Palladio Publishes the Four Books

1570

The Vicentine architect Andrea Palladio published I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, illustrated with his own villas and temples. It codified classical proportions for builders and became the most influential architectural manual ever written, shaping country houses from Virginia plantations to Saint Petersburg palaces. His influence, transmitted through Inigo Jones and Thomas Jefferson, made Palladian style synonymous with democratic classicism worldwide.