Santa Corona — A Medieval Church Inside a Palladian City
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Transcript
Santa Corona predates Palladio’s mature city and reminds us that Vicenza was not built from a Renaissance blank slate. The Dominican church was founded in the thirteenth century and preserves works associated with artists including Giovanni Bellini and Paolo Veronese. Palladio himself was buried here before later changes to his tomb.
The church also contains the Valmarana Chapel, linked to Palladio. That coexistence is typical of Vicenza: medieval religious institutions commissioned Renaissance additions rather than being swept away.
A city famous for one architect can distort chronology. Santa Corona restores it. Palladio worked within an urban culture that already had centuries of sacred buildings, patronage networks and artistic competition.