Palazzo Chiericati Historical Timeline

Origins

Girolamo Chiericati commissioned it in 1550, the year after Palladio won the Basilica commission, on a site facing the Piazza dell'Isola where the timber market was held.

Turning points

Construction stopped when Chiericati died in 1557 with only the left third built. The palace stood unfinished for over a century and was completed to Palladio's drawings around 1680.

Influential people

The open loggia was possible because Chiericati negotiated rights over the public ground in front, effectively borrowing civic space to set his facade back -- an unusual arrangement that the design depends on entirely.

Cultural evolution

The city acquired the building in 1839 and opened it as the Museo Civico in 1855, one of Italy's earlier municipal art museums.

Present-day significance

It holds Vicenza's civic collection -- Veronese, Tintoretto, Tiepolo, Van Dyck's Vicenza works -- and was damaged in the 1945 bombing and restored. Part of the UNESCO inscription since 1994.