Dome

Tight view along the south (front) façade; In his treatise L'Idea della Architettura Universale (published in Venice in 1615), Vincenzo Scamozzi writes that he was responsible for completing the building's construction on the basis of a project by another architect (without specifying whom) with certain revisions to the original design (which, he does not clarify). The architect that Scamozzi does not name is certainly Andrea Palladio, because two autograph sheets survive which can be referred to Francesco Thiene's palace: on these are traced two plan variants, substantially close to the present building, as well as a sketch for the facade which is very different from that executed. It is unclear when Palladio formulated his own ideas for the palazzo, but it is credible that he did so in 1572, the year in which Francesco Thiene and his uncle Orazio divided up the family properties and the former obtained the very site where Palladio's edifice would rise. Source: Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio (Palladio Centre and Museum) ; http://www.cisapalladio.org/ (accessed 1/26/2008)