The Renaissance produced a wealth of skills and know-how. Describe in detail the work of one of its great artists or architects.Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) was one of the most influential figures of Renaissance architecture, who worked in Vicenza, in the north of Italy, as well as Venice and the surrounding Veneto. Born in Padua, Palladio trained as a stonemason and moved to Vicenza in 1524 to continue his training. Giangiorgio Trissino (1478-1550), his patron, introduced him to classical and humanist studies and took him on his first trip to Rome – where he then studied for two years. Its architectural development was deeply influenced by this direct study of Roman antiquity. Trissino's patronage gave Palladio access to a powerful humanist circle that provided him with commissions throughout his career – including Palladio's public projects such as the Palazzo della Ragione, or Basilica, and the Teatro Olimpico who together permanently changed the public architecture of Vicenza. Originally a Gothic town hall, the Palazzo della Ragione or Basilica (commissioned in 1549), was on the verge of collapse and Palladio won a competition to redesign it. His response was to surround it on three sides with a two-story loggia that reinforced and transformed the exterior with classical columnar arcades on two levels. Arches were placed between the pilasters, Doric on the lower level, Ionic above, supporting the entablatures. In each bay the arch rests on small columns set apart from the larger pilasters with a rectangular space in between – now known as the 'Palladian motif'. Palladio had an exceptional understanding of the use of proportion in classical architecture and believed that beautiful architecture was improved. p...... middle of paper ......d in 1580, the project had only just begun. The theater was completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi assisted by Palladio's son Silla and would serve as a model for theaters across Europe for centuries. Palladio reinvented the architecture of the Veneto – and his influence eventually extended far beyond the region's borders. His impact was greatly facilitated by the publication of his I Quattro Libri dell' Architectura (The Four Books of Architecture) in 1570. Covering classical design and including translations of Vitruvius, woodcut plates illustrating classical design and his own Renaissance work, the text was known throughout Europe – notably in England, notably by Inigo Jones, the 17th century English architect – and eventually in America where buildings such as Monticello in Virginia (1770) of Thomas Jefferson are clearly based on Palladian principles..