Villa Forni Cerato - Design

Design

Villa Forni Cerato is relatively small in size.

The loggia stands out as the dominant part of the villa on the frontal facade. In a comparable manner to Villa Godi, a flight of steps reaches over the basement and leads up to the loggia, which opens in a serliana. This serliana takes up the entire width of the loggia. The central axis is clearer than at the Villa Godi, partly because of the fenestration. But it is not only in this respect that the Villa Forni Cerato marks a step forward in Palladio's development; for the first time the borders between the various storeys of the facade are clearly visible. Height is structured by the triple rhythm of the cellar storey, piano nobile and mezzanine storey.

Although the front serliana appears in a simplified form, a ledge projects from the foundations of the wall at the side of the round arch which leads around the loggia and meets its counterpart, where motifs are concerned, in the upper ends of the windows. A double ledge runs below the windows and connects the loggia organically with the rest of the building. Apart from its structural function, it forms both the upper and lower conclusions of two balusters, which are positioned among the outer pilasters of the serliana. If one also takes into consideration the fact that the balusters visually balance out the outer pilasters of the serliana, then the Villa Forni Cerato appears as a building in which the subordination of individual facade details with regard to the entire facade, which was characteristic of Palladio's later development, is expressed for the first time.