Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey June 8, 2010

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) is considered among the most significant and influential architects in the Western world. His clean, elegant interpretation of the architecture of classical antiquity was to spread throughout Europe and North America, and his finished buildings, drawings, and writings have become cultural touchstones. Now, for the first time in New York, a collection of thirty-one rarely seen drawings by Palladio from the outstanding collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects Trust is on view in a special exhibition at The Morgan Library & Museum. The drawings, together with Palladio's architectural texts and pattern books, highlight the growth of his design sensibility. Also on view are a number of detailed architectural models, demonstrating the spread of Palladio's architectural theories to America, most notably in the work of Thomas Jefferson and in designs for monumental buildings in Washington, DC.