Alexis Nanavaty

Battista Zelotti Reconsidered: The social and artistic nexus of Palladian Villas

Supervised by Professor Guido Rebecchini

My research approaches collaboration within the context of the Veneto villa to extrapolate the working relationships between artist/architect. An aim of the project is to redefine modes of collaboration, as illustrated by the drawings and frescos.

Battista Zelotti, a 16th century Veronese painter, created a successful career in Northern Italy centered in Venice and the surrounding mainland of the Veneto. Elaborate villas designed by well-known Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in a style inspired by Roman Antiquity established this terrain. Their existence constitutes the transformation of this region into its own unique cultural landscape, one that defined ‘villa culture’ as it developed in the North. ‘Villa culture’ and the artwork that reflects it, is the product of an intricate network of architect and artist collaborating together in an intentional form of meaning-making to illustrate the desired aesthetic of wealthy patrons. Battista Zelotti, a significant actor within this network provides a case for highlighting the primacy of the artist in replicating this culture through their art for the villa space. My research approaches the artistic process through the social framework that inspired it, in order to clearly articulate the collaborative practices at the core of Palladian ‘villa culture.’