Palladio and His Legacy

Timothy Richards of Bath, England, turned his love of design into a cottage industry.

Though this weekend sees the last days of exhibits at the Museum of Arts and Design and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, both in New York, it also brings the beginnings of shows in London,…

Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) is considered among the most significant and influential architects in the Western world. His clean, elegant interpretation of the architecture of classical antiquity was to spread throughout Europe and North America, and his finished buildings, drawings, and writings have become cultural touchstones.

Now, for the first time in New York, The Morgan Library & Museum presents a collection of thirty-one rarely seen drawings by Palladio from the outstanding collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects Trust. The drawings, together with Palladio's architectural texts and pattern books, highlight the growth of his design sensibility. They range from early studies and sketches to perfectly executed later drawings of villas and other commissioned works. Also on view are a number of detailed architectural models, demonstrating the spread of Palladio's architectural theories to America, most notably in the work of Thomas Jefferson and in designs for monumental buildings in Washington, DC.

The exhibition is organized by the Royal Institute of British Architects Trust, London, in association with the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, Vicenza, and The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. Plaster models are by Timothy Richards.

This week we're adding a new feature to our weekly Out and About articles: slideshows featuring images from each of the weekend's highlighted exhibitions.