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Office of News and Information
Johns Hopkins University
901 South Bond Street, Suite 540
Baltimore, Maryland 21231
Phone: 443-287-9960 | Fax: 443-287-9920

March 13, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Pamela Higgins
(410) 516-8337
pamela.higgins@jhu.edu


Exhibition Marks Palladio's 500th Anniversary

An exhibition celebrating the birth 500 years ago of one of history's most famous architects opens Friday, March 14, at The Johns Hopkins University's George Peabody Library, 17 E. Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore.

Harmony to the Eyes: Charting Palladio's Architecture from Rome to Baltimore illustrates the architectural development of Andrea Palladio, the Renaissance Italian architect born in 1508 and known for the palaces, churches and villas he designed in Vicenza, Venice and surrounding areas.

The exhibit, part of the Baltimore Festival of Maps, will also trace Palladio's lasting legacy in building design down through the centuries. On display will be first editions of rare architectural treatises, hand-colored maps, and original prints from the 15th through the 19th centuries.
Andrea
Palladio

"Palladio is widely considered the most influential architect in Western history," said Judith Proffitt, program coordinator at the university's Homewood Museum, co-curator of the exhibition.

"The show highlights four Palladian-inspired Baltimore landmarks — the Basilica of the Assumption, Johns Hopkins' Homewood Museum, the Mount Clare Museum near Carroll Park, and the Hampton Mansion in Towson," Proffitt said.

"The neoclassical look of these buildings, especially the prominent columned front porticos and symmetrical massing of the structures, comes to us directly from the work of Palladio," she said.

Many of the works displayed are from the collection of Baltimore architect Laurence Hall Fowler, now housed at the John Work Garrett Library at Johns Hopkins' Evergreen Museum & Library.

Palladio
artwork

"The Fowler collection is recognized as one of the finest collections of early architectural treatises in North America," said Danielle Culpepper, a research fellow at the Peabody Library and co-curator of the exhibition.

"The depth of the Fowler collection, which includes the works of Renaissance masters Leon Battista Alberti and Sebastiano Serlio as well as more than 30 editions of Palladio's work, allows us to place Palladio's achievements in the context of other Renaissance architects," Culpepper said.

Also on display are architectural books from the George Peabody Library, some of which were originally acquired by the Library Company of Baltimore. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, English translations of Palladio's works and builders' pattern books circulated among the company's subscribers, extending Palladian ideas and design in early Baltimore.

A reception will be held on Wednesday, March 26, at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Contact Stacie Spence at sspence@jhu.edu or (410) 516-7943 for information.

On Friday, April 11, at Homewood Museum's 8th Annual Baltimore's Great Architects Lecture Series, an international panel of five Palladian scholars will discuss Palladio and his lasting influence on building design in America. For details on the symposium, made possible by the Center for Palladian Studies and a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, visit www.museums.jhu.edu/symposium.

The exhibition runs through runs through June 17 and is free and open to the public. Exhibition gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

The Baltimore Festival of Maps, a citywide celebration of mapping, runs from March 15 through June 8 with more than 45 exhibitions, tours, seminars, performances, lectures, hands- on activities, workshops and films. For a schedule of Baltimore Festival of Maps activities, visit www.BaltimoreFestivalofMaps.com.

[Note: Images from the Palladio exhibition are available. Contact Pamela Higgins at (410) 516-8337 or pamela.higgins@jhu.edu.]