazzo dei Godi (Vicenza), still a rhetorical exercise; 1574, Villa Verlato at Villaverla, and Palazzo Trissino al Duomo (Vicenza), of 1577, the finest work of his youthful period; 1582, design for the Procuratie Nuove in Piazza S. Marco: more than the façade, the interior arrangement and the courtyards with superimposed loggias are of interest; 1582, funerary monument for Doge da Ponte, at the Carità; design for the theatre at Sabbioneta (Mantua), a return to the Serlian conception (1590); Villa Contarini at Loregia; 1591, church of the Tolentini (Venice); 1592, Palazzo Trissino al Corso (Vicenza), the artist’s masterpiece in its perfect stylistic rigor; 1597, Villa Molino alla Mandria (Padua); 1606–1607, designs for the cathedral of Salzburg, executed by others with modifications; 1609, Palazzo Contarini degli Scrigni on the Grand Canal, of the greatest importance for Venetian architecture of the second half of the eighteenth century; 1611, design for the Palazzo Ravaschieri (Genoa), a return to his Serlian origins. He also completed, from 1580 to ’91, Palladio’s «Rotonda», perhaps lowering its dome; and from 1584 to ’85 he executed the scenery of the Olimpico, disturbing the spatial balance of Palladian theatre, which was intended to conclude at the proscenium. — Vedi tav. 1.