Chapter 9 looks at how Francesco Pisani used his will to shape the future of the estate and his family’s fortune after his death.

Chapter 5 argues that Villa Pisani cannot be seen in isolation from its suburban context. It examines Montagnana’s identity as a small but significant urban center; the character of the district where Villa Pisani was built; and the role of civic benefactor that Pisani cultivated for himself.

Chapter 7 argues that the expanded version of Villa Pisani published in Palladio’s 1570 treatise belongs to the period of the villa’s ideation and construction, not to a later moment when Palladio prepared his treatise for publication. This case study suggests an alternate interpretation of the marked discrepancies between Palladio’s works as built and as published: rather than idealizations, they can be understood as future possibilities.

Chapter 3 uses a rich array of archival evidence to reconstruct the lived experience of Francesco Pisani, his family, and his household at Villa Pisani. The architecture and decoration of Villa Pisani framed agricultural business, sociability, and even religious devotion, not only during the traditional season of villeggiatura (country living) but throughout the year.

Chapter 8 shows that Palladio’s design for the unbuilt wings would have reinforced the villa’s hybrid character through their allusions to a range of urban and rural building types. Their evocation of the ancient triumphal arch would have made a bold claim for Pisani hegemony in Montagnana.

Chapter 2 traces the biography of the patron, Venetian patrician Francesco Pisani (1509–67), addressing his family affairs, political offices, and cultural patronage in Venice. An investigation of where and how Pisani lived when in his native city clarifies the reasons for his investment in his mainland estate.

The Introduction argues that Villa Pisani at Montagnana does not conform to the conventional definition of the Renaissance villa as a second home. Instead, it shares certain functions and architectural and decorative features of the urban palace, usually considered the principal seat of an elite family. This case study reveals how Palladio gave architectural expression to a way of living among Venetian patricians in which the villa had come to play a fundamental role.

The Epilogue traces the influence and afterlife of Villa Pisani in domestic architecture of the southern colonies of British North America, as transmitted by eighteenth-century English translations of Palladio’s treatise.

Chapter 1 analyzes Palladio’s design for Villa Pisani in relation to ancient and Renaissance architectural theory, local building practice, and his own written and built works. Although Palladio’s approach to typology was more flexible than generally understood, the building is recognizably a hybrid of a villa and a palace, which can be linked to Alberti’s conception of the suburban residence (hortus suburbanus).