teatro vicenza-olimpico web site
"(september 19) arrived some hours ago and have already seen the teatro olimpico and other buildings by palladio. ... you have to see these buildings with your own eyes to realize how good they are. no reproductions of palladio s designs give an adequate idea of the harmony of their dimensions; they must be seen in their actual perspective.
palladio was a great man, both in his conceptions and in his power of execution. his major problem was that which confronts all modern architects, namely, how to make proper use of the columns in domestic architecture, since a combination of columns and walls must always be a contradiction.
how hard he worked at that, how the tangible presence of his creations make us forget that we are being hypnotized! there is something devine about his talent, something comparable to the power of a great poet who, out of the worlds of truth and falsehood, creates a third whose borrowed existence enchants us."
johann wolfgang von goethe, italian journey. (made into english by w.h. auden and elizabeth mayer)
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